Dulwich library closing for refurbishment

[sunshine_m]

Details here:

https://www.southwark.gov.uk/2025/dulwich-library-closing-refurbishment

[Penguin68]

Considering the private revision study that my children undertook, perhaps 15 to 20 years ago in that library it seems a shame they have timed the refurbishment so it won't be open at this crucial time for children. But hey, so long as it's greener... 

[claresy]

Apparently the 'improvements' include fewer books, which I'm not happy about. 

[Sue]

2 hours ago, Penguin68 said:

Considering the private revision study that my children undertook, perhaps 15 to 20 years ago in that library it seems a shame they have timed the refurbishment so it won't be open at this crucial time for children. But hey, so long as it's greener... 

Yes, why couldn't they have started the work in July, after exams finished?  Then it would have been open again  to give children at least some revision time there  before exams.

[Dogkennelhillbilly]

On 04/11/2025 at 07:56, Penguin68 said:

. But hey, so long as it's greener... 

OMFG is it possible for the council to do anything without a bunch of armchair experts moaning about it?

The library refurb is great news, as it's lovely but completely shagged out - the toilets don't even work reliably. Other libraries in the area will be open longer house during the closure. July is a rubbish time to begin a refurb because it's just before the entire construction sector goes on summer holiday, and it would mean delaying the work another 8 months.

[Sue]

6 hours ago, Dogkennelhillbilly said:

OMFG is it possible for the council to do anything without a bunch of armchair experts moaning about it?

The library refurb is great news, as it's lovely but completely shagged out - the toilets don't even work reliably. Other libraries in the area will be open longer house during the closure. July is a rubbish time to begin a refurb because it's just before the entire construction sector goes on summer holiday, and it would mean delaying the work another 8 months.

Thank you for your explanation, which makes complete sense.

Sadly I'm guessing that most of those who post on here, including me, are not familiar with the  holiday arrangements of the construction industry.

Very sorry to have ventured an uninformed opinion 😀

[David Peckham]

9 hours ago, Dogkennelhillbilly said:

July is a rubbish time to begin a refurb because it's just before the entire construction sector goes on summer holiday

I thought August was one of the busiest times for the building trade. The clement weather makes it more reliable for planning jobs and shouting obscenities at passing ladies.

Are you confusing brickies with hedge fund managers or the French?  It's easily done and they basically disappear for August.

Edited Wednesday at 20:34 by David Peckham

[Dogkennelhillbilly]

4 hours ago, Sue said:

I'm guessing that most of those who post on here, including me, are not familiar with the  holiday arrangements of the construction industry.

Very sorry to have ventured an uninformed opinion 😀

Rant ahead: You're not one of them but unfortunately, there's a substrate of posters here that do very little except moan and come up with weird conspiracy theories. They're immediately highly critical of just about any change, and their initial assumption is that everyone else is a total fucking contemptible idiot.

For example: don't you think that the people who run the libraries will have considered the impact of timing of reconstruction on library users? (In fact, we know they have - because they've made arrangements at other libraries to attempt to mitigate the disruption). After all, these are the people that spend their whole working week thinking about libraries and dealing with library users (and the kids especially). You don't go into the library game for the chicks and fame - so it's fair to assume that librarians are committed to public service and public access to libraries, including by kids. Likewise the built environment people (engineers, architects, construction managers, project managers, construction contractors, subcontractors or whoever is on this job) are told to minimise disruption on every job they do. The thing that occurs to us as amateurs within 30 seconds of us seeing something is probably not something a full time professional hasn't thought about!

Southwark Council, the NHS, TfL, Dulwich Estate, Thames Water, Openreach - they're not SPECTRE factories filled with malevolent chaosmongers trying to persecute anyone. They're mostly filled with people who understand their job and try to do their best with what they've been given - just like all of us. Nobody is perfect or immune from challenge, and that's fair enough, but why not at least start from the assumption that there's a good reason why things have been done the way they have? Any normal person would be pleased that their busy, pretty, lively local library is getting refurbished, and will have more space and facilities for kids and teens, and will be more efficient to run and warmer in winter.

