Tielt-Winge (Brussels Morning Newspaper) – Tielt-Winge opened its new library in a historic Sint-Martinus church today March 22, 2025. The library holds 15,000 books, down from 40,000. Children’s books move to the school library. The church hosts talks, music, and workshops.
On March 23, 2025, the Flemish Brabant town of Tielt-Winge opened its new library. Even though the new library is considerably smaller than the previous one, it is located in an old Sint-Martinus church. Since they needed to determine how to fit all the books into the church, the opening date for the library was pushed back from January 2025.
They had almost 40,000 books and comics, but the church wasn’t big enough for all of them. So they had to decide which books to keep. About 15,000 books stayed in the library, and the rest were sent to the school’s library.
How did Tielt-Winge transform a historic church into a library?
According to the officials, the school library is bigger and better for kids. The town desires it to be completed by the time school opens in September 2025 so children can utilize it. They said that the library will be available to everybody, including all the schools within the region, so children can read and study.
Officials mentioned that the church is still important because it has a special organ that is used for music lessons and concerts. The library will also use the church for talks and workshops. They said that people can learn about books, music, and other things in the church.
The officials said that the old church was converted into a library, but it was not simple. They were required to incorporate such essentials as toilets, electricity, and heating, which was challenging since the building is old.
The town council said that it was essential to keep the appearance of the church, but make it functional as a library. It took a very long time to prepare it. He said that it’s a good way to repurpose the old church and retain it in the town.
