Black Country library is facing threat of closure

Councillor James Clinton, Dudley Council's cabinet member responsible for libraries, said the lease on Sedgley library was due to end in March, 2026.

 “The building is owned by the NHS and there is no viable option to extend the current arrangements," he said. 

“We are currently working with local councillors to find an alternative site that will be local and meet residents’ needs.”

The library in Ladies Walk opened in 2001 as part of a £4 million private finance initiative deal which also saw a new state-of-the-art health centre open on the site. 

It replaced a previous 1960s library, which was owned by the council, and the neighbouring Ladies' Walk clinic, which dated from about the same time.

The development won an award for the 'most innovative private finance initiative under £10 million' in the Public Private Finance Awards for 2001 and was officially opened by then Dudley North MP Ross Cranston and was visited by then health secretary Jacqui Smith. 

Councillor Shaun Keasey said he had made tentative inquiries about the vacant fiormer Barclay's bank in the village, which he said was of a suitable size.

The Concorde market hall is also set to close, but Councillor Keasey believed that may prove too large and would probably be considered a prime retail location. 

The former Cafe Cappella premises in Gospel End Street were also for sale, he added, but thought it unlikely the council would be in a position to buy a building in the present financial climate.