A NEWPORT library has temporary closed its doors for a £150,000 refurbishment.

Maindee Library, in Chesptow Road, closed its doors at 1pm today so that major works could begin tomorrow.

John Hallam, programme manager and volunteer at Maindee Unlimited, who have run the library since 2015, said they have allocated up to £150,000 funding for the project.

He said: “The Arts Council of Wales gave us the funding. It is very visionary for them to be investing in something like a community-run library.”

Mr Hallam said they are going to have new toilets as the one they have now is not accessible. They will be putting two new toilets – one will be a gender neutral, accessible toilet, with the other one being a women’s toilet.

They will also be creating a new meeting room, turning the current meeting room into a kitchen, he added. They will be serving drinks as well as snacks, starting with simple food such as soup and toasties.

“We are thinking of having a café, amongst many other things,” Mr Hallam said.

They will also be improving their heating system as the current one is quite expensive to run and will be installing double glazing.

Mr Hallam said that, when the building works are finished, they have commissioned product designer David Henshall to come up with a few ideas for new shelves, as well as manufacturing them. Mr Henshall will be working with a group of architecture students from Cardiff University.

Mr Hallam said: “We will be improving our IT facilities as four out of five people who come into the library do so to use our computers or printing.

“We want to do more events and we don’t have enough space at the moment.”

These could include food nights or prize bingo nights, he added. They hope the works will be finished by the end of April and to be fully open by May.

Library volunteer Amanda Wicks said: “Maindee deserves a nice community hub. This is far more than a library. I think it will be lovely when it is done.”

For the time being, the library will move to Holbrook studio, in 80 Chepstow Road, where they will be offering basic services such as access to computers or their job club on a Wednesday. To find out more, visit here.