Manchester Central Library and the Town Hall Extension will both be affected by the closure
Manchester Central Library(Image: Manchester Evening News)
Manchester Central Library and Town Hall Extension are to shut while IT upgrades are carried out.
The buildings will be closed to the public and staff for three weeks between August 2 and August 24 as engineers will be carrying out cabling work. This means that there will be no IT access in the building during this time.
Staff in Central Library and the Town Hall Extension will work remotely while the upgrades are carried out.
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The last time that major IT refurbishments were carried out in the building was back in 2013, and it is hoped that the upgrade will improve service in the building.
The 21 local libraries across Manchester will be open as usual, and staffing hours will increase in nine libraries in the city for this period.
Councillor Garry Bridges, Deputy Leader of Manchester City Council, said: “We need to carry out important work to upgrade the network systems which were implemented during the major refurbishment works in 2013.
“Currently there is patchy network coverage in critical areas across the buildings, and the upgrade will give us a flexible ICT network that is more fitting to modern ways of working and our digital strategy goals.
“We are sorry for the inconvenience that these temporary closures may cause but we are making alternative plans for the services during this time, and we hope that people will understand that the end point of this critical work will be beneficial to everyone who uses the buildings for years to come.”
Councillor John Hacking, Executive Member for Skills, Employment and Leisure said: “Although there is never a good time to shut Manchester Central Library, we cannot move forward in updating the network without this necessary closure.
“I can assure people that we will be working at pace to bring a better and faster Wi-Fi provision for our customers when we reopen.
“Our library staff will be relocated to our branch libraries during the closure to ensure they can continue to provide the vital services our residents have come to expect while the work is undertaken – and of course a range of library services are also available online.”