Looking to the future of Spellow Library as ambitions revealed to return it to former glory

The Netherton woman behind a viral fundraiser to help renovate a library which was set alight during recent disorder in Liverpool says she's now honoured to be involved in how the money will be spent.

Alex McCormick, 27, launched a GoFundMe page for repairs to Spellow Library Hub after it was torched by rioters in Walton last month. She started with a conservative target of £500, which was quickly surpassed as donations reached more than £250,000.

For that, she was presented with a certificate of recognition by the Lord Mayor of Liverpool on Monday (9th September 2024), during a special 999 Day service at Liverpool Parish Church. This year, the event focused on the bravery and courage shown by blue light responders during recent riots across Merseyside, which broke out after the murders of three little girls in Southport this summer.

Alex, a nail technician, says she now hopes to see Spellow Library Hub, on County Road, transformed to its former glory: "I never expected (the fundraiser) to go as far as it did but I think everyone feels that connection to a library, to a good book or to a safe community space. We need to protect those spaces, so everyone just rallied.

"Liverpool City Council has been amazing and I do get a say in where that money goes in terms of how it gets spent within Spellow. That's a real honour and I think it's nice that I'm the connector to everyone who's donated. It means we can keep people updated the whole way through and people will see the benefits of their donations.

"There's a lot of kid and baby classes that happen there, things like acting and dance classes. Obviously they have a lot of things for older people too. I would love to see something for our teenagers. We need to get our teenagers more involved in their own community again, we need to get them in to the library so I would love to see something targeted to that age group.

"I don't think it could look any better than it did before the riots, it was only newly reopened. It was such a beautiful space and Debbie the Library Manager is such a force, she's amazing. They've already created such an incredible atmosphere in that space so I would like to see it restored to that positivity, with the level of community outreach. Get it back to its former glory with more going on inside."

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