A section of Central Library is currently closed to customers after a small part of the first floor ceiling of the Grade II listed building came loose.

A piece of the glass panelled roof above the first floor lending library fell to the ground last Monday morning after plasterwork above it came down. The first floor lending library has been subsequently closed pending remedial work though the rest of the library is open as normal.

Councillor Elias Mattu, Wolverhampton City Council's Cabinet Member for Leisure and Communities, said: "The roof above the glass panelling in the first floor lending library is made of lathe and plaster, a traditional way of plastering a roof ceiling many years ago which is unfortunately prone to fail with age.

"As a result of last week's incident, we've closed the first floor lending library for health and safety reasons while specialist repairs to the ceiling are carried out. Because of the nature of the repairs, they are likely to take a few weeks to complete and will require the erection of scaffolding so that engineers can reach the affected area.

"The rest of the library is open as normal and we have tried to ensure that it is business as usual by relocating many items from the first floor to the adult lending library on the ground floor. We will endeavour, if possible, to get hold of any other items requested by customers as required."

  • released: Monday 1 September, 2014