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| June 2004 |
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Libraries respond to community needs With a recent national award for architecture under its belt, the City Council’s newest library – the South Christchurch Library – is continuing to raise the bar of what can be achieved in a modern, purpose built library. Christchurch City Libraries manager Sue Sutherland likens the South Christchurch Library, Service and Learning Centre to a village square. “It’s a meeting and learning place. It’s a place to read and access resources and information. It’s a place where people can sit down and talk over lunch. It’s an example of how the physical space of a library can meet the needs of the individual community it serves,” she says. Libraries mean different things to different people. For some they’re a place to go maybe once a month to get a new book, CD or magazine. For others they’re a work area, a place to study, carry out research and access resources not available elsewhere. Sue is keen to get the message out about the extent of services and resources that the libraries now offer. “The concept of the ‘virtual library’ is growing. People no longer have to physically come into the library to access resources. “We can provide assistance electronically through our “LiveOnline” service and access exactly what people are looking for with our premium databases,” she says (see p7 for more information on these services). Sue says that despite some predictions to the contrary, the growth in ‘virtual’ services has not led to the demise of the library as we know it. In fact, there are two new libraries in the planning. In 1992, the City Council approved an extension, refurbishment and renewal programme for its library network, the aim being for 80 per cent of the city to be within 2km of a library. To complete this programme, there is a new library planned for upper Riccarton, due to open at the end of 2005, and one for Parklands to be housed in a refurbished building due for completion in April 2005. The new Upper Riccar ton Library is a partnership with Riccarton High School and the City Council. Sue says it is the first purposebuilt school/community library in New Zealand, in an urban environment. She says that future growth of the city will determine where and when new libraries are built. “We may see more refurbishments and rebuilding of existing libraries rather than the addition of new libraries.”
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