A CRUMBLING former library that has been empty for over 13 years is likely to be sold by Bradford Council.

The building, at the corner of Greenbank Road and Allerton Road, was donated to Bradford Council by former councillor Angus Hardy Rhodes in 1916.

Cllr Rhodes paid for the the building – then made up of two cottages – to be converted into a library and upstairs reading room, and it opened later that year.

Almost 90 years later the community facility was closed by the council because it was felt it did not meet the requirements of a modern library, such as computer access and nearby parking spaces.

The library is held as a trust, with Bradford Council as a sole trustee, and at a meeting of the Council’s Regulatory and Appeals Committee tomorrow councillors will meet as trustees to discuss selling the building.

If the building is sold, any money from the sale would have to be used to improve the educational or recreational offer for the area - one of the conditions of the trust.

Local charity Kids Klub Allerton has expressed an interest in using the building, asking if they could take it over through a community asset transfer.

The charity works with children, young people, families and vulnerable individuals in the area to help improve their opportunities in life.

The councillors meeting tomorrow will be advised to take into account Kids Klub’s interest in the building, but also to approve the sale of the library at a future auction.

Allerton Library is currently based in Cafe West.

When the building was closed, Bradford Council described it as “cramped, gloomy, inflexible, dilapidated and generally inadequate”. It was also the least used of the city’s libraries.

In 2006 a council spokesperson said the building could be sold “in a matter of weeks”.

But the building has remained empty and part of the council’s estate since then. It is currently boarded up.

The report to be discussed by councillors tomorrow says: “A number of complaints have been received recently about the condition and deterioration of the former library, and officers are concerned that given the lack of resources the building will continue to deteriorate.

“The deterioration of the building is due to a number of factors, amongst others that the building has stood unoccupied since 2005 and that it has been the subject of several road traffic incidents.

“In its present condition it is in an uninhabitable condition without serious investment. The disposal of the property would facilitate the building being brought back into use, thereby resolving the on-going issues and dangers associated with a building in disrepair.”

An independent valuation has been obtained for the building, although the details of this will not be made public at tomorrow’s meeting.

The committee meets at noon in City Hall.