Happy New Year

The final push starts today to get everything ready for opening on Thursday the 4th.

Merry Christmas

Vale of Glamorgan Libraries are closed from Saturday the 23rd to Wednesday 27th December. We open again on Thursday 28th and Friday 29th December.

There are no decorations in the library at Barry this year but other libraries, including Rhoose above, have not held back. As well as decorating the library Sandra has wrapped books in Christmas paper and is issuing customers an extra surprise book for Christmas.

Penarth

Display at Penarth Library

Lolfa

The chairs have arrived in the lolfa and Sandra takes the opportunity to use the area for a meeting about staff rotas.

The PR section sent a photographer to take some shots of the library today. The first publicity stories that get in the press before opening will probably use these photos of staff pretending to be customers.

Splash of red

We're not afraid of colour at the new library. A large consignment of casual seating arrived today, all of it in strong colours. We also received some study desks, occassional tables and the last office desks.

New Books

Tina and Angela prepare new books.

Clock

The town hall clock is now working again after being stuck at 9am for the last 5 years. The pendulum for the clock drops the whole length of the clock tower and down to the basement. The weights are wound up to the top of the tower every seven days and take seven days to sink to the basement floor. If they are not wound up again the clock stops.

Jill

Jill worked her last day on the staff at Barry today and got a good send-off. Jill is stepping down from a permanent job to enjoy the flexibility of working as a relief assistant. We're sorry to be loosing her but at least we'll get the chance to work with her from time to time.

Apologies for the photograph - it's a technical problem with the camera!

Offices

We haven't received all the furniture for offices yet and still await most of the public seating and several tables. Colette is making good use of a bench while she waits for a desk.

Print kiosk

Richard from Lorensberg, spent three days with us this week installing the print kiosk, setting up connect and setting up wifi on netloan.

When we open in January this means customers will be able to release and pay for their own printouts using the self-service kiosk, we'll have an online booking system for rooms and equipment, and we'll have a method for logging on to the wifi network using barcode and pin numbers.

Move complete

Everything has been moved from the leisure centre and all the books have been shelved. We've left space on the shelves for the new stock to be brought up from the basement and interfiled.

DVDs

DVDs and CDs have been shelved

Last crates

Would the last one out please turn off the lights!

The books arrive

The final movement of crates from the leisure centre started today, a week ahead of schedule. Almost all had been moved by 5pm. There is just one lorry load of books to move. By lunch time tomorrow all 76000 books and other items whill have been moved from the leisure centre to join the 9800 items already moved from the reserve stock.

As well as delivering the crates, McKeown are also shelving the books and doing a fine job of it thanks to pre-planning. Each crate is labeled with a bay and shelf number. We have a floor plan indicating the shelf numbering system if anyone gets lost or confused.

Large Print

Most of the large print and talking books have now been shelved.

Barry library

This is what the old library looks like without furniture, shelving or books. It is even more obvious now that there were no windows in the room originally built as a bowls hall.

The rest of the crates will be collected next week. They'll have to be taken down the steps from the fire exit door because the lift cannot be trusted.

Yvonne & Pat

NVQ success

Despite all the work at the county library there is still time to make progress in other areas of the service. We've launched a new mobile library and mobile routes in the last few months, we've run a Face 2 Face programme with visiting authors. And today, six staff have achieve their Information and Library Services NVQ awards. Seen above are Dene, Rachel, Phil, Bloss, Julie and Chris with Lynne, the assessor, holding the flowers.

local studies shelving

Shelving has now also been erected on the first floor. The local studies collection will be in the area above the lolfa. We still need to decide on a position for the map cabinet.

Training

Staff will be able to start shelving books soon. Until that time they are continuing to work on offices, on sorting the book stock and training in the use of new equipment.

Shelving installed

Demco spent the day erecting some of the shelving. The building is now taking shape as a library but we will miss some of the long views and open spaces.

