New Central Library Tuam to open

A new temporary library is set to open in Tuam Street next month.

Christchurch City Libraries have been looking for larger premises to establish a temporary library to service the southern area of the four avenues.  Central Library Tuam / Te Kete Wānanga o Tuam will open at 9am on Monday 23 July 2012. The current temporary mini-library in the South City Shopping Centre will close at 5pm on Sunday 15 July 2012.

Central Library Tuam will be larger than Central South City Library (in South City Shopping Centre) and will offer more services.  It will complement Central Library Peterborough / Te Kete Wānanga o Peterborough, which opened in December last year to service the northern area of the four avenues.  The Tuam and Peterborough libraries both have collections of about 70,000 items and will be in place until the Central Library in Gloucester Street, which sustained damage in the earthquakes, is operational again.

Acting Libraries and Information Unit Manager Erica Rankin says both the staff and collection from the Central South City Library will relocate to 121 Tuam Street.

“We are really excited that our customers will have access to a larger, more fully equipped library.  It is very accessible, being located next to the Central Station bus exchange and close to a Council car park that currently has two hours free parking.  It is also in close proximity to Re:Start.”

Central Library Tuam will be open Monday to Friday from 9am-6pm and during weekends from 10am-5pm.

Customers will have access to fiction, non-fiction, 32 computers, wireless access, CDs, DVDs, newspapers, a children’s area and young adult material.  There will also be a collection of books and magazines in Asian languages (European, Middle Eastern and Afrikaans material are at Peterborough Street); an extensive motor manuals collection (this is one of the most commonly asked for items since the earthquakes) and a selection of material retrieved from the Central Library on Gloucester Street’s Aotearoa New Zealand collection.

Library users will be able to pick up reserved items and there will be the same new issue kiosks, which have been installed at other city libraries. Staff will work alongside customers to make it as easy as possible for them to use this new equipment.

Mayor Bob Parker says it is exciting to note all the items and archives from the Central Library in Gloucester Street have now been retrieved.

“It has taken a lot of effort to make sure these precious items are safe and I am thrilled they are able to be used and enjoyed again by library users around Christchurch.”

While not everything from Central Library in Gloucester Street is able to be housed at Tuam and Peterborough libraries, customers will have access to it by reserving it on-line or at any of the city’s libraries. Archives have now been moved to Recall at Dakota Park and can be viewed by appointment by phoning (03) 941 8999 .

The Central Library is one of the 10 major facilities highlighted in the Draft Annual Plan for 2012/13.  If the preferred option of repairing the library to 100 percent of the New Building Standard is accepted, it is likely to be closed for another two and a half years.

For more information about libraries, visit http://christchurchcitylibraries.com