A LEASE which would see Parkhead Library open in a new East End health centre is set to get council approval.

Glasgow City Council is planning to move the facility into a community hub on the site of the former Parkhead hospital.

The city’s Health and Social Care Partnership (HSCP) is building the new hub, which will offer a range of services, including GPs, a pharmacy and mental health care.

A 60-year lease at a nominal £1 per year is expected to be agreed between the council and the NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde trust for the library.

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Locating the library close to other council and NHS services will allow “collaborative working” and “the opportunity of improved outcomes” for citizens’ health and wellbeing, a council report claims.

At a meeting on Thursday, city councillors will be asked to approve leasing part of the ground floor of the site – which is bound by Duke Street, East Wellington Street, Nisbet Street and Salamanca Street.

A £2.5m contribution from the council was approved in September 2019.

The relocation would be in line with council aims to “reduce the overall size of the estate” and “establish services in more efficient and fit for purpose buildings”, the report states.

“The existing Parkhead Library building, which is over two floors, has no parking and does not currently comply with the requirements of the Disability Discrimination Act in the provision of compliant access and egress.”

Opening hours can be “significantly extended” in line with the hub’s operation hours, the report adds, with the council hoping there will be an increase in visitors.

As well as books, the Parkhead Library also hosts services from other groups, such as Citizens Advice, Macmillan and Jobs and Business Glasgow.

The existing Parkhead Library – a Carnegie library at Parkhead Cross – was completed in 1906. Plans for the building, and wider Parkhead Cross, are being developed.