Birkdale Community Hub and Library is now open for browsing!
The new facility, which is operated by volunteers, is situated in the old Station Master’s House at Birkdale Train Station, in the heart of Birkdale Village in Southport.
A Birkdale Community Hub and Library spokesperson said: “You can come in between 10am – 8pm on Tuesdays and Thursdays, and 10am – 1pm on Saturday.
“We have 3,000 titles and growing – we’d love to see you so call in to join up and browse our stock in person.
“Membership is free, and our click and collect service from our webpage will stay open. We are also still accepting donations of good quality books of all types.
“See you soon!”
The Birkdale Community Hub and Library charity was formed after the closure in 2013 of Birkdale’s council-run library on Liverpool Road. It has since been replaced by housing.
Significant local feeling wanted a replacement for the library and a decision was made to try to employ the disused old Station Master’s House attached to Birkdale Station in Southport.
A lease was negotiated with Merseyrail and Network Rail so that volunteers could upgrade the dilapidated building. At the same time a big fundraising effort was instituted. After several years of ups and downs, and a lot of hard work, the lease was agreed.
By late 2019 there were enough funds for renovation work to start. After more support from both organisations and individuals the majority of the building work, furnishing and equipping was completed by October 2020 in the teeth of the Covid pandemic.
There are over 50 volunteers to staff the House which will have over 3,000 books at any one time, three meeting rooms all with internet connected TVs and ethernet ports, and there is wifi connectivity throughout.
One of the meeting rooms is a computer suite with six high spec PCs.
In 2021 volunteers installed a modern lift system for disabled access to the upper floor meeting room suites
Birkdale Community Hub and Library is accepting donations of new books, please drop off during opening hours only.
- For more details please visit: thestationmastershouse.co.uk or call: 07561838818.
Do you have a story for Stand Up For Southport? Please message Andrew Brown via Facebook here or email me at: mediaandrewbrown@gmail.com
