The Library remains in the ownership of the Birmingham City Council and is held in trust. Following a petition signed by over 1700 people we are working with the council to secure the library either by a sale or tenancy agreement that would see the CDT take over the running of the building on favourable terms. The City is currently running a consultation on the future of the Library.

We think the Library could be transferred to a new owner but that it should remain in the hands of a charitable organisation and be used as a community resource. You can respond to the consultation here.

In 2019 our partner CP4SO won a National Lottery Community Fund grant to pay for a professional assessment of the feasibility of restoring the Library building and finding a new community use for it. This assessment confirmed that the building is sufficiently sound to provide a variety of public uses. Possible uses include:

· A community café run by an anchor tenant, convertible for evening use for large events

· Café style co-working hot desks

· Lettable meeting spaces for local organisations

· Exhibition space

· Shared computing and printing /copying facilities

· Individual offices/studios for groups of artists or organisations providing services (e.g. university outreach and counselling).

It could also provide a 'Click and Collect' style access point for the Birmingham Library Service. We think that such community uses would be in line with the Charity Commissions definition of a library as being for the advancement of education, and that it would be consistent with the original gift.