The warm room is open again, every day until March
Armchairs by the radiators, tea, the papers and company, from 10:00 to 16:00 every day. Nobody asks why you came.
From Monday 2 November the back of the library is the warm room again: four armchairs by the old radiators, a table with tea and biscuits, the day’s newspapers and, most afternoons, a volunteer who knows where everything is.
It is open every day from 10:00 to 16:00 until the end of March. You don’t need a library card, an appointment or a reason.
Why we open it
Last winter 2,140 people used the warm room, about thirty a day. Some came because heating a flat for a whole day costs more than they have. Some came because a day alone is long. Most came for both, and stayed for the tea.
“I come for the radiator and stay for the crossword. By three o’clock there are four of us doing it.”
What’s there
- Tea, coffee and biscuits, all day, free.
- The newspapers and the library’s magazines.
- A phone charger, and the Wi-Fi.
- The advice desk ten steps away, on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturday mornings.
On Wednesdays the soup lunch in Canal Hall is at noon, a minute’s walk through the back door.
Helping
The warm room costs about £12 an hour to run, most of it heat. If you can give, the about page says how. If you can give an afternoon, tell Aisha at the hall.
