Multifunctional library
4
4
Date of visit: August 2025
I am a disabled person. I have experience of challenges around: accessing toilets and moving around.
I use or have experience of: disabled toilet, wheelchair
Overall Rating
Good
This was a nice library located just outside of the Touchwood shopping centre. It covered two floors and there was also a theatre and a café. I wasn’t able to look at the theatre but the library and café were both quite large and had lots of natural light, even though it was a grey and rainy day when I was there! The library had some manned information desks as well as self-service kiosks for checking books out and returning them. There were many different genres of books available across the ground and first floors. Different styles and set-ups of tables, chairs and desks were available across the two floors too. The first floor seemed to be for more focused, quiet work. It had a lot more seating than shelving, unlike the ground floor. It also had individual desks and computer stations. Most of the shelving units weren’t floor-to-ceiling with many of the highest shelves still being within my reach from my wheelchair. The flooring throughout the library was carpeted but not a type that made it difficult for me to push around in my wheelchair. The café had a linoleum floor instead, and this also continued into the corridor for the toilets as well as into the toilet. There was a small accessible toilet on both the ground and first floors. On the ground floor there was also a Changing Places Toilet.
Disabled Access In and Around
Good
The entrance to the library is via a foyer that has an entry porch meaning there was an initial doorway, a short porchway with absorbent flooring, and another doorway. Both doorways had two sets of doors which loosely seemed to be one for entry and one for exit, although this didn’t seem like a strict rule. All the doorways had two sets of double doors which opened automatically as you approached them. They all opened towards the outside of the building. Once inside there was a large, carpeted entryway with information points and the Changing Places toilet to the left, the library ahead and the café and other toilets to the right. The information desk had a lowered counter and next to it were a number of self-service counters for people to check out or return books. The information desk was manned and there was another member of staff near the self-service points to help people using them or to answer any questions as people entered. The café had a linoleum floor, instead of the carpet in the rest of the building, and lots of tables and chairs. They didn’t seem to have a lowered counter but it wasn’t too high that it would have been too difficult to order. There was clear signage by the café to direct you to the main toilet corridor. This had male and female toilets, a baby-change room and an accessible toilet. The Changing Places toilet didn’t have much signage so I had to ask a member of staff where it was. Inside the library there were two floors with two lifts that travelled between them. One by the main entrance and one roughly in the middle of the library. Most of the shelving stopped after about four shelves which meant that none of the shelves were too high for me to reach, even sitting in my chair. Across the two floors there were lots of seating options. The first floor had quieter spaces and more individual desks, rather than larger tables for groups. These also seemed to have more plug sockets available than the seating on the ground floor. I didn’t see any other alternative formats being used for any signage or information apart from Braille on the lift buttons.
Accessible facilities: Lift to all areas, Step-free entrance, Seating at regular intervals, Step-free access to most areas
Parking & Transport
Average
I travelled to this place by personal vehicle
There are two car parks that are close by. The first is the Touchwood car park and the second is the John Lewis car park. Both are multi-storey car parks with a number of accessible parking spaces and lifts. They are both ticketless, paid car parks. This means the barriers make a note of a vehicle’s registration number as you enter and when you are leaving you need to type your registration into a ticket machine before you return to your car and it will let you know the parking cost. There are a few bus stops within a short walking distance of the library. 500 metres away there are the St Alphege Church bus stops, one on each side of the road. Here you can get the 188 bus. In the other direction and about 550 metres away, there are seven bus stops for Solihull Town Centre. Each bus stop is named ‘Solihull Town Centre’ and they have different letter designations to distinguish them. The buses available from this group of bus stops are: 4, 4A, 5, 27, 49, 72, 73, 76, 82, 87, 188, 223, 233, 514, 519, 601, 602, 630, 631, 664, 665, A6, A7, A8, A9, A10, 6 Platinum Electric, X2 Platinum and X12 Platinum.
Accessible Toilets
Good
There were two smaller accessible toilets, one on the ground floor and one on the first floor. They were located in similar parts of the building which made it easy to locate them. The signage on the ground floor was also very clear. They needed RADAR keys to access them and the doors opened outwards for both of them. Both of the doors had horizontal grab rails to make it easier to close the doors from the inside. The ground floor toilet was painted lime green and was a small accessible toilet with room for a right-side transfer. There was a grab rail that could be raised and lowered as well as a fixed horizontal grab rail mounted on the wall on the other side. A backrest had been mounted on the wall behind the toilet which provided support as the wall was a lot further back from the seat of the toilet. The flush lever was mounted on the wall close to the transfer space which made it fairly easy to reach. The handle had a rounded end to make it easier to move. The small sink had a single tap which was manually operated (no automatic sensors), with a twist motion that controlled both the flow and temperature of the water. The handle for the tap was long and turned upward at the end. A soap dispenser was mounted on the wall above the sink and an automatic hand dryer was mounted on the wall to the left of the sink. A large mirror was mounted on the wall opposite the sink. The toilet on the first floor had a very similar layout to the ground floor. This one was painted orange and also had space for a right-side transfer onto the toilet. This toilet had a cistern behind it with the flush mounted on it. The sink, soap dispenser and hand dryer layout was all the same as the ground floor toilet. There was also a small shelf to the left of the sink. The door had a coat hook mounted on it, but it was too high for me to reach. Changing Places Toilet The Changing Places toilet was by the main entrance and to the left as you came in. I also needed my RADAR key to access this toilet with the door opening outwards and also having a grab rail inside to help with closing the door from the inside. There was another coat hook on the inside of this door which was slightly lower and easier to use. This toilet had royal blue tiles on three of the walls and large pink and purple painted stripes on the final wall. The lights were very bright in there. The toilet had a ceiling hoist in its charging position which was right by the door. There were signs with instructions on how to use it on the wall. A height-adjustable bench was located on the far wall of the toilet and that also had instructions on the wall. Both the hoist and the bench had maximum weight capacities of 200kg. The toilet had lots of room for both left and right-side transfers with grab rails that could be raised and lowered on both sides. In addition, there were two fixed, vertical grab rails mounted behind the toilet. There was also a back support available to lean on. The flush was built into the wall behind the toilet and had two large circles to push. You could push either one but the angle was slightly tricky to reach while sat in a wheelchair. To the right of the toilet was a height-adjustable sink. The lever to adjust the height was on the right-hand side of the sink. The sink itself was large and wide and had a single tap which was manually operated (no automatic sensors). The tap operated with one lever which twisted to control both the flow and temperature of the water. A soap dispenser was mounted above the sink which had to be pushed to activate. The sink had a maximum weight capacity of 100kg. To the right of the sink was a wall which had a large mirror mounted on it, an automatic hand dryer, and a paper towel dispenser. There was one emergency red cord in this toilet and it was hanging freely to the floor. There was also a privacy screen, but it looked like it was broken as it was leaning against the wall at an angle. There were also two wheelchairs being stored in here.
Facilities: Accessible toilet, Changing Places toilet
Staff
Good
I didn’t spend much time speaking to staff but the interactions I had were nice and helpful, and there seemed to be a good amount of staff available.
