A ‘bright and colourful’ mural has been unveiled at Ecclesall Library in a bid to tackle graffiti on the building.

Nicole White, 36, from Sharrow Vale, who painted the mural, hopes the artwork will also encourage more people to use the library.

The artist and several other local creatives were approached by the South West Local Area Committee (SWLAC) to paint the shutters at Ecclesall Library, which had been vandalised.

Nicole said: “I was really excited because I grew up in Ecclesall. I used to walk past the library on the way to my friends house, so I had a special interest in the project and it would be so nice to leave a mark there.”

The project, which aimed to turn a ‘negative into a positive’ was initiated after consultation meetings were held with the community who unanimously agreed to have a mural painted.

Nicole, who first began painting murals while travelling in Peru, designed two images and library users voted for their favourite.

The final design received 300 votes and a spokesperson for SWLAC described the process as a ‘massive team effort’ in getting to the final product.

Nicole explained working on shutters presented challenges such as access during the day, ridges on the surface, and bitter weather, but with the use of masonry paint, scaffolding and persistence, the mural came together nicely.

She said: “Painting murals is really hard work. It’s a real creative graft.

“Doing big murals is quite an endurance and it can be an emotional journey as well as just painting it. It’s about being persistent.”

Nicole has received positive feedback during and after the process. It has also inspired other areas of Sheffield to use street-art as a deterrent for vandalism.

A spokesperson for SWLAC labelled Nicole’s work as ‘phenomenal’, praising the idea that she brought street art, elements of a library and nature together in the final mural. The committee also noted the library now stands out and makes people look, which will hopefully increase its foot fall.

Nicole said: “My favourite reaction was after a person panicked one day because the shutters had been rolled up. So he went into the library and said ‘where’s the mural gone?’ It’s good to know the artworks appreciated.”