Sue Thomson Casey Memorial Library

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Sue Thomson Casey Memorial Library
Sue Thomson Casey Memorial Library.jpg
Sue Thomson Casey Memorial Library in 2019
Sue Thomson Casey Memorial Library
General information
TypeLibrary
Location Westport
Address87–89 Palmerston Street, Westport
Coordinates 41°45′06″S171°35′53″E / 41.75171944°S 171.59801944°E / -41.75171944; 171.59801944
Opened1904 (Carnegie building); 2003 present building
Technical details
Floor countSingle storey

The Sue Thomson Casey Memorial Library, also known as the Westport Library and the Buller District Library, is a district library located in Westport in the West Coast region of the South Island of New Zealand.

Contents

History

Westport Free Library circa 1910 Library Westport, ca 1910.jpg
Westport Free Library circa 1910

The original Westport Library (whereabouts unknown) was destroyed by fire on New Year's Day of 1903, and in January an appeal was made by the Westport Borough Council to Andrew Carnegie for funds to rebuild the reading rooms and library. [1] [2]

The Auckland Library present the Westport Athenaeum with a gift of 150 volumes in February 1903, presumably to help replace the collection lost to the fire. [3]

By August 1903 a request for further information was received, after which a group of estate agents wrote to Mr Carnegie proposing that the Canterbury Hall would make a suitable location and requesting to act as his agents in the purchase. [4] [5] [6] By October the council received word that Mr Carnegie granted £2000 on condition that the council provided a free site for the building and raised a further £100 per year through a 1d rate. [1] The gift was not universally welcomed but building went ahead and the new brick library on Lyndhurst Street was officially opened on 23 December 1904. [7] [8] [9]

The collection eventually grew too large for the Carnegie building and moved to new premises on Palmerston Street in 2003. [10] The Carnegie building is now a Category 2 registered building. [11]

Carnegie library building in 2020 Westport MRD 12.jpg
Carnegie library building in 2020

Collection

In addition to the usual library collection of books, newspapers, DVDs, a local history collection and talking books, the library also loans jigsaws. The library has free Wifi, and conducts computer classes, book groups and a children's programme. [12]

Membership of the library also allows access to the Inangahua county library in Reefton. The library supplies a rotating collection of items to the smaller Karamea War Memorial Library in Karamea. [13]

In September 2019 the Buller District Council funded a community makeover of the library from their Revitalisation Fund. [14]

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References

  1. 1 2 "Carnegie's Gifts". paperspast.natlib.govt.nz. Archived from the original on 13 October 2020. Retrieved 13 October 2020.
  2. ↑ "Carnegie libraries". New Zealand Geographic. Archived from the original on 16 October 2020. Retrieved 15 October 2020.
  3. ↑ "Interprovincial items". paperspast.natlib.govt.nz. Archived from the original on 18 October 2021. Retrieved 13 October 2020.
  4. ↑ "Local and general news". paperspast.natlib.govt.nz. Archived from the original on 14 October 2020. Retrieved 13 October 2020.
  5. ↑ "Telegrams". paperspast.natlib.govt.nz. Archived from the original on 18 October 2020. Retrieved 13 October 2020.
  6. ↑ "Local and general". paperspast.natlib.govt.nz. Archived from the original on 18 October 2021. Retrieved 13 October 2020.
  7. ↑ "It's Town Talk". paperspast.natlib.govt.nz. Archived from the original on 18 October 2021. Retrieved 13 October 2020.
  8. ↑ "All sorts of people". paperspast.natlib.govt.nz. Archived from the original on 17 October 2020. Retrieved 13 October 2020.
  9. ↑ "Interprovincial". paperspast.natlib.govt.nz. Archived from the original on 14 October 2020. Retrieved 13 October 2020.
  10. ↑ jshaffner (11 March 2013). "Winning Westport". The Librarian is IN. Archived from the original on 13 October 2020. Retrieved 13 October 2020.
  11. ↑ "Search the List | Westport Public Library (Former) | Heritage New Zealand". www.heritage.org.nz. Archived from the original on 14 October 2020. Retrieved 13 October 2020.
  12. ↑ "Buller District Council, New Zealand » About the Library". Archived from the original on 18 October 2020. Retrieved 13 October 2020.
  13. ↑ Jenner, Margaret. (2005). Small libraries of New Zealand. Bay of Plenty Polytechnic. pp. 20–21. ISBN   0-9582503-8-3. OCLC   800323878. Archived from the original on 18 October 2021. Retrieved 13 October 2020.
  14. ↑ "Sue Thomson Casey Memorial Library Makeover » Love Kawatiri". Love Kawatiri. Archived from the original on 21 October 2020. Retrieved 13 October 2020.
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