Duchess of Cornwall officially opens city library

The Duchess of Cornwall officially opened Devon County Council’s state-of-the-art newly refurbished Exeter Library this afternoon.

The Duchess was given a tour of the library, which has been transformed by the council’s multi million pound investment, and was introduced to staff and community groups who regularly use the library’s extensive facilities.

Her Royal Highness's first stop was to meet the artists who created the Stack of Books art installation - Will Shakspear, Mark Collcutt and Matt Dingle.  The art work, internally lit with LED lighting, depicts books with a special significance to the library and Exeter, and was created using parts of the original library staircase.

Following this, The Duchess was introduced to members of the Community Enabling team which supports people with additional needs to live independently; a Memory Group participating in a reading activity; and a class from St Leonard’s Primary School that is taking part in the summer reading challenge. Her Royal Highness also enjoyed music provided by the La La Exeter Choir.

The visit to Exeter Library was especially fitting as The Duchess of Cornwall is Patron of the National Literacy Trust, BookTrust and First Story, all of which help to promote literacy in young people.

The library, which opened in October 1965, re-opened to the public on Thursday 22 May after an extensive £4.1 million refurbishment and now offers bright open spaces, a cafe overlooking Rougemont Gardens, the children’s and teenage areas, quiet reading areas and almost 68,000 books. 

In addition, there is the Fab Lab – the first of its kind in a UK public library – the Business and Information Hub, Wi-Fi and free to use public computing facilities. The building also provides independent living support for adults with learning disabilities and meeting room spaces are available for external hire, and for use by other council and third sector services.

Chairman of Devon County Council, Councillor George Gribble, said: “I am delighted to welcome The Duchess of Cornwall to Exeter Library and show her this excellent facility in action.  A community building like this is nothing without people using it and the fact we’ve had 64,000 people through the doors in its first month since reopening, demonstrates the value of the investment Devon County Council has made.”

The Council’s Cabinet Member responsible for the library service, Councillor Roger Croad, said: “The official opening today will hopefully make even more people in Exeter and across Devon aware of the wide range of first class facilities available to them in the new library.  The County Council’s investment in this new Devon Centre is a major boost for the city and for Devon. From 3D printing to small business support, bounce and rhyme sessions to reading groups, there really is something for everyone.”

The Duchess of Cornwall was presented with a posy of flowers by 11-year-old Beatrice Stone, and copies of the Exeter Reads books by seven year old Betsy Speck, both from Exeter.

Earlier in the day the Duchess and her husband, the Prince of Wales, visited the River Cottage where the toured Park Farm in the company of River Cottage founder, Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall.

As well as observing, at close-hand, the workings of the operation, they chatted to staff and members of the River Cottage team. 

The Duke and Duchess have a long-standing interest in local, seasonal food and in supporting British producers. River Cottage is widely know for its ground-breaking work in these areas, blazing a trail for the use of seasonal, ethically-produced ingredients and championing the cause of sustainability in the food industry.

While touring HQ, The Prince and The Duchess heard about the recently established Chefs’ School, and met Sam Lomas, winner of the Rising Star young chef award in 2013, as well as runner-up Freyja Davis. They also chatted and joked with John Wright, River Cottage’s resident foraging expert and leader of the popular Edible Seashore and Mushroom Foraging courses.

“I have long admired, and been grateful for, The Prince’s tireless support for sustainable agriculture and artisan food producers, and it was an absolute honour to welcome Their Royal Highnesses to our busy HQ,” said Hugh. “‘I was very proud to be able to show off our amazing operation and our brilliantly talented team. River Cottage is unique – there’s nowhere else in the country offering such a range of teaching in the area of local, seasonal cookery and ethical food production – and it’s wonderful for that to be recognised.”

The couple were ending the second day of their West Country tour at Plymouth’s historic Royal William Yard.