Kings Health library forced to shut down

Jan 1 2011 by Paul Dale, Birmingham Mail

A BIRMINGHAM library has been forced to close because of expensive roof repair problems.

Kings Heath library will be shut for several weeks after workmen discovered that skylights in the 100-year-old building were unsafe.

Repairs are likely to cost £300,000, money which Birmingham City Council says it doesn’t have in the current financial climate.

But temporary repairs costing about £55,000, which involve building a false ceiling around permanent scaffolding, should enable the library to re-open.

Martin Mullaney, the cabinet member for leisure, sport and culture, said he had no option but to order the closure after a structural survey found that Edwardian wooden skylights were in danger of falling through the ceiling and crashing on to people browsing books below.