An A-listed library that was closed by the council could be set for a new lease of life.
The future of the Inglis Memorial Library in Edzell is to be considered by Angus Council’s neighbourhood services committee on Thursday, with a potential change of use to a museum and visitor attraction on the table.
Councillors will be asked to agree a report instructing officers to conclude an assessment of options for the site, including costing the viability of bringing the Victorian building back to life.
Housed within the Inglis Memorial Hall, the library consists of some 6,000 volumes, including original stock gifted to the village by Lieutenant-Colonel RW Inglis in 1898.
The Victorian library, considered the best-preserved example in the United Kingdom, contains the original Cotgreave Indicator issue system, which contains loan records, as well as printed catalogues and lists of regulations.
The Library and Information History Group (LIHG) of the Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals considers the library to be unique in the history of librarianship.
Any assessment would weigh up the potential to enhance cultural tourism, against the level of investment needed from the 2013-14 budget to bring it up to standard.
Its stained glass windows will require conservation or repair work, as would the mosaic panel above the vestibule door.
A replacement handrail matching the existing one on the balcony may be required, in addition to new linoleum, linen curtains and lighting to match the 19th-century feel.
Modern wooden, electrical and heating fixtures would have to be taken out and some of the historic book collections from the reading room would have to be removed.
The outlined proposals do not include the costs of any conservation or repair required to the books themselves.
The report states: ”A restored Victorian library could become a unique visitor attraction, but to be sustainable the staffing of the Inglis Memorial Library would need to be undertaken by volunteers.
”This type of development in Edzell would add to the existing number of community-based cultural tourist facilities in Angus, and in particular could be promoted as a package of the type of developments, along with The Glen Esk Folk Museum at the Retreat in Glenesk, Montrose Air Station Heritage Centre and the Caledonian Railway at Brechin.”
Following the closure of the lending library in 2010, residents formed Edzell Library Action Group (ELAG) to campaign for the return of a staffed service, run by the council.
However, that option was ruled out by the local authority and the village is now served by a mobile bus that visits smaller communities around the county.
ELAG have proposed a ”hybrid” solution, in which the visitor attraction element could be combined with a modern lending library. They want to see three rooms of historical interest for visitors plus a lending room, claiming their proposal would result in substantially greater use and receive more visitors.
A statement from the group read: ”The hybrid solution has already been proved viable. A lending library has operated successfully in the old library/reading room for over 100 years and library usage was increasing prior to closure in 2010.
”It (the solution) still retains and promotes all the historical items in the old library for visitors and academics, and does not require the loss or removal of any of the original Victorian items from the Council Chamber.”