Shelving positioned

Book security

We've chosen a new book security system to match the one we already have at Penarth library. Plescon were on site today to install the security gates at the main door, the door to the library courtyard (seen above) and the door to the exhibition centre, all routes which customers may take. They'll also install scanners.

deliveries

Two interactive whiteboards have arrived. These are just some of the different items of equipment new to our libraries. We'll need to organise training as soon as they are fixed to the wall. We'll have less difficulty operating the dishwasher installed in the meeting room kitchen or the washing machine now installed in the basement.

Demco arrived at 7am this morning to start dismantling the shelving in the leisure centre. By the end of the day the first delivery of this shelving had been made to the new library.

Our second permanent security officer has been appointed. Steve started work today and will shadow Mike to get the hang of things.

Storage

We are still waiting for the sliding doors to be built for the craft storage and sink unit in the children's library. The TV for the adjoining unit has arrived. The PCs have been set-up on the children's IT bench.

Furniture

Some of the reusable furniture waiting to be set out once the shelving is in place.

Roger

It was the last full day at the library for Roger, our Kier Western site foreman. He's been on the project for the last couple of years and knows the building and everything about the site in great detail. He moves on to finish off a project at Pontarddulais and then a new project for the DVLA at Pontadawe. We'll watch out for his irregular visits over the next few weeks and save up questions to ask him. We wish him well.

We've taken some time to decide on the main directional and room signage we need for the building and finally placed an order for the work today. We're assured the signs can be erected in time for Christmas.

First phase complete

After a day of action the network is now fully working and the PCs can connect. Gavin and Russell have put the PCs on desks and have set the majority of them up. We'll be able to start showing staff how they differ from the terminals they replace.

Our art project is progressing. A group of kids have come together with Bryce to work on the project for the youth area. They come from the same school and will continue to meet over the next few weeks until the work has been produced.

The first phase of removals is over. The removal company has moved all the furniture from the library at the leisure centre and moved all the categories of books we packed ourselves. They have since crated the rest of the stock at the leisure centre and these crates are stacked ready to move at the end of next week. The older shelving has to be dismantled and re-erected at the county library along with all the new shelving. Only then will we have somewhere to put the books.

Boy with book moves

Our boy with a book has been on the move but is now settled facing the main entrance.

More deliveries

Another van unloads at the back of the library

More crates arrived from the leisure centre and these were stacked around the new library. Older furniture and chairs arrived in the afternoon and these were delivered to offices and the area of the library where they'll be used. Staff got on with unpacking books and sorting office spaces.

Carpenters were available to put up clocks (18), shelves (2), notice boards (13) and to carry out various other small jobs.

The DVD shelving went up this morning and 6 slatwalls were erected. By 7pm the men from Cambridge had started assembling the end panels onto the older CD shelving units they collected from the leisure centre.

As well as the main deliveries and other work in the building, the site foreman met with us to discuss various outstanding matters, the shelving company came to survey the site in preparation for shelving next week, and Ben started work as our first permanent member of security staff.

DVD units

We have a tannoy

Computer desks are cleaned

Removals start

This was a day for removal men and lorries. Two lorries and a van came from Bristol to move the crates. They were hampered by a faulty lift at the leisure centre, which trapped two men, but they still managed to shift three lorry loads of crates during the day, about 250 crates in all.

The Bridgend Office furniture lorry also arrived this morning bringing flat packed office desks and staff room chairs and tables. These were delivered, distributed around the new building and put together.

Meanwhile the recycling van arrived to empty the squash court of all the paper put aside for recycling. Two Vale Works men with van needed the whole day to move furniture around and dispose of all other rubbish.

Arrivals

The first crates arrived at the library after lunch and staff were able to get started unpacking. Some of the books for the promotion area came first. This is the only area we have shelving for at the moment so they are the only books that will be unpacked for the next week.

Office and counter crates arrived at the end of the day so they will be unpacked tomorrow.

