Wokingham Library celebrated its 100-year anniversary today (5 September) with a charity coffee morning.

Wokingham Borough Council invited residents to mark the occasion at the new library in Carnival Hub.

Attendees looked back on ‘a century of serving the community and the history of the library’ which has had four different homes.

In 1924, the town’s first library opened in a room in Wokingham Town Hall. It then moved to Montague House in 1951 and had 4,500 registered readers in the first year.

It then moved in 1996 to a site on the corner of Denmark Street and Langborough Road, before moving into the Carnival Hub in 2022.

Libraries in the borough are being celebrated as ‘much more than the books they are sold’, serving as vital meeting spaces for groups and charities.

Residents can also go to their local library to find out more about technology and take part in free digital skills sessions. These provide personalised help with phones, tablets and laptops.

The coffee morning held this morning raised money for SHARE Wokingham, which redistributes food to those in need that would otherwise go to waste.

Councillor Rachel Bishop Firth, executive member for resident services, inclusion and fighting poverty, said: “I am very excited to be attending the 100th birthday party for Wokingham Library.

“No celebration of this kind would be possible without looking back to thank all of our dedicated staff and volunteers who have contributed to the success of the library, past and present.”