Major expansion for Great Ayton’s community library

A community library has undergone a major expansion and now includes space for the village’s tourist information centre and its secondhand bookshop.

The extension of Great Ayton Discovery Centre was completed using a LEADER fund grant of £85,000 and the centre’s own resources and involved extending the former school building over an adjacent alleyway.

As well as housing the village’s tourist information centre and its secondhand bookshop, it also includes the centre’s public-use computers.

The extension was opened by Richmond MP Rishi Sunak, who said the centre was now ‘very much the hub” of the village.

He also praised the centre’s trustees, led by Ken Taylor, for their work in finding the money and seeing the project through to its successful conclusion.

Mr Sunak said: “The trustees and the volunteers have created a wonderful community asset and, in building the extension, have made it more attractive for villagers and the many tourists who come here. It is now very much the hub of the village.”

Chair of the centre’s trustees, Ken Taylor, said the additional space provided by the extension has enabled the display of crafts and artworks by local people – which are a source of revenue for the centre – to be greatly improved. There was also more space in the main library and an additional storeroom.

Incorporation of the tourist information centre had benefited both organisations, Mr Taylor said, as its previous location in the village car park was not easy to find.

The Discovery Centre’s central location in the High Street would greatly assist visitors.

Mr Taylor said: “There are so many people to thank, from the architects and builders. Everyone has pulled together.”

He paid particular tribute to Ian Pearce for his project management and expertise in securing the grant aid which had made it possible.

The Discovery Centre has been run by volunteers as a community library for more than six years and was one the first community libraries in North Yorkshire.