Major refurbishment will force the borough’s busiest library to close for one month.

Central Library, Clements Road, Ilford will close throughout April so work on its �465,000 refurbishment can take place.

The work, which began in January, aims to make the library more user-friendly by making stock easier to find, creating a new caf� in the foyer and adding self-service machines.

The council hopes the library will save money by reorganising staff duties and building costs as well as increasing revenue from the use of the caf�.

A Redbridge Council spokesman said: “During April there will be work taking place involving knocking down walls, replacing toilets and replacing the building’s fire alarm which will be very noisy and disruptive and it is easier and safer to do this when there is no one in the building.

“It was always expected the building would need to close completely at some stage during the refurbishment although exact dates and lengths of time were not known until the work had started.”

Redbridge Museum, local studies and archives and the limited library service currently operating from the building will reopen from May 1 but the rest of the library will remain closed until the end of May.

The nearest libraries for residents to use during the closure are Gants Hill, in Cranbrook Road and Seven Kings in High Road as well as online resources. For more information visit www.redbridge.gov.uk.