A Nottinghamshire library which was battered by heavy flooding in November is not expected to fully reopen until summer 2020.
Worksop Library, in Memorial Avenue, suffered devastating damage throughout the 2000sqm building when the town flooded on Thursday, November 7.
Recovery specialists are currently "clearing and cleansing" the building, whilst Nottinghamshire County Council and its property partnership ARC develop a programme of works to restore the building for use again.
Due to the significant amount of work required to restore the building, it is estimated that it will be next summer when the library and its services will be fully operational again.
This is dependent upon the time taken to dry the building out, the extent of required works and how long it takes to get the various services up and running.
The building hosts the library service, adult learning, young people’s study programme meetings, events, a café, registration service, adult day care and several Inspire and Nottinghamshire County Council office staff.
Councillor John Cottee, Chairman of the Communities and Place committee at Nottinghamshire County Council, said: "Thank you to staff from across Inspire, the County Council and ARC partnership for their response to the flood."
He also thanked the local community for their offers of help and reassured them that the building will be restored, and services resumed as soon as possible.
To help library customers, Balmoral and Carlton In Lindrick community libraries have extended their opening hours (Monday-Friday 9am-5pm and Saturday – 9am-4pm), with the nearby Aurora Centre also accepting book returns.
