Welsh heritage minister Alun Ffred Jones has announced that a number of museums, libraries and archives across Wales are to benefit from a share of £4m.

Among the schemes to receive funding is the redevelopment of a Grade II-listed Baptist church in Bargoed, which is will provide a new library, an information centre and a space for worship. Around £400,000 will be invested in local museums across the country, including more than £100,000 as part of an initiative to allow attractions to display items from National Museum Wales.

More than £50,000 has been set aside for an all-Wales project led by Archives and Record Council Wales to digitise and make the Tithe Maps of Wales available online. A total of 12 libraries will receive £3m worth of grants towards modernisation projects, including sites in Pontypool, Rhyl and Aberystwyth as part of the three-year Libraries for Life scheme.

Jones said: "These grants will help museums and archives across the country to enhance their work in preserving and presenting our heritage through conservation work, and developing new exhibitions, online resources and educational activities that will bring the collections alive for a new generation of people."