About Friends of Yardley Wood Library
We’re a brand new community organisation set up to support Yardley Wood Library in South Birmingham.
How it started
In 2025, Birmingham Council was discussing closing Libraries on Saturdays, and potentially selling off buildings altogether. Our Library, one of the sites under threat, is the only free, indoor public space that our neighbourhood still has; our group came together with a determination to do whatever was needed to keep it open.
We took part in the city-wide Save Our Saturdays campaign, which we know had an important effect in shifting the Council’s plans. We also took over the running of the Saturday Lego & Games Club, which the Library was too under-staffed to continue.
How it’s going
Our volunteers now run two public groups at the library — the Lego Club, and our Thursday ‘Drop In’ coffee mornings. We’ve also facilitated Craft sessions over the winter, creating decorations for the Library’s foyer. Behind the scenes, we’re working on revitalising the green space outside the Library, and finding ways to extend Library hours to allow more activities to take place.
The Council’s situation is vastly different, but the mission for us is still the same: to assist the Library staff in making the absolute most of this special, critical space for our community. It belongs to all of us, and we intend to see it thrive.
We’ve been going less than a year, and there’s so much more we can do!
Our Committee
Chair — Chris Donald: chris@ywfriends.org
Secretary — Claire Ord
Treasurer — Christina Gleeson
Committee Members: Cathy Cox, Carol Rafter, Sue Watson, Joe Peacock
Our Constitution
You can read our constitution here (opens as a PDF)
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