Thomas Graham Library: Write Move

29 Jan 2025

Urban Realm checks out a community lending library in Strathblane. Running against the grain in a rare example of investment amidst an uncertain future for the sector but does it represent the future of book lending? We look at a grassroots build that has become a hub of community life. Photography by Ashley Coombes, Epic Scotland

Strathblane’s new community lending library is a rare example of investment in a sector with an uncertain future but is it the future of book lending? Read up on the first community-owned library in Scotland and a new chapter on delivering public services for cash-strapped local authorities.

Commissioned by Strathblane Community Development Trust (SCDT) the grassroots vision delivered by Thomas Robinson Architects (TRA) saw a decrepit portacabin that was no longer fit for purpose, replaced by a building which enables the continuation of library services in the town which otherwise was in doubt. Dominated by a full-length picture window framing panoramic views of the Campsie Fells the £1m contract has seen the team deliver a flexible social space that combines community rooms, meeting areas and study spaces in addition to a fully reconfigurable library which doubles as an event space utilising mobile shelving and swing doors to maximise every square foot.

TRA associate architect Craig Higgins told Urban Realm: “Angus Graham, a descendant of famed chemist Thomas Graham, was the driving force behind it. He was determined to do something in Thomas Graham’s name as a monument to him and a benefit to the community. He got to see it finished and was here for the opening ceremony but has now sadly passed away.” When Stirling Council indicated that there was no immediate budget to replace the ageing portacabin library that had served the village for many years the community, spurred by a generous donation from Angus, took matters into its own hands. Thanks to Graham’s persistence the community, via the SCDT, formed a subsidiary company called Thomas Graham Library Limited (TGLL) to manage the open tender and who now own the building, operating the library in partnership with Stirling Council. TRA director Fiona Robinson told Urban Realm: “We’ve known Angus Graham for a long time, he came to us and asked for concepts. It’s the heart of the community in Strathblane and if it had gone it would have been a real loss.”

Higgins added: “The key objectives were replacing the old portacabin with a sustainable structure and incorporating an expanded book collection. The library also had to operate separately from community spaces. The back half of the building was always meant to be closed off and used after hours.” Banishing the long associations of libraries and dusty shelves and ‘keep quiet’ signs Strathblane has gone in the opposite direction, embracing its natural setting, near and far, of river and mountain but did a bottom-up approach to the design process present any headaches?

Higgins observed: “That was the part of the job where you have to mitigate aspirations with the reality of what you can get through iterations in the design process but we got what we needed for the brief in the end. If budget had been no issue, I’m sure people would have wanted a cafe and other things. One of the key differences is the library is now open, not shut off behind a solitary window.  It makes it part of school life when viewed from their side of the fence so they all get to know it and want to be a part of it.”

Visiting on a sunny autumnal afternoon illuminates the decision to place solar panels on a good portion of the south-facing roof, which is a timber kit design, built around a glulam main structure. Delivering civic scale in a compact building is no easy task. It is delivered by prioritising the dramatic view of the Campsies while diminishing in scale towards a walking route along Ballagan Burn. Turning the grandiose idea of a Carnegie Library on its head in the process. Higgins said: “There is community demand for libraries, it is the funding that is the problem. The council lease this space but the trust owns the building. The Drymen library was leased out of a building owned by someone else and that closed due to funding. This would probably have gone the same way.”

Best known for their estate work for country houses across the Highlands and Islands the practice’s latest work demonstrates what can be achieved through bottom-up funding when top-down sources are drying up. At a time of doom and gloom in the library world the suggestion that reading habits have changed Strathblane’s experience demonstrates that the opposite is true.