Families in Stroud left without library for over a week 

The library had been located in Lansdown for years until it was closed on February 2 due to the discovery of RAAC - Reinforced Autoclaved Aerated Concrete - in the building.

A spokesperson from Gloucestershire County Council said at the time the site - which was built in 1968 - had been closed as a “precautionary measure”. 

A pop-up temporary library was then held in the Five Valleys Shopping Centre opposite Home Bargains starting from Monday, February 12. 

However, the temporary library has now also been closed and was shut on Friday, March 22.

The new library is due to eventually open on Tuesday, April 2 also inside the shopping centre.

It will be based on the lower ground floor of the centre in King Street, next to the Five Valleys Medical Practice, with a ground level shop front entrance.

But it means families and book-lovers will be left without a library for 11 days. 

A closure notice outside the pop-up reads: “The pop up library will be closing on Friday, March 22.

“The new Stroud Library in the Five Valleys Shopping centre will open on Tuesday, April 2 at 10am.

“Please return books to the Old Stroud Library letterbox.”

A county council spokesperson previously said the new location will be a “more central and accessible site, designed to meet the needs of people who use it”. 

Nearest open libraries include, Stonehouse, Nailsworth and Dursley, as well as community libraries in Minchinhampton, Painswick and Berkeley. 

An artist's impression of the new Stroud library - which is due to open on Tuesday, April 2 (Image: GCC)