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Wellington City Libraries
Logo delle biblioteche di Wellington
Ubicazione
StatoNuova Zelanda (bandiera) Nuova Zelanda
RegioneWellington
CittàWellington
Indirizzoha due sedi:
  • Te Matapihi ki te Ao Nui, 65 Victoria Street
  • Waitohi Johnsonville Library, 34 Moorefield Road, Johnsonville
Caratteristiche
TipoPubblica
Specialistica
  • Collezioni di nicchia ed eredità storica
  • Spazi tematici avanzati
Numero opere720 000
StilePostmodernismo
ArchitettoAthfield Architects
Costruzione
  • 1989–1991 Edificazione Originale
  • 2022–2025 Grandioso Intervento di Adeguamento
Apertura1893
Chiusura2019 Chiusura per Rischi Sismici
ProprietàWellington City Council
Direttore
  • Jennifer Parker, responsabile delle biblioteche e degli spazi comunitari
  • James Roberts, direttore operativo del Comune
Sito web
Elemento Wikidata assente · Manuale

Wellington City Libraries is the public library service for Wellington, New Zealand.

Storia

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From 1841, various organisations operated a public library, often subscription-based, in Wellington.[1] The first library operated from 1841–1843 in a raupo hut at the bottom of what is now Molesworth Street, and this was followed by libraries in other locations around the city.[2] In 1889, local businessman and politician William Levin donated money to the city for building a library, prompting the setting up of the 'Free Public Library Fund' with fundraising events and donations from other people.[3] Wellington City Council agreed to build and operate a public library, which was officially opened on 21 April 1893[4] on the corner of Mercer and Wakefield Streets in a building designed by William Crichton, a prominent architect of the time.[5]85[6]

The reference section of the library opened on 1 May 1894 and in its first month was used by 306 men and 28 women. The most requested items included novels by George Eliot, works on sanitary engineering, yacht architecture and sailing, New Zealand Statutes, and science books.[7] The most popular novelists in the circulating area of the library in its first six months of operation included Sarah Grand, Marie Corelli, Edna Lyall, Arthur Conan Doyle, H. Rider Haggard, Stanley Weyman, E. F. Benson, Thomas Hardy, Mrs Henry Wood, and Mrs Humphry Ward.[8]

The library closed in 1940 and the building was demolished in 1943.[1][9] The site was later occupied by the City Council Municipal Office Building which was demolished in 2025.[10]

In 1940 a new library opened on a block between Mercer and Harris streets.[1]

Wellington Central Library

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Lo stesso argomento in dettaglio: Wellington Central Library.

By the early 1960s, the existing library built in 1940 had become too small: some books were stored offsite because of lack of space, the newspaper reading room and some staff sections were housed elsewhere and there was a lack of space for casual seating and study.[11]

In 1989, Athfield Architects were commissioned to design a new Wellington Central Library. Their design won the Environmental Award in the 1992 Carter Holt Harvey Awards and the New Zealand Institute of Architects National Award (1993).[12][13][14] The library was built by Fletcher Development and Construction.[15] The new Wellington Central Library was opened in 1991, and the previous library building then became the City Gallery. Both buildings are located in Civic Square, with the library having its main entrance on Victoria Street and another entrance from the mezzanine level onto Civic Square.

In March 2019, Wellington City Council announced that the Central Library was to be closed to the public, after receiving advice from engineers that the building has structural vulnerabilities which mean it might not perform well in the event of a significant earthquake.[16] A month later the Council announced that it would spend $179 million to repair and upgrade the library rather than demolish it.[17]

Following the closure of the Central Library, three pop-up replacement libraries opened in central Wellington: Arapaki Manners Library (opened in May 2019 in Manners Street and closed in 2024),[18][19] He Matapihi Molesworth Library (opened in October 2019 inside the National Library in Molesworth Street, and closed in 2023),[20][21] and Te Awe Library in Brandon Street (opened in July 2020, closed 1 March 2026).[22] However, none of these had the reading rooms or the opening hours of the Central Library. Wellington Central Library's collection of 400,000 items was relocated to a new collection and distribution centre named Te Pātaka[23] in Johnsonville while a new central library was constructed.[24] The renovated central library, also known by its Māori name Te Matapihi ki te Ao Nui, opened in March 2026.[25]

Filiali

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Absolutely Positively Wellington Campaign badge promoting Wellington Public Libraries

Wellington's first branch library opened in Newtown in 1902, stocking general literature and a range of newspapers and magazines.[26] As of March 2026, Wellington City Libraries has 11 suburban branches open to the public.[27] Branches have also been given Māori names, usually based on a geographic feature or local legend.[28]

