Balham Children’s Library begins refurbishment

Fahad Redha

March 17, 2026
3 min read

Balham Children’s Library begins refurbishment

Refurbishment work has begun at Balham Library’s children and teen areas in what Wandsworth is calling “another major investment” in its libraries. The refurbishment will create a “brighter, modern, and more welcoming space for local families designed to support early literacy, creativity, ad learning,” with the upgraded children’s library set to include “cosy reading corners, flexible space for story sessions, new furniture and shelving, improved lighting, and sensory-friendly elements for younger visitors.

This forms part of Wandsworth’s Libraries First! strategy, a wider programme of long-term investment across all eleven of the borough’s libraries. This includes improvements to IT facilities, study spaces, and digital access.

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Work on Balham Children’s Library is set to be complete by the summer. A temporary children’s library downstairs will “ensure young readers continue to enjoy books and activities while the work takes place.” This temporary move means there will be reduced study and IT space during the refurbishment period but saff will stil be on hand to offer support.

Balham Children’s Library is one of the borough’s busiest, and all regulra activities, inlcuding baby rhyme times, craft clubs, digital inclusion events, the dementia café and more will be uninterrupted by the works. New study spaces have been set up in the main area of the library and are opening the hall at Balham Library three times a week as a teen study space.

These improvements are paid with funds the council has collected from property developers and are at no cost to local taxpayers.

This project builds on the recent refurbishment of Putney Library and the opening of new modern branches at Wandsworth Town and Northcote. Further improvements are planned across the borough, including refurbishing Battersea Park Children’s Library, restoring the historic glass roof at Battersea Reference Library, and investment in a new, modern Roehampton Library in the new Alton community hub building, which would include an adult and children’s library, IT and study space, bookable rooms and flexible layouts for community use.

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