An historic building said to be the finest example of a Victorian library in Britain will cost £84,000 to bring it back to its former glory.
Members of Angus Council’s neighbourhood services committee will meet in Forfar to consider a report on Inglis Memorial Library in Edzell.
Department director Ron Ashton has asked for permission to cost ”the setting up of a historical visitor attraction” to submit during next year’s budget-setting process.
This is the council’s preferred option, financially. However, the reintroduction of a part-time lending library is being put forward.
Discussion of the library was pulled from an August agenda but there is support for this use.
Mr Ashton says: ”The Neighbourhood Services Department has been asked to identify savings options of £788,000 per year in each of the coming three years (£2.364 million in total).
”Given these challenges, it is vital members have the opportunity to consider any development of the Inglis Memorial Library alongside the other difficult budget decisions which required.
”This is why any outline plans for the library will be dealt with through the 2013/14 budget setting process.”
An estimate for renovating the interior of the building for use as a tourist attraction and library has been provided at £84,000.
This includes £40,000 for the restoration of stained glass windows, £7,900 for committee room alteration, £19,650 for the historic library room, an IT and furniture allowance of £9,000 and sundries of £6,600.
Mr Ashton warns the building’s historic nature would itself be a stumbling block to the library’s revival.
He wrote: ”The existing stained glass windows have been surveyed by a specialist in this type of works who has provided estimated costs based on their report.
”It must be stressed Historic Scotland will require to be fully consulted in advance of any property work being undertaken.
”This consultation process can take a significant amount of time and will have an impact on the overall programme.”
Talks have also begun with the Edzell Library Action Group (Elag).
The organisation wants to see the local hall reopened as a library and has come up with a range of suggestions for staffing the facility, including part-time opening.
The A-listed hall contains the memorial library, closed in 2010, which consists of a collection of about 6,000 volumes.
It contains the original stock gifted to the village of Edzell by Lieutenant Colonel RW Inglis in 1898 and is considered to be the best-preserved example of a Victorian public library in the United Kingdom.
The building still contains the original Cotgreave Indicator Issue System, which contains loan records as well as printed catalogues and lists of regulations.
The book collection is on the upper floor of the building, but the ground floor is now available to return the 1898 Inglis Memorial Library to its original layout.
This would require investment into the decoration, restoration of stained glass windows and the reintroduction of a layout where the public consulted the catalogues before being issued with their choice of books.
Display panels, historic photographs, archive material and memories of the library and Edzell from local residents could also be used to tell the story of the Victorian village and its daily life as part of the tourism aspects of any development plan.