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The courtyard outside Whangaparaoa Library has had a spruce up that cost ratepayers $204,500 in a process that took almost four years.
The changes include the addition of shade sails, planting, improved and additional seating and art tiles made by members of the public.
Under Auckland Council’s Community Empowerment model, the idea was for the project to be community-led. Public input began in mid-2016.
Auckland Council Head of Project Delivery John Schermbrucker says Auckland Council is now considering additional health and safety features for the courtyard. “This project is currently being scoped and a budget is yet to be set,” he says.
During the summer, the library is planning events to take advantage of its revamped courtyard including waiata singing on Mondays, from 3.30pm-3.50pm.
An upcoming collections layout change inside the library will swap the locations of adult nonfiction and fiction collections to make the highly used fiction collection more accessible.
New programmes are being rolled out this year, including a weekly quiet low-sensory hour every Wednesday, from 1.30pm-2.30pm, which library manager Arlee Turner says has been introduced in response to customer feedback. To make the library quieter, shelf stacking and trolley moving will be kept to a minimum, the sound on checkout machines will be turned down or off and there will be no music or public programmes taking place.
