The East End’s Bancroft Library, which the East London Advertiser campaigned to save, is to reopen on January 31.
The Grade-II listed building in Bancroft Road, formally known as Tower Hamlets Local History Library & Archives has undergone works designed to improve health and safety standards within the building and disabled access.
An official opening for the library, which houses a collection covering 400 years of East End history, will be held on February 14.
A council spokeswoman said the council had invested �255,000 ‘to make the building compliant with current building regulations and disabled access legislation.’
She said: “The building is currently undergoing construction works to support its redevelopment as a heritage centre for the East End.”
The East London Advertiser ran a campaign in 2008 to save the archive and in a council meeting last October, a motion was put forward asking Mayor Lutfur Rahman to ensure �500,000 of funding was given over to Bancroft.
At the time, the deputy mayor Ohid Ahmed said ‘further repairs’ were required on the library, home to 20,000 books and pamphlets.
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