WORK has begun on the new £5.3m public library as part of Barnsley town centre’s £120m facelift.

The Mayor of Barnsley, Coun Linda Burgess, led celebrations on Monday by making the first dig into the ground with a ceremonial spade to mark the start of construction on the library, the first permanent building to go up as part of The Glass Works development.

Last month, Barnsley Council announced it would be putting an additional £70m into the town centre regeneration scheme, bringing the total investment by the council to £120m. The retail and leisure side of the scheme, called The Glass Works, will provide shops, restaurants, a 13-screen Cineworld and Superbowl UK, alongside a new home for Barnsley Markets, a new central library and community space and multi-storey car park.

The council said the ‘futuristic’ library has been designed to be the beacon of the town and will have a glass exterior to allow light from the building to illuminate the new public square.

Read more in this weeks Barnsley Chronicle