The Friends of Kensal Rise Library was founded by the local community to save its unique library, opened by Mark Twain in 1900 and closed by cuts in 2011.

Since then, our community has fought tirelessly and has won back the ground floor.  The library would otherwise have become luxury flats and out of community hands forever. 

We have also fundraised like crazy for the refurbishment, achieving  an amazing £220,000 so far. This has let us  restore the original Victorian floor, install a new ceiling, a kitchen and loo, lighting, plumbing, heating, joinery, plastering/painting, etc. The space now looks beautiful. It’s already being used for community  events, meetings, councillors’ surgeries etc. Wonderful local partners like Malorees, have helped realise this massive achievement.

However, though beautiful, the space is empty. 

So we now need to raise another £50,000 to kit it out and create a library that children and adults can use. 

Here’s our Kit Out Shopping List:

A children’s library   £12,000

Furniture £12,000

A back office £7,000

Mobile shelves £8,000

Reception and retail area  £5,000

Blackout blind & Projector  £4,000

Burglar alarm system  £2,000

We have a deadline: we hope to open officially in September, as that’s the anniversary of the building being opened by Mark Twain. So, no time to lose! 

Thank you, Malorees, for your support!