Services at library set to be suspended for eight weeks due to move

The pause will allow resources to be switched from the temporary site at the Lagoon Leisure Centre to the new learning and cultural hub in the High Street, which is expected to open later this year.

But no firm date has been confirmed for the “decant” – as the process has been described in a report to Wednesday’s leadership board.

OneRen, the trust responsible for culture and leisure services, needs Renfrewshire Council’s permission to suspend services for the move.

An update paper, authored by Laura McIntyre, the local authority’s head of policy and commissioning, has been published ahead of the board meeting.

It said: “As the Paisley Learning and Cultural Hub project will soon be moving from the construction phase into the building fit-out phase, the purpose of this report is to seek board approval to suspend library services at the temporary Paisley Central Library site for a period of around eight weeks.

“The indicative period for the decant to commence would be in autumn 2023, and customers and elected members would be notified in advance of the specific date for the temporary closure and decant to commence.

“The eight-week timeframe is required to enable the decant of library services from the temporary modular building at the Lagoon Leisure Centre to the new Paisley Learning and Cultural Hub on the High Street.

“During this period, service users will be re-directed to alternative libraries, as well as to the wide range of online resources available to all library service users.”

A plan has been developed to manage the transfer, according to the report, which will cover the shelving fit-out and arrangement of books at the multi-level facility, placement of furniture, staff training and technology set-up.

A number of pre-opening visits are due to be held at the hub for schools and groups before an official opening.

Upon completion of the “decant”, the modular building will be used elsewhere by the council.