|
Brief
History of Hastings Library |
| Information
below quoted from City
of the Plains by M. B. Boyd. More interesting details
are
in this book, including the falling out with the Carnegie
Corporation! |
Pre
1901
Library service was given by the Atheneum Society with a
popular free reading room in Market Street. After the Government cut
the subsidy, it quickly got into debt. |
1901
- 1904
The Hastings Borough Council considers (6/6/01) and acts (7/10/01)
to take over the Atheneum. In 1902 Mr H J Burton was appointed
Librarian. A Carnegie grant for a free public library received
6/10/04). |
 |
1905
Building was begun after acceptance of a tender (16/11/05) and the
new two storied red brick library in Market Street was opened on
16/9/07. |
|
1931 On 3 February 1931 at 10:47 am Hawke's Bay was devastated
by an earthquake with the magnitude of 7.8. The business centres
of Hastings and Napier were reduced to ruins.
The Hastings Public Library building
collapsed "entombing newspaper readers". |
|
"As past Councils had failed to maintain
the old library on a free basis, the Carnegie Foundation declined to
replace it. A temporary library was established in the municipal
building but was extremely deficient in reference works...indeed it
was little more than a source of cheap fiction that competed with
commercial book clubs. Children's books were selected more
intelligently and included reference works.
"By 31 March 1936, the library had 1,320
subscribers, 823 adults and 497 children, 6,497 books and a staff of
two, but little was done to further the long-term objective of a new
library on Civic Square." |
|
The library continued to function on the
ground floor of the municipal building, in Heretaunga Street East
(where Hutchinson's Furniture shop is at present).
After much controversy about what form a war memorial should take, it
was finally decided this should be a new (free) library on
Civic Square.
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1959
The original building on the present Civic Square site was built as a War Memorial
Library.
Designed by Davies, Phillips & Chapman, it was built by
J.C.Mackersey Ltd and opened in October 1959.
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The Hall of Memories
commemorates those who served in both World Wars and in conflicts in
Korