Guildford Library shuts on Thursday 20 August, reopening for click and collect on 21 September, as the register office prepares to move in and Artington House closes on 1 November.

Guildford Library on North Street closes on Thursday 20 August and will not lend a book over the counter again until Monday 21 September, when it reopens for click and collect only while the builders finish; Surrey County Council expects it to be fully open again by the end of October. The refit is not cosmetic. Four purpose-built rooms are going in on the first floor so that Guildford Register Office can move into the library when Artington House on Portsmouth Road closes on 1 November, and from 6 September small register office weddings and civil partnerships move to the Harbour Hotel on the High Street (Surrey County Council, Guildford Library; Guildford Library hub).

Timeline of key dates: library closes 20 August; Harbour Hotel showcase 23 August and viewing day 24 August; ceremonies begin at the Harbour Hotel 6 September; Ready Reads form opens 14 September; click and collect from 21 September; last Artington House ceremonies 31 October; library fully open by end of October (expected); register office closes 1 November; loans extended to 10 November

The library: closed for a month, then half-open for a month

The council’s notice on the Guildford Library page sets out the sequence:

  • Thursday 20 August to Monday 21 September: the building at 77 North Street is closed while the improvement works take place.
  • From Monday 21 September: it reopens as a click and collect service. You can still borrow in two ways: reserve a specific title through the usual reservations service (standard reservation charges apply), or use Ready Reads, free of charge, where library staff pick a bundle of books to your stated tastes for you to collect. The online Ready Reads form goes live on Monday 14 September. Returns and reservation collections work as normal during this period.
  • Not available until the full reopening: public computers, photocopying, bus pass services and “all other library services”. If you rely on the library PCs or come in to sort a bus pass, plan for that gap running to the end of October.
  • Full reopening: “expected by the end of October”, with the date to be confirmed.
  • Loans: every item currently on loan is extended to Monday 10 November, so nothing on your card can accrue a fine during the closure.

The nearest alternatives the council names are Ash, Godalming, Horsley and Woking libraries. Any Surrey library card works at any of them.

Rhymetime and the clubs move to the Yvonne Arnaud

Nothing can run inside the building during the closure, so the regular sessions decamp to the Yvonne Arnaud Theatre on Millbrook, per the council’s list:

  • Rhymetime and storytime: Wednesdays at 10.30am, River Room.
  • Poetry Hub: Thursdays at 10am, Meeting Room.
  • Warhammer club: last Saturday of the month at 3pm, River Room.
  • Dungeons and Dragons club: second Saturday of the month at 2.30pm, River or Vanbrugh Room.

What the works are for

The Guildford Library hub page describes the project as bringing “library services, registration appointments and community spaces” under one roof. The listed changes are: a full refurbishment of the children’s library, new furniture and more flexible space for events and community groups, four purpose-built rooms on the first floor for the Registration Service to work from, and a new accessible toilet with baby-changing on the second floor. Once the move is complete, births and deaths will be registered, and notice of marriage or civil partnership given, in the town centre rather than at Artington House.

The council frames it as “modernising libraries” and “making better use of public buildings”; the register office side is the concrete change residents will notice, because it retires a building.

Artington House closes on 1 November

Guildford Register Office has operated from Artington House at 42 Portsmouth Road, GU2 4DZ, with a free car park, a large ceremony room for 48 guests and a small one for 18 (Surrey register offices). The county’s ceremonies page now carries the heading “Closure of Guildford Register Office, 1 November 2026” and confirms (Surrey Ceremonies, Guildford):

  • Existing bookings stand. Any ceremony already booked at Artington House goes ahead as planned.
  • New bookings are still being taken for dates up to Saturday 31 October 2026. The council’s own advice, in its 28 July release, is that there is still availability but that notice of marriage or civil partnership must be given at least 29 days before the ceremony date, so anyone who wants Artington House needs to have given notice by the start of October at the very latest.
  • Registration appointments (births, deaths, notices) move to the Library Hub “from the end of October to early November”. For a short period appointments may be offered at either building while the move happens.

Small ceremonies go to the Harbour Hotel from 6 September

From Sunday 6 September 2026, register office ceremonies for between 2 and 18 guests (a total that includes babies, children and the two witnesses) will be held in a designated room, Suite 3, at the Harbour Hotel Guildford, 3 Alexandra Terrace, High Street, GU1 3DA, on Sundays and Mondays only (Surrey Ceremonies, Guildford). The council’s press release gives the arrangement as running until 31 March 2027; the ceremonies booking page gives 29 March 2027. Either way it is described as covering the transition, and bookings are open now through the Surrey Ceremonies website. The room is on the ground floor, the hotel has limited paid parking on site, and the council points to the G Live and High Street car parks two or three minutes’ walk away; our parking in Guildford page has the tariffs.

Two chances to see the room before booking, both next weekend:

  • Sunday 23 August, 12pm to 3pm: the hotel’s own wedding showcase, where the Registration Service team will be present.
  • Monday 24 August, 10am to 2pm: the council’s Ceremony Room Viewing Day, free tickets via Eventbrite.

Larger register office ceremonies are not moving to the hotel. The county’s other ceremony offices are Leatherhead (The Mansion, Church Street) and Weybridge, and licensed venues across Surrey are listed on the Surrey Ceremonies venue pages.

What it means for you

  • Library users: clear anything you need from the shelves before Thursday 20 August. Renewals are automatic to 10 November. From 21 September, reserve titles online or ask for a Ready Reads bundle (form live from 14 September). Public PCs are out until the full reopening, expected by the end of October: Ash, Godalming, Horsley and Woking are the fallbacks.
  • Parents of under-fives: rhymetime continues, but at the Yvonne Arnaud on Wednesdays at 10.30am, not the library.
  • Couples: if you want Artington House, book a date up to 31 October and give notice at least 29 days beforehand. If an intimate ceremony suits, the Harbour Hotel starts on 6 September on Sundays and Mondays; go and see the room on 23 or 24 August before committing.
  • Registering a birth or death from November: expect the appointment to be at Guildford Library, 77 North Street, not Portsmouth Road. The council says it will confirm the exact switchover date; until then, check the booking system’s location when you book.

The refit lands in a busy stretch for the town centre. The North Street regeneration site is a few hundred metres down the same street, and the A3 is closed northbound for the whole weekend of 21 to 24 August with traffic diverted through the middle of town: see our roadworks and travel page before you drive in for the showcase.