Reading Central Library in Kings Road, which has served the town since 1985, will close on Monday, May 11. All services will move to the Civic Centre in Bridge Street this summer.
A council spokesperson said: "Our new Central Library will be a bright, spacious, accessible, and modern library featuring a significantly larger children's area, a dedicated teen section, and fully stocked fiction, non‑fiction, local history and family history collections."
"It will also include a new community and events space, The Square, as well as almost 100 work and study spaces equipped with power points and free Wi‑Fi. There will also be free-to-use PCs and tablets."
Theres been public frustration after it emerged the new library will have fewer books. The council says much of the stock was outdated. "Sadly, books do fall in and out of popularity and parts of the King's Road site had become a storeroom for outdated and unused books, some of which had not been loaned out for decades, dating back to when the Central Library in the Town Hall was the library headquarters for Berkshire."
Because books and equipment are being moved, services won't be available at King's Road from May 11 until the new library opens. During that time six local libraries will be open as usual.
The council says the project was partly funded by Government money and releasing the King's Road site will allow space for homes; it adds there were two detailed consultations with residents before designs were finalised.
James Aldridge, Local Democracy Reporter
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