The Curve | Slough’s New Library

If you haven’t heard, Slough’s well awaited new library, The Curve, has finally opened! I have watched this shiny new building being built over that past year and a half, so was very excited to go along on the opening weekend in September. It was incredibly busy though as I think the whole town came along.

I couldn’t really get a proper idea of what it was like until I visited again last week with Honey, checking out Rhyme Time and their cafe. And you know what, I was really impressed. It is a lovely building, with so much natural lighting flooding in, bright colours and high ceilings, it does look really modern, shiny and new. It was quite refreshing being able to buy a latte in a library and sit down, although it’s very quiet being a library – not somewhere to have a coffee and a catchup with a mate! But I did like sitting down there with Honey Nut, kind of reminding me of a uni library, loads of people on computers, and people sitting down with newspapers. If you are a member of the library, you can log on to any computer and surf the net for free.

When Honey Nut started crying, I did feel a bit self-conscious, like “Shhhh Honey Nut!”, so I went out into the garden outside the cafe. And wow, what a beautifully landscaped outside space. It’s completely contained with a brick wall separating it from the main road. I HAD to take a photo.

Then I thought, hey, why don’t I take more photos so I can share with you guys how nice it looks! So back inside, I got the lift to the first floor which has the childrens’ library, fiction and lots of lots of seating. I took Honey Nut to the Wednesday music time which is held here, it was really good and very popular. There’s a huge space for buggies to be parked.

I had a little sit down here on the sofa while Honey Nut napped and caught up with some chick lit reading 🙂

There are also museum pods, so rather than having one whole area for the museum, the pods are scattered around the library so you see interesting bits of history while you walk around.

The most interesting pod is on the second floor, in front of the Registry Office, which has an actual kitchen from a 1930s Slough house! Oh yes, that’s another thing, the Registry Office has moved here from it’s old location.

The second floor has bookshelves full of old newspapers for reference, and loads of tables for studying, more computers, and rooms at the back, which is where they hold events such as Lego workshops every Thursday at 4pm. We went one time, and my boy loved it, just bucketloads of lego to play with!

Here are some of the views out of the windows, and you can see the old library before that gets demolished. I am a bit sad about that, love it or hate it, it is a part of Slough’s history and an interesting piece of 1960s architecture.

Back on the ground floor, there is also the ‘Venue’ which is where performances will take place.

Throughout the whole library there are lots of self service machines for taking out and returning books, which is very useful.

Outside, the building does look impressive. There are two entrances, one on the side opposite the old library, on the corner of William Street. The other is facing the High Street which you walk through an alleyway that brings you out to the side of Queensway Shopping Centre here:

The other good bit is that a walkway has been opened up to Wellington Street, so you no longer have to walk through the shopping centre to access the High Street, you can now walk from the road through here: