by Emma Kirwan
A council advice centre in Rawdon is moving into a library due to major refurbishment plans.
The One Stop Centre offers face to face services for issues including benefits and council tax and is currently situated at Micklefield House, New Road Side, Rawdon but will be moving into the library in Yeadon.
The development plans for the library are to spread it out over two floors, the One Stop Centre will be on the first floor and a lift will be built to make the second floor accessible to people with disabilities.
Yeadon Councillor Ryk Downes believes the move will encourage more visitors and help Yeadon High Street businesses which are currently struggling.
Ryk said “I think it is excellent. The One Stop Centre in its current location is not accessible to my residents. After writing to people in the area I have found that everyone is supportive. The main benefits will be the accessibility and it will hopefully get more people to use the library.”
While the Yeadon Library is being reconfigured it will be temporarily based at the Methodist Church in Yeadon town square. Resources will be limited and residents will not have access to a computer suite, but books and newspapers will still be available.
Helen Thomson, 26, library assistant said “I am quite excited to see the place up to date, at the moment it is not. I am worried that the building work will go on too long but hopefully the change will be good.”
The library will close on March 26 and is estimated to open again on June 24.