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Planning for a 21st century Shepherd's Bush library

The new Shepherd's Bush Library opened in September 2009, just 200 yards away from the existing 19th century building. This 21st century library has been delivered as an innovative partnership between Westfield Ltd and the London Borough of Hammersmith & Fulham as one of the key community gains from the planning agreement (Section 106) for the new Westfield Shopping Centre in Shepherd's Bush.

The £2 million library and Workzone was built and fitted out at zero cost to the taxpayer. And the message is clear that councils need not always look to fund service improvements through local resources or tax rises but can create other strategic opportunities such as partnership working.

Section 106 agreements with developers are planning obligations, used to address any perceived negative impacts caused by a development, including providing infrastructure and facilities to help achieve sustainable communities. In this case, two section 106 agreements combined to cover the cost of the development.

The key delivery partners were Hammersmith & Fulham Council, Westfield Ltd, who also managed the construction on behalf of LBHF, Faulkner Brown Architects, Pattons (the contractors) and Hammersmith and Fulham Bridge Partnership/Agilysis who delivered the cutting edge ICT.

Library and Workzone

Shepherd's Bush Library offers traditional public library services alongside modern facilities such as:
• RFID self service issue/ return and computer booking/printing facilities
• WiFi enabled study space with extra People’s Network PCs,
• Touchdown spaces for quick information/self serve joining
• Dedicated teen area with games machines, music-mixing software and chill-out space
• Attractive, interactive children’s area with baby change facilites, buggy park etc
• Refreshment area and easy seating
• 10,000 new books in addition to the existing stock
• Specifically trained, floorwalking, uniformed staff

The Workzone area of the library is an innovative partnership with Ealing Hammersmith & West London College, Job Centre Plus and Hammersmith & Fulham Council to provide a dedicated recruitment and retention service for retailers on the Westfield site and other employers to fill their jobs locally.

Benefits provided by the Workzone include work specific training and job interview techniques as well as financial help with initial childcare costs for unemployed residents who secure Westfield jobs; and a planned young persons' Westfield work experience service. Over 80 jobs have been advertised through this facility already.

The new library is proving popular with local residents with an astonishing 700% increase in membership compared with the previous year, a 50% increase in visits to the site compared to the old library and a 45% increase in book loans.

Cllr Paul Bristow, Cabinet Member and portfolio holder, said: “Local residents cannot get to the new library quickly enough! We always knew that taking a cutting-edge library to Europe’s largest inner-city shopping centre would be a popular move and the level of interest so far really has been astounding.”

The attention focused on the new library has also been fruitful to the Hammersmith & Fulham library service overall. The marketing campaign for the new Shepherd's Bush Library has had the effect of raising the profile of all libraries in the borough and has increased both issue figures and the number of active customers. It is the flagship library for the borough that will lead the service forward in the future.

For more information on this case study visit the case study section of the MLA research website.

November 2009