A village library has combined its official re-opening with celebrations to mark the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee.

The library has been run since January by a group of volunteers, but now Wrose Community Association has signed the lease for the library building, owned by the Co-op, to take full control.

Wrose was one of five libraries, alongside Wilsden, Addingham, Denholme and Heaton, selected for closure last year by Bradford Council to save £70,000.

Since then volunteer groups have been set up to run all the libraries except Heaton which has been replaced by a mobile library service.

Windhill and Wrose ward Councillor Susan Hinch-cliffe, the Council’s executive member for culture, said: “It’s been a huge amount of work getting us to this stage. Negotiating our way through a commercial lease has been a challenge.”

Jean Hunter, volunteer co-ordinator for the library volunteers, said: “Everyone has put such a lot of work in to get us to this stage. We really wanted to celebrate. We’re delighted that the band at Low Ash School came to celebrate with us and we had a local author to help us officially open the library.”

Tricia Platts, who co-wrote the book, Bradford in the Great War, said she was delighted to help celebrate the library opening.

“Libraries are such an important part of the community,” she said.

The campaign to save Wrose library was also supported by the ward’s two other councillors who paid credit to the community.

Coun Vanda Greenwood (Lab) said: “When we heard of the threatened closure, we were all very down. Now, however it’s a different story. The whole community has pulled together to make this happen.”

Coun Alex Ross-Shaw (Lab) said: “More and more people are discovering the library for the first time and seeing what it has to offer. Wrose Community Association and Wrose Parish Council have been great to support the project financially and, of course, we couldn’t do any of this without a great band of volunteers.”

Anyone who wants to become a volunteer at the library should contact Coun Hinchcliffe on 07971 562628.