Alok Sharma, the Member of Parliament for Reading West, has welcomed the news that Tilehurst Library is to receive £62,000 of funding as part of the Government’s Cultural Investment Fund.

The Cultural Investment Fund is the Government’s flagship investment in galleries, museums, libraries and other cultural venues to help improve people’s access to the arts and drive economic growth in our thriving cultural sector. Initially announced in late 2019, this package of funding for our cultural infrastructure aims to support locally-led cultural projects, museums, and public libraries. On 12 March, £48 million worth of projects from this fund were announced.

The fund will see £48 million distributed to 63 organisations across the country, which will improve people’s access to the arts, safeguard cultural assets for future generations and power economic growth through culture. Funding will be allocated through three streams: the Cultural Development Fund, the Museums Estate and Development Fund, and the Libraries Improvement Fund.

The grant to Tilehurst Library was awarded through the Libraries Improvement Fund. Planned improvements include:

• The purchase of tablets for use within the library;
• The procurement of digital devices for members to borrow and use outside the library;
• Securing the library building through card access, CCTV and intelligent systems;
• Making it easier to hire the building for community activities.

Alok said:

“I am absolutely delighted to hear that Tilehurst library will be receiving £62,000 from the Government’s Cultural Investment Fund. The funding will ensure that the library can modernise in line with the changing ways in which my constituents are using it. In so doing, the library will be able to continue serving the local community even more effectively.”

Stephen Parkinson, Parliamentary Under Secretary of State, said:

“The funding builds on the Government’s unprecedented £2 billion Culture Recovery Fund, which has supported our world-leading cultural sector - and the brilliant people who work in it - during the pandemic.”