  • Biblioteca di Brooklyn (Te Whare Pukapuka o Moe-rā)
  • Biblioteca di Cummings Park (Ngaio) (Te Whare Pukapuka o Korimako, Ngaio)
  • Biblioteca di Island Bay (Te Whare Pukapuka o Tapu Te Ranga)
  • Biblioteca di Johnsonville (Te Whare Pukapuka o Waitohi)
  • Biblioteca di Karori (Te Whare Pukapuka o Te Māhanga)
  • Biblioteca di Khandallah (Te Whare Pukapuka o Tari-Kākā)
  • Biblioteca Mervyn Kemp (Tawa) (Te Whare Pukapuka o Te Takapū o Patukawenga). Mervyn Kemp è stato sindaco di Tawa dal 1955 fino al suo pensionamento nel 1983. La biblioteca è stata intitolata a lui nel 1974.[29]
  • Biblioteca di Miramar (Te Whare Pukapuka o Motu-kairangi)
  • Biblioteca di Newtown (Te Whare Pukapuka o Omārōrō).
  • Biblioteca Ruth Gotlieb (Kilbirnie) (Te Whare Pukapuka o Te Awa-a-Taia). La biblioteca è stata ribattezzata in onore della consigliera comunale di Wellington Ruth Gotlieb nel 2000, in riconoscimento del suo contributo ai servizi bibliotecari, compreso il sostegno a una biblioteca mobile e la consegna di libri a domicilio alle persone costrette a casa.[30]
  • Biblioteca Wadestown (Te Whare Pukapuka o Ōtari)

Servizi bibliotecari

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Membership of Wellington City Libraries is free to residents and to those who work, study or pay rates in Wellington.[31] The library has offered a variety of services over the years to keep up with changes in technology, public taste and budget. Public-access computers were introduced in 1998 for patrons to access the catalogue digitally,[32] and in 2001 the library spent $2.35 million upgrading the system to one that was Windows-based, internet-enabled and easier for patrons to use.[33] As of 2025 Wellington City Libraries offers online remote access to databases, e-books and audiobooks, newspapers, magazines, films, music and language learning apps.[34] Events held at the branch libraries include story times for young children, conversation groups for migrants, movie nights, and talks by authors.

From 1947 to 2006 the library operated a mobile service, taking books to communities that had no branch library or limited public transport, but this service was cancelled in 2006 due to low use and high costs.[35] The library still has a housebound service, whereby volunteers will deliver books to those who are unable to get to a library.[36]

Other examples of services no longer offered include the print collection and bestseller collection. The central library formerly held a collection of art prints which patrons could borrow.[37] During the 1980s the library issued 7500–8000 prints annually, but by 1997 the number had halved and the print collection of 1200 items was sold.[38] In 1996 the library introduced 'bestsellers': patrons could pay a small fee to jump the reserve queue for a bestselling book and borrow it immediately.[39] This service ended in October 2022.[40]

On 1 July 2022 the library stopped charging overdue fees for books not returned on time,[41] in line with a world-wide trend in public libraries.[42] The library manager stated that overdue fines "disproportionately affect those who cannot afford to pay" and that some poorer families were too afraid to borrow items in case they became overdue. It was hoped that removing fines would encourage more people to use the library.[41] During the period from 2019 to March 2022, Wellington City Council received more than $800,000 from fines for overdue books, and when the new policy was put into place the council wiped over $500,000 of current fines from patrons' accounts.[42] A survey conducted almost a year after the change found that more people were using the library.[43]

In 2025, Wellington City Council data showed that most suburban libraries had experienced a significant drop in visitor numbers in the previous decade. For example at Island Bay there were 41,000 visitors in the 2023/24 year, less than half the number who visited in 2014/15. However book borrowing had changed at a different rate: 64,600 books were borrowed from Island Bay in 2023/24, compared with 81,900 a decade earlier. Each visitor is borrowing more books.[44] Johnsonville library has dramatically increased patronage since it moved to new, larger premises in 2019. The new building has a café and a kindergarten and connects with other facilities including Keith Spry Pool, Johnsonville Community Centre and Memorial Park. Wellington City Councillor Ben McNulty believed that libraries need to become multi-purpose community spaces, saying “libraries...are a third space that people can just go to gather, study, contemplate, meet friends and meet family”.[44]

Premi

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In 2006 the New Zealand Music Board honoured the Library with an excellence award for its "Sing along with Stu" story-time programme.

