A heartfelt plea has been made to save Reading Central Library, which will close for the last time on Monday, March 11. Open since 1985, it's been a place to borrow books and toys, study, use IT and meet people.
Felicitas Wappler has made a plea for the library to be saved.
She said: "This closure would not just erase a building - it would dismantle a civic cornerstone.
"It is a quiet powerhouse of community life used daily by students revising for exams, job seekers polishing CVs, parents introducing children to their first stories and older residents seeking companionship and calm.
"Libraries are not relics of a bygone age. They are living, breathing spaces that adapt to modern life."
The council says a new library is being created after it secured funding for an £8.6 million upgrade to the Civic Centre. Ms Wappler accepts a new library will be provided but argues it will be inferior.
She said: "My concern is that Reading risks losing far more than a building. The Central Library is a civic anchor: a study space, a quiet refuge, a digital access point, a learning hub, and a place where people of all ages come for support, connection and opportunity.
"The move raises several serious issues that haven't been openly discussed."
She went on to claim there will be a 50 per cent reduction in books, "with confirmation that thousands of volumes will simply be disposed of", severely restricted opening hours, including late starts, early Saturday closures and full closure on Wednesdays and Sundays, and "a complete gap in provision" when the current library closes at a peak exam season for students.
Ms Wappler said: "My worry is that an iconic, well‑used public asset is being off‑loaded without meaningful scrutiny or a clear plan to protect what makes it so valuable. A library is not just a room with shelves - it is social infrastructure that supports education, wellbeing, inclusion, connection, networking and community life. "Any replacement should meet or exceed the standard of the existing Central Library, not fall short of it."
She also complained that all of the public toilets in the library have been locked, with notices stating that this is "due to toilet roll theft", and that computers have already been moved ahead of the closure.
A full council response will be published. A council spokesperson said the new library will offer extended opening hours, opening an hour earlier on Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays with access to self‑service facilities, and added some books have not been loaned for decades and date back to when the Town Hall was the library headquarters for Berkshire.
James Aldridge, Local Democracy Reporter
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