But no, EDT_Forumite_752 had kids who did an exam 20 years ago, and this makes them an expert on library refurbishment who can see it's all just stuff and nonsense for the green agenda and why can't it all be put off... 😡😡😡

[Jenijenjen]

Bravo! 👏

[Sue]

10 hours ago, Dogkennelhillbilly said:

Rant ahead: You're not one of them but unfortunately, there's a substrate of posters here that do very little except moan and come up with weird conspiracy theories. They're immediately highly critical of just about any change, and their initial assumption is that everyone else is a total fucking contemptible idiot.

For example: don't you think that the people who run the libraries will have considered the impact of timing of reconstruction on library users? (In fact, we know they have - because they've made arrangements at other libraries to attempt to mitigate the disruption). After all, these are the people that spend their whole working week thinking about libraries and dealing with library users (and the kids especially). You don't go into the library game for the chicks and fame - so it's fair to assume that librarians are committed to public service and public access to libraries, including by kids. Likewise the built environment people (engineers, architects, construction managers, project managers, construction contractors, subcontractors or whoever is on this job) are told to minimise disruption on every job they do. The thing that occurs to us as amateurs within 30 seconds of us seeing something is probably not something a full time professional hasn't thought about!

Southwark Council, the NHS, TfL, Dulwich Estate, Thames Water, Openreach - they're not SPECTRE factories filled with malevolent chaosmongers trying to persecute anyone. They're mostly filled with people who understand their job and try to do their best with what they've been given - just like all of us. Nobody is perfect or immune from challenge, and that's fair enough, but why not at least start from the assumption that there's a good reason why things have been done the way they have? Any normal person would be pleased that their busy, pretty, lively local library is getting refurbished, and will have more space and facilities for kids and teens, and will be more efficient to run and warmer in winter.

But no, EDT_Forumite_752 had kids who did an exam 20 years ago, and this makes them an expert on library refurbishment who can see it's all just stuff and nonsense for the green agenda and why can't it all be put off... 😡😡😡

Crikey.

I need a lie down in a darkened room after reading that.

And I've only just got up 🤣

Well said, though (apart from the annoying use of "woke").

Edited Thursday at 08:40 by Sue

[Insuflo]

I’m broadly in agreement with you, Dogkennelhillbilly. But why the meme? It’s a very unfair representation of Sean Dyche, a man who to my knowledge has never engaged in any culture war bollocks. From his Wikipedia entry:

Dyche features in an internet meme criticising modern trends in football, in which the phrase "utter woke nonsense" is attributed to him; he said "I wish I'd copyrighted it. Considering I didn’t actually say it, it does follow me around".

[Dogkennelhillbilly]

I'm afraid I have no idea who Sean Dyche is, but I'm sure I could research him (and his views on library refurbishment timetables, if any) on any of the Southwark libraries' internet access computers. Free for any library member!

[David Peckham]

Absolutely, Insuflo

I very much doubt that anyone other than football fans would have heard of Dyche, much less his views on false number nines, mobile centre halves  dropping into midfield or diamond formations.

But all middle-aged, portly, bald, gruffly spoken football fans from north of the capital who eschew fancy Dan tactics for the traditional, English merits of 4-4-2 shall be deemed knuckle-dragging Neanderthals by the Wokerati and the Metropolitan Elite. They care not what his views are, only that he looks like the sort of person who may have them.

It's political correctness gone mad.

But they, unlike Dyche, won't have a pub named after them.

Edited Thursday at 13:09 by David Peckham

[Dogkennelhillbilly]

Just now, David Peckham said:

he looks like the sort of person who may have them.

He looks like the human version of the 😡 emoji. I'm sure he's lovely in real life (whoever he is).

[diable rouge]

On 05/11/2025 at 11:01, Dogkennelhillbilly said:

 July is a rubbish time to begin a refurb because it's just before the entire construction sector goes on summer holiday....

Europe, very much so, the whole of August is a write-off, if you want anything delivered from there, forget it, but there's no similar summer shutdown period in the UK as such, just people taking hols while kids off school etc.

