Carnegie Library
In January 2018 a consortium of local businessmen submitted a tender to Sefton Council to lease this historic building and bring it into productive use for commercial and community activities.
Fifteen month later, the Council has still failed to make a decision on whether to accept their bid. This highlights the Council’s lack of commitment to work with and support a private sector initiative, even when there is no cost to the Council. The same Council refused to engage with a voluntary group who wished to take over the library before it closed in December 2013. In October 2017 the Council’s preferred tenant, a locally based Development Trust, also withdrew from the project.
If the Council has its own plans for the building then perhaps they will inform the community. Meanwhile, the building remains empty and the grounds neglected. The hedges are overgrown and restricting access for pedestrians along Carnegie Avenue but the Council simply doesn’t care. This is not the way to care for an historic Grade II Listed Building.
On 11th May 2019 it will be 115 years since the Library’s foundation stone was laid. Will the Council invite the public to come and celebrate this historic anniversary in appreciation of the generous gift to the people of Crosby by Andrew Carnegie?
