Westgate Library Re-opens

A few weeks ago, the new Westgate shopping centre opened. And today the Westgate Library re-opened. There had been a much smaller library during the twenty months it was closed.

There was no great radical change in the structure of the building. The staircases and view from the upper balcony looked much the same.
 
Different community groups were performing music, and that will be a feature in future. We met George Haslam, and he told us he will performing there on 6th January at 7pm. There was a string quartet when we arrived, and a choir singing carols when we left. The music section has now moved upstairs, as have poetry and computing. If anything the Local History section upstairs has shrunk.
 
What was the music library is now a multi-purpose education and community space. There were educational electronic kits, and ozobots - little robots that obey commands given as a sequence of colours. The space can be used by people wanting to pass on their knowledge on any subject.

The windows facing Castle Street look new with the colourful stained glass books.

Some of the furniture also looked new. The shelves are not so regimented but have different configurations. The different book sections now have a picture with their name.

It is good to have the Westgate Library open again. The library in Oxford is a bigger draw for me than the shopping centre.