Building work has been completed on Wymondham's new £2m library, which opens to the public on Monday, November 10. The distinctive fan-shaped building, next to the Central Hall in Back Lane, is twice the size of the present library at Becket's Chapel, which has loaned out books to the local community for 60 years.

Building work has been completed on Wymondham's new £2m library, which opens to the public on Monday, November 10.

The distinctive fan-shaped building, next to the Central Hall in Back Lane, is twice the size of the present library at Becket's Chapel, which has loaned out books to the local community for 60 years.

It will have more books, including 5,000 new titles, as well as offering a better IT service to users.

The county council asked Wymondham people earlier this year about their priorities for making use of the extra space.

The answers have helped to shape the new library, where features will include a computer workstation positioned at wheelchair-accessible height, two toilets, space to change babies, more than 270 extra large print books and 150 new audio books, a collection of Nintendo DS and Wii games for hire, drawing table, and toys and seats for children.

John Gretton, the council's cabinet member for cultural services, said: “The new library is a distinctive piece of modern architecture, and I believe it will quickly become something of a landmark in Wymondham.

“More importantly, though, it has been designed with the people who are going to use it in mind and is a comfortable, spacious and accessible building with different areas for all the different services libraries offer the community.”

The current library will close at 1pm on Saturday, October 25 so the stock and equipment can be transferred to the new building.

The entire Central Hall car park will be resurfaced, too, and given better drainage. The work starts next Monday, and the cark park - owned by the Central Hall Trust management committee - will be closed for four days from Monday to Thursday. A pedestrian pathway will be maintained.

Neville Coultas, the management committee's chairman, is delighted with the new library building but has been conscious of the parking disruption during construction and hasapologised for the added inconvenience. He has handed over a cheque for £45,600 to the county council as a contribution towards the overall site improvements resulting from the development. Some of this will be used as part of the funding for a major refurbishment of the hall.

Attleborough and Hethersett libraries will have extra opening times during the two weeks between the closure of the library at Becket's Chapel and the opening of the new library. As well as their usual opening times, Attleborough will open from 2-5pm on Tuesday, October 28 and from 9am-1pm and 2-5pm on Tuesday, November 4.

Hethersett will open from 10am- 1pm and 2-5pm on Tuesday, October 28 and Tuesday, November 4.