MORE THAN £200,000 will be spent refurbishing a library in Newport.

The Maindee Library project will be led by the volunteers who work at the library on behalf of Maindee Unlimited, which runs it.

John Hallam, programme manager and volunteer at Maindee Unlimited, said: “We have recently appointed the architects for the project, who are going to help us with the changes and supervise the refurbishments.

“We expect to start the building work around October this year and we hope they will be finished by March 2018.”

Mr Hallam said the group had received funding from the Arts Council of Wales, the Esmée Fairbairn Foundation and the Garfield Weston Foundation to carry out the works.

“We had a grant of £364,000 from Arts Council of Wales in 2015,” he added. “Some of that money has already been spent but some will be spent on this project.

“The budget has not been finalised but we think it will cost around £200,000 to £250,000.”

Mr Hallam said they have not made a final decision on the improvements, but these will include the improvement of toilets and possibly enhancing catering facilities.

“We also want to create better spaces for the books, computers and for meetings to be held,” he said.

Maindee Library, in Chepstow Road, was saved just days before its closure in 2015, after Newport City Council agreed to let a group of volunteers take it over.

The library was due to close after the council announced it was to make city-wide cuts to library provision and could no longer run it.

To find out more, visit maindee.org/blog/how-maindee-s-community-will-shape-artistic-architectural-changes