Blenheim’s new $20 million library and art gallery is open for business

JUDENE EDGAR

Ten years in the making, Marlborough Mayor Nadine Taylor says that the new facility “will be a hub of knowledge, information and activity for everyone in Marlborough.”

“The current library has 15,000 visitors a month and we expect that will increase significantly with this new, multi-purpose venue. The new building will bring people into the centre of town and help revitalise our central business district.”

Located beside the Quays on the Taylor River Reserve, the location was chosen to provide a lively cultural precinct that will entice people and encourage activity. Since the new Picton Library and Service Centre opened in 2017, it has supported a diverse range of community activities and enjoyed a 24 percent increase in patronage. One eager visitor who says he’s really excited about the new library is five-year-old Conor Falvey. “It’s really good and really tall. And I’m really good at reading,” he enthuses.

The days of libraries being quiet places full of dusty old books and shushing librarians are long gone. These days they are accessible, fun community hubs providing a wide range of activities and opportunities from hosting book launches to JP desks, craft groups, digital skills classes, book clubs, committee meetings, 3D printing, lego club, La hora del cuento (Spanish storytime) and even a café.

Council’s District Libraries Manager Glenn Webster says that libraries are “a living room for the community. There’s something for everyone at our libraries, so come in and have a look.”

While it’s true the concept of libraries has expanded, the centrepiece of the library is still its book collection. Blenheim library has 74,000 books as well as more than 7,000 national and international newspapers and magazines available online and a growing collection of eBooks and eAudiobooks.

Despite books being digitised at an ever-growing rate, printed books have clearly not lost their popularity at all. Glenn was very appreciative that the public took up the opportunity prior to the closure of the former Arthur Street library to take out as many books as possible, as it significantly reduced the number of books that they needed to relocate in the three-and-a-half-week shutdown period. Around 37,000 books were checked out! The facility marries together the public library and Millennium Art Gallery in one stunning, high-profile building. The Millennium Art Gallery which had long outgrown its existing home, needed more storage facilities and display and education space. Gallery Director Cressida Bishop says that she’s looking forward to being able to show more and rarer exhibitions and offer a variety of public programmes in both gallery and the spaces shared with the library. “It provides the opportunity to realise the potential of the region’s public art gallery’s exhibitions and programmes.”

Project Director Luke van Velthooven has been involved