But a last-minute plea by three local councillors to consider an alternate home for the existing Charles Street library services could derail plans for an opening on December 4.
Offering an update on the integration of library, registrar and customer services into the town hall, council officer James Cox said: “The actual work will start on site on September 25; this is the proposal.”
Mr Cox says the customer service centre will shut on September 18, the week before work begins, and moved to the library on Charles Street, while registrar services relocate to Ednam Street.
Speaking at a meeting of Annan’s community council on Monday, Mr Cox said: “Nine weeks of work will be completed on November 24, and this will then mean migrating books across from the library to the town hall.”
With a week set aside, he said: “During that process one of the plans would be to bring in a mobile library, and have it up there at the library itself while we’re moving the stuff; so there would still be a library there during that week.”
However, Annandale South councillor Richard Brodie says that he two other colleagues have made a formal request for the plan to be put on hold — while another location is considered, having previously flagged up Annan Academy as an option.
Having voiced concerns about the suitability of the town hall, and planned reduction in children’s and reference sections, Councillor Brodie said: “It’s late in the day, but three of the four local councillors are looking at an alternative proposal to put towards the council in September.”
Concern was expressed by community council chairman Allan Weild at a ‘last minute’ intervention, with it noted that integration of services was initiated in 2011.
However, Alan Weild said he would support an alternative plan if it was fully detailed, and ‘better value for the people of Annan, and a better facility for the people of Annan’.
