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Campaigners trying to create a community library in Kensal Rise are seeking £70,000 of pledges to help them on their way.
The Friends Of Kensal Rise Library want to lease the building from its owner, All Souls College, Oxford, and create a community-run library there after Brent Council closed the facility.
A local company, Daniels Real Estate Agents, has pledged £10,000, but the activists are hoping others will contribute before 7th September, when the group will put their proposals forward to the college. Paula Gomez Medina, a trustee of the Friends, said: "We need to raise funds to secure the first year of operations, which includes urgent repairs to the building. We have a strong business plan and are confident we can make the library self-sustaining in the long-run, but we need the help of our supporters now.”
Benefactors will be remembered by the library, with people giving £20 able to sponsor a book, £300 to name a shelf, and £1,000 to have their name written on the wall. If the proposal is unsuccessful, the pledges will not be collected.
The co-chair of the campaign, Margaret Bailey, said: "Support from the local community and beyond has sustained this campaign. People cannot doubt the seriousness and commitment of this community to have a library at its heart.”
She added: “We have all fought hard and long. We hope we can rely on the generosity and good will of the many people who agree about the importance of libraries to the well being of civilised communities.”