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.

Main counter

Counter detail

The two counters in the building were designed by the architects and built by Kier Western. They have some interesting features that are echoed elsewhere in the building.

PCs were installed around the main counter today. Notice boards arrived. More items of furniture were ordered. A couple of datapoints and power points were repositioned in the floor.

Glass

There are two doors in the old part of the building with stained glass. Some of the original glass was missing and was replaced by new. Few people will be able to tell the new from old. The glass above is original, I think!

One of the offices is divided by old patterned galss. see below.

Boy with Book

Boy with Book by Robert Thomas

Staff have been working seven days a week to get the stock prepared for the move. We are changing security systems so every book and CD in the library needed to be desensitised. This work was completed today ready for the stock to be crated next weekend.

Car Park

The Wyndham street car park which serves the library, Central Park and the town centre, was officially opened by the leader of the council, councillor Jeff James this afternoon. The occassional shopper has managed to find a space in the car park when the fencing was left open but now they can park when they choose. The car park has 78 places and will be open from 9.30 - 6.30. A section of the car park has been cordoned off for library deliveries until we open.

The first PCs were installed in the computer room today. Anyone near the window seats might find the views a bit distracting.

Meeting Room

The pace of change is stepping up and every day brings something new. The first table arrived today. It's an Executive 800 to match the chairs and cupboards that arrived last week. This almost completes the furniture for the meeting room. It now feels a bit like a boardroom. We held a staff meeting here this afternoon and when we broke for coffee we put our cups on wads of paper and diaries so as not to damage the table surface. We've now added coasters to the list of things to buy!

We've had many enquiries from partners and individuals wanting to use rooms at the library and we will have a two community rooms that can be used. We've already commited some dates to the bookings diary.

Shelving

The first shelving arrived yesterday and it took until lunch time today to install. It’s purple, very purple, and we love it. The shelving is on the ground floor just inside the main entrance. It comprises three propeller shaped units that will be used to promote a changing collection of adult stock. The majority of adult books will be on the first floor.

Exhibition space

Free standing display boards have now arrived and the exhibition space has been fully kitted out. This will be a great asset for Barry and the new building. We look forward to the opening exhibition of paintings and ceramics by local artists on the 17th of November.

Lights

The last couple of electricians responsible for all the work in the building will be finishing in the next few days. One of their last major tasks has been to ensure all the connections are working for the Christmas lights. The front of the building has been decked out with lights in preparation for the switch on at 4pm Friday November 17th. King Square and exhibition space are officially opened on this date. As well as the Christmas lights there will be live music, street entertainers and food stalls. This should not of course be confused with the library opening. Barry will have to wait until 4th January for the County Library to open.

Other events organised for the square before we open include:

Carols for Shelter Cymru at 4.30 on December 1st
Ty Hafan "Light up a life" carol concert 5.30 on December 5th
Festive fun on Saturday 9th December from 11-5

Old library

A floor to ceiling glass wall separates the new library from what was the fiction area of the old library. This will become the exhibition space. The original columns, parquet floor, entrance doors and window frames have all been retained. Anyone who steps into this section will recognise all the familiar features of the old library but brought to life as we've never seen them before. It was almost impossible to see the windows in the latter years of the library. Shelves obscured the windows from inside and ivy and shrubs from outside.

Mayor

The library is not the only occupant of the building on King Square. What was the ground floor of the original Barry Library has now become an exhibition space. Above the exhibition space, the room originally designed and used as a council chamber has now become the mayor's parlour. This will be used for official functions. Also in the building is the office of the town centre manager .

Chairs

A morning spent choosing study chairs (26), operator chairs for computer users (18), staff chairs for library counters (6) and offices (2), chairs for the children’s IT bench (12) and youth area (4). We also had to choose a colour and fabric for each chair, ensuring the colour didn’t clash with other colour choices already made. We found our growing collection of fabric swatches useful, especially those in the Main Line and Extreme Plus ranges. The orders were placed after lunch and then we embarked on a hunt through catalogues for a square 600x600 table suitable for OPACs and next to photocopiers. This proved fruitless so we went back to the RAL charts and chose a colour scheme for the headers above CD and DVD units.

Meanwhile, the first furniture and equipment has arrived. We have a couple of cupboards and chairs for one of the community rooms, a whiteboard for a community room, and a fridge for the community room kitchen.

Computers

Computer room

The computer network is up and running and the first PCs have been built. There are no desks to put them on yet so we will continue to store hardware until the furniture arrives. We’ve chosen to use PCs throughout the library rather than the citrix terminals we’ve used to date. PCs will reduce traffic on the 10Mg line to Civic Offices and will enable greater access to moving images and sound. PCs will also give greater flexibility. Each PC will have USB ports, a headphone socket and access to a CD drive so that users can save their own work to a disk or other media. We’ll also have multimedia cards for saving digital images. A print kiosk will enable people to pay for and release their own print jobs without staff intervention.

As well as public access PCs there will be a wireless network in the building extending out to the park and the town square. This has yet to be set-up.