Te Awe Library in Brandon Street won the 2021 New Zealand Institute of Architects Wellington Architecture Award for public architecture for its design and décor.[45][46]

Galleria di immagini

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Note

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  1. 1 2 3 Closing tonight: Old City Library: Opening of New Building, in Evening Post, 8 Feb 1940.
  2. ↑ (EN) History of Wellington City Libraries, su wcl.govt.nz.
  3. ↑ Town and country: Free public library, in New Zealand Mail, 20 June 1890.
  4. ↑ Opening of the free library, in Evening Post, 22 April 1893.
  5. ↑ Redmer Yska, Wellington: Biography of a City, Wellington, New Zealand, Reed, 2006, ISBN 978-0-7900-1107-3.
  6. ↑ William Crichton, su wellingtoncityheritage.org.nz, 11 Aug 2016.
  7. ↑ The public library, in New Zealand Times, 4 June 1894.
  8. ↑ The free public library, in New Zealand Times, 13 October 1894.
  9. ↑ Weakness of Oamaru Stone, in Auckland Star, 8 Mar 1943.
  10. ↑ Olivia Wannan, Wellington's Civic Square being transformed into a 'corporate park', critics say, su stuff.co.nz, 9 December 2024.
  11. ↑ Wellington City Council, Meet Your New Library [pamphlet], su archivesonline.wcc.govt.nz, 1991.
  12. ↑ Wellington Central Library – Top Tourist Spot, in Wellington City Newsletter, December 1992.
  13. ↑ Wellington Library "World Class", in Independent Herald, 16 June 1993.
  14. ↑ (EN) Laura Wiltshire, Wellington's 30-year-old Central Library may be given heritage status, su stuff.co.nz, 10 Sep 2020.
  15. ↑ (EN) Tommy Honey, 30 years on: Wellington Central Library, su architecturenow.co.nz, 23 June 2020.
  16. ↑ Central Library closure, su wellington.govt.nz, Wellington City Council, 19 March 2019.
  17. ↑ (EN) 'Great news day' for Wellington – council agrees to spend $179m to fix, upgrade library, su stuff.co.nz, 28 Oct 2020.
  18. ↑ No clear plan to re-house 350,000 items in Wellington's Central Library as pop-up opens, su stuff.co.nz, 28 May 2019.
  19. ↑ (EN) Arapaki to close down on 27 September, su wellington.govt.nz, 15 agosto 2024.
  20. ↑ (EN) New co-operative space to open at National Library – Library News, su wcl.govt.nz, 27 maggio 2019.
  21. ↑ (EN) He Matapihi Molesworth Street library closing, su wellington.govt.nz, 15 maggio 2023.
  22. ↑ (EN) Te Awe Brandon Street Library Closure, su wcl.govt.nz, 2 marzo 2026.
  23. ↑ (EN) Keeping Central Library's books safe, su wellington.govt.nz, 13 ottobre 2021.
  24. ↑ Central City Library Services FAQs, su wcl.govt.nz.
  25. ↑ (EN) Our much-loved Te Matapihi Central Library returns this weekend, su wcl.govt.nz, 12 March 2026.
  26. ↑ Wellington South Free Public Library, in Evening Post, 23 April 1902.
  27. ↑ Our Branches, su wcl.govt.nz.
  28. ↑ Maori Branch Names, su wcl.govt.nz.
  29. ↑ (EN) The Mervyn Kemp Oral History, su wellington.recollect.co.nz.
  30. ↑ (EN) Julie Iles, Long-serving Wellington politician Ruth Gotlieb dies aged 96, su stuff.co.nz, 22 luglio 2019.
  31. ↑ Joining, su wcl.govt.nz.
  32. ↑ Phil Jones, Wellington libraries to get public access computers, in The Dominion, 29 June 1998.
  33. ↑ Amanda Wells, Wellington City Libraries to spend $2.3m on computer system, in The Dominion, 19 March 2001.
  34. ↑ (EN) Browse our eLibrary, su wcl.govt.nz.
  35. ↑ (EN) Rebecca Thomson, Brakes put on mobile library – 150 Years of News, su stuff.co.nz, 28 Sep 2015.
  36. ↑ Housebound, su wcl.govt.nz.
  37. ↑ Wellington Public Library: processing pictures for loan, su archivesonline.wcc.govt.nz.
  38. ↑ Library's collection of prints to be sold, in Evening Post, 25 September 1997.
  39. ↑ Library now stocks the latest reads, in Independent Herald, 3 January 1996.
  40. ↑ (EN) bestsellers – Library Blog, su wcl.govt.nz.
  41. 1 2 (EN) Wellington City Libraries end overdue fines, su wellington.govt.nz, 31 maggio 2022.
  42. 1 2 (EN) Joel MacManus, Wellington to scrap overdue library fines and wipe all outstanding debt, su stuff.co.nz, 9 marzo 2022.
  43. ↑ (EN) Hanna McCallum, Library users up after Wellington libraries ditch overdue fines, survey finds, su stuff.co.nz, 14 giugno 2023.
  44. 1 2 Harriet Laughton, Suburban libraries in decline but two sites see rising patronage, su thepost.co.nz, 22 September 2025.
  45. ↑ (EN) Te Awe Library, su librariesaotearoa.org.nz.
  46. ↑ Te Awe Library, su nzia.co.nz.

Altri progetti

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Collegamenti esterni

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