Many hands make light work: Shelves mostly empty as library shift nears

MAIA HART Local Democracy Reporter

Kia King has about 70 books at home she has borrowed for her and her three children from the Blenheim library.

The library assistant described it as a “panic borrow”, but actually it was exactly what people were encouraged to do in time for a temporary three-week closure on Sunday.

After all – the more books people took out for the closure – the less the team would need to pack up and shift to the new $20m library and art gallery, which would open on May 12.

“Everybody was worried about not having anything to read for the next three weeks. I’ve been stocking up too,” Kia says.

“I read my youngest three books a night.”

Kia says she was excited to move to the new space.

“The collection will look really stunning, everything nice and fresh, everything’s going to be beautifully arranged.”

Denise McQuade, who has been coming to the library since she moved to the region nearly 20 years ago, thought the new library and gallery was going to be “bigger and better”.

Denise was hoping to take home some extra books, but her options were “limited” when she visited the library on Friday afternoon ahead of Sunday’s closure.

“But I’ve taken as many as I can find.”

Richard Anderson, who visited the library every week, hoped the collection would grow at the new site.

“I tend to read two genres of books, and I’ve been getting to the stage now where I’ve read most of the books. I’ve been coming for seven years,” Richard says. He says he gets through about two books a week so planned to take out more on Friday to keep him going until the new site opened.

Sergio Gallegos described the library as an “indoor playground” for 18-month-old Nahuel Gallegos-Martinez.

“We are always looking for a place that we can do something inside, especially in winter, because there are not many places for kids his age,” he says.

“It’s also good to be inside the library, because he likes books, he has his own corner at home, for telling him stories, and reading books.”

His partner, Vanessa Martinez, says the new library building looked “beautiful”.

“I think that makes it even better of an experience.”

She said the children’s bookshelf was “nearly empty”.

“Usually this shelf, it’s full with children’s books.”

Nikki Howard, library assistant in the children’s team, said she was particularly excited about the new teen’s space in the new library – which was an “improvement” on what they had.

“Libraries are just so much more than books now days, and everyone is welcome,” she says.

The 3,600m2 library would house shared areas including meeting rooms, a foyer/reception, café, toilets, a multipurpose education room and landscaped grounds.

The Government in 2020 announced it would cover $11 million of the project’s $20m bill. The project was one of 150 to be approved as part of the Government’s ‘shovel ready’ initiative, designed to boost the economy as the country recovered from the Covid-19 pandemic.

Millennium Public Art Gallery director Cressida Bishop previously said the building’s climate-controlled gallery and storage spaces met the highest standards required for New Zealand public art galleries.

This would enable Marlborough to host exhibitions of rare and valuable works such as the Rita Angus survey exhibition, that the gallery had not previously been able to show.

Before any of the collection could be moved, a blessing of the site would take place on April 28. Despite opening to the public on May 12, an official opening would be held in June.

Public Interest Journalism funded through NZ on Air.