The nearest the UK construction sector has to a proper shut down is the Christmas/New Year period when, depending on when the Bank Holidays fall, there's an approx 10-14 day unofficial shutdown between Christmas and New Year... 

[Insuflo]

42 minutes ago, Dogkennelhillbilly said:

He looks like the human version of the 😡 emoji. I'm sure he's lovely in real life (whoever he is).

He certainly comes across a rather decent bloke. Here’s a better one of him taking the knee with his players as an anti-racist gesture:

[David Peckham]

1 hour ago, Dogkennelhillbilly said:

He looks like the human version of the 😡 emoji. I'm sure he's lovely in real life (whoever he is).

To be fair, he doesn't seem unduly upset about the meme situation, and he does sometimes look like a very angry thumb.

1 hour ago, diable rouge said:

Europe, very much so, the whole of August is a write-off, if you want anything delivered from there, forget it, but there's no similar summer shutdown period in the UK as such, just people taking hols while kids off school etc.

I'm quite taken by the idea that a load of hairy-arsed British builders decamp to 'A Little Place We Know' in Provence or Tuscany for the whole of August.

[diable rouge]

7 minutes ago, David Peckham said:

I'm quite taken by the idea that a load of hairy-arsed British builders decamp to 'A Little Place We Know' in Provence or Tuscany for the whole of August.

If only, I'm afraid Auf Wiedersehen Pet is about as glamourous as it gets...

[Insuflo]

1 hour ago, diable rouge said:

If only, I'm afraid Auf Wiedersehen Pet is about as glamourous as it gets...

Paul Sinha said the other day that Auf Wiedersehen Pet is the German version of Animal Hospital.

[TittyMaster]

What a bunch of pieholes. 2025 and you peasants have nothing to be grateful for. I have been inside the library recently and honestly the old girl is crying for a facelift, the goddamn carpet looks like it survived the world war and some. The Library is one of the oldest in Southwark and you are crying about a study place? What a bunch of bullshit. You have libraries all around you for your kids to go their studying you rotten sausage. How about be happy that the library is going to look absolutely stunning rather than be a whining bitch about it

 

Also, I have been told that the staffs have to work in the smaller libraries together. How do you think they feel? 

[Sue]

1 hour ago, TittyMaster said:

What a bunch of pieholes. 2025 and you peasants have nothing to be grateful for. I have been inside the library recently and honestly the old girl is crying for a facelift, the goddamn carpet looks like it survived the world war and some. The Library is one of the oldest in Southwark and you are crying about a study place? What a bunch of bullshit. You have libraries all around you for your kids to go their studying you rotten sausage. How about be happy that the library is going to look absolutely stunning rather than be a whining bitch about it

 

Also, I have been told that the staffs have to work in the smaller libraries together. How do you think they feel? 

Clicking on your name, I see you've made seven posts on here since you joined  around four years ago, and they've all been about local libraries.

And none of the posts are  very pleasant.

Care to share with the rest of us where  your particular interest in libraries comes from? Do you work in one of them?

Edited Saturday at 20:09 by Sue
Clarification

[Pugwash]

What nobody has cotton onto is that Dulwich library will not be available possibly for the Council Elections in May 26. Looks as though Southwark are not confident that the work will be completed by May 26 and are scouting around to find alternative venues.

[Dogkennelhillbilly]

1 hour ago, Pugwash said:

What nobody has cotton onto is that Dulwich library will not be available possibly for the Council Elections in May 26. Looks as though Southwark are not confident that the work will be completed by May 26 and are scouting around to find alternative venues.

If you "cotton on" and read the council announcement, it clearly states "The library will be closed from 17 November until late June or early July 2026." 

https://www.southwark.gov.uk/2025/dulwich-library-closing-refurbishment

[Pugwash]

Paper notice I received was closed from 17th November for 6 months  e,g May

[Sonners]

On 04/11/2025 at 10:20, claresy said:

Apparently the 'improvements' include fewer books, which I'm not happy about. 

The online ordering system for the library is really good if the book you want isn’t in stock. It extends to ordering outside Southwark’s libraries if they are no copies available. We use it lots!