Libraries Manager Aimee Pieterse said the team was in preliminary pack up mode to return to their beloved ‘home’ on Tarbert Street.
“The past six months have been a real challenge being in a much smaller space. But it’s really highlighted for us, regardless of the space, the importance of libraries to the community, and how people embraced the temporary pop-up space, where we were able to continue meeting their needs. It’s going to be so wonderful to be back at Tarbert Street, and being able to offer the community a wonderful, refurbished space.”
The renovation, which includes a cosmetic internal renovation of the Alexandra Library, new office equipment, toilet facilities for customer use, shelving and general enhancement, has been on the cards for about 15 years, and has at long last come up trumps. The project has been made possible by Central Government’s Better Off Funding that provided 60% of the total $1,035,000 cost. Since February, Central Otago Libraries has been converting its collection to Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) barcodes, another better off funding project where the Council was granted $361,000 towards the installation of the wireless radio tagging system.
CODC Property and Facilities Officer Bex Snape, who has overseen the refurbishment, said the project team had worked hard to ensure the project ran to schedule, and on budget, to meet the needs of locals and visitors alike.
“The new refurbished space provides for the traditional and ever-evolving positive role of library services. It offers welcoming, modern, flexible spaces for the whole community to use to come together and connect.”
The library will officially open to the public on Monday 2 December at 11am.
- The temporary pop-up library in Central Stories will be closed next week (25-30 November) while staff move back into Tarbert Street building. Please continue to return books via the returns slot at Central Stories until we re-open.
