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Update April 2024
| £250,000 has been secured to add to the Council’s committed £500,000 capital investment to extend and redevelop Acomb Explore Library. |
| The additional £250k is the result of a successful application to the Arts Council’s Libraries Improvement Fund. The whole library will be fully refurbished and extende to ensure it continues to be an important asset to local people. The following improvements will be made in line with suggestions made by local people in March 2023: Larger children’s library Bigger café Quiet study/work space Improved toilets including another accessible toilet Improved meeting rooms and IT suite Area for community outdoor events Mobile shelving to allow for performance space |
Update January 2024
Back in September, we submitted a bid to the Arts Council for funding of £250k to help move forward the improvements you suggested below. We will hear whether we are successful (fingers crossed!) in March 2024 and will update you with next steps after then.
Update April 2023: Survey results
A huge thank you to the 234 people who completed our survey in March. We asked what you love about Acomb Explore and what you’d love to see more of. We also wanted to know what doesn’t work so well and what just isn’t important to you at all.
Your top 3 priorities were:
- Bigger children’s space
- More indoor café space
- Quiet space for work or study
You were also keen to see space for more books, a covered area outside for events such as craft fairs and, on a more practical note, extra toilets!
You were not so interested in lighting and signage improvements, touch-down office space or better cycle parking.
What happens next? We will include your ideas in a draft plan for improving Acomb Explore, and later this summer we will share the plan with you so you can tell us if we’ve got it right. We will also be bidding for a small Arts Council grant and if we’re successful, there’ll be a bigger pot of money to support this work too. Keep your fingers crossed!
Update: March 2023: How can we make Acomb Explore even better?
City of York Council has committed money from its capital investment fund to improve the building and other facilities at Acomb Explore Library. This isn’t money for spending on books. Because it is capital investment the council will spend money on the building and its surroundings.
Arts Council England also has a fund to help improve library buildings. We want to apply and if successful this would mean a bit more money for Acomb Explore.
Acomb Explore is your space, right in the heart of the community, and we would like you to help shape the changes and make it even better.
What would you like at Acomb Explore? A bigger café? Private study areas? A more flexible space for big events? Something else?
This survey closed on Monday 27 March. We are now evaluating your responses. Thank you to everybody who took part.
The story so far
Acomb residents have already shared their views in two recent surveys.
The Future of Front Street: Residents commented in this survey in spring 2021. They wanted to see more community involvement, more independent businesses and speciality markets, more plants and trees, pedestrian areas, seating and outdoor café areas.
Find out more about the current and future improvement works at Front Street
Library Users Survey: Acomb Explore visitors commented in Autumn 2021. They wanted quiet study areas, better protection from draughts, and improvements to the
library’s appearance.