Ilford Central Library will close for five months next year after councillors approved �500,000 of modernisation works.

Redbridge Council’s cabinet on Tuesday committed to spending that will replace staff with self-service kiosks to help meet a budget cut of �620,000 by 2014.

Most of the four-floor Clements Road building will close on January 14 until after the Queen’s Jubilee Wedding celebrations in May, with a “skeleton” lending service staying open on the first floor.

Cabinet member for culture and leisure, Cllr Sue Nolan, told a meeting at Redbridge Town Hall on Tuesday: “We are looking to spend half a million pounds renovating the library. This major refurbishment will make things easier, and at the end of it we will have a much nicer facility.”