Meanwhile, staff back at the leisure centre completed the job of marking furniture and individual shelves with a destination code. The removal men will start on the furniture tomorrow and then crate the bulk of the books.

Break time

The staff room furniture has arrived.

Unpacking

More sorting

Work continued to clear the counter area and office spaces. It took all day to crate the files, supplies, stationery and equipment. Meanwhile, a second group of staff finished off sorting stock at the County library then joined us at the leisure centre to start crating books. All children's books were crated ready for an early move on Monday. The sport and travel sections were also crated, along with the crime section, talking books, large print and quick reads. Most staff were able to finish at 2pm and the office areas were finished by 4.

Packing up

The big sort-out began at 9am when 16 staff turned up for work. Half worked in the County library preparing stock, the rest worked at Barry library packing up.

A decision was needed on everything in Barry library, every pen, file, piece of paper, cardboard box, desk tidy and item of equipment. Staff emptied desks and drawers, filing cabinets, shelves and lockers. Anything to keep was put in a crate. 600 crates arrived at 10am. As they were used, all crates were colour coded and tagged with the number of the room they are destined for in the new library. Anything to stay was bagged for rubbish or recycling and pushed down on trolleys to the squash court. IT equipment also went down to the squash court store to be used elsewhere.

Shelves were tagged ready for the books to be crated tomorrow. Furniture was tagged with the room number it will be moved to on Monday.

All this was hard work but very satisfying. We made good use of the music CD collection while we worked, Diana Ross and Bob Marley being particular favourites.

Library closed, exhibition open

Barry library closed at 6pm today. The new County library will open on the 4th January. We need all this time to move the stock and set-up the new library. We hope that all our customers have heard about the move by now and will make use of other libraries in the Vale while we are shut. The inconvenience will be well worth it.

We had a planning meeting to coordinate arrangements for the next few days. Staff will work over the weekend to clear all desks, drawers and lockers so that furniture and office supplies can be moved to King square on Monday. 250 crates will arrive tomorrow for us to start boxing up the office contents and some books for removal. The removal company will shift the crates and furniture Monday and then crate and move the bulk of the stock. Only once all stock has been crated can the shelving company arrive to dismantle the shelving and move it to the county library. We expect our furniture removal van to become a common site along Holton Road.

The barriers came down around the main entrance on Ty-Newydd road this morning allowing people to come up to the glass wall and look into the library for the first time. Lots of people took this opportunity, especially people waiting for their bus outside the building. The roof overhangs the front of the building and provides shelter from the rain. Far more important than the library however, the removal of the barriers gave access to the long awaited new public toilets.

We had the heaviest rain of the year this evening but it didn't stop people coming out to view the entertainment on King Square. The marque in the park proved useful and the exhibition centre was packed out.

VDU chairs unwrapped

The library is not going to be empty for much longer so here is a view of the first floor with chairs and little else.

VDU chairs

VDU chairs have arrived. A few flat pack tables also arrived but there is still no other furniture in the public spaces apart from a few folding chairs. All this will change next Monday when we expect a big delivery of current and new furniture.

Gillian, our children's librarian, managed to get her picture in the Echo this evening.

Security

A number of security staff cover the building around the clock, looking after the library, the Mayor's parlour, the exhibition centre, Central Park, the car park and King Square. They'll do their job by walking around the building and grounds but also by monitoring the sites from a number of cameras inside and outside the building.

There were early stories and rumours about the park being damaged by young people. The security staff tell us that this has been much exaggerated. There was some minor graffiti on the youth shelter after the building opened but this was cleaned off the next day. The nets were also ripped off the basketball posts but this was entirely accidental. It seems obvious to everyone on site that the kids are delighted at having a new park and are behaving well.

The original plan was to close the park at 6pm but so many young people were in the floodlit area at 6 that it seemed unreasonable to turf them out. The times have therefore been changed in response to requests and the park now closes at 8pm when most have already left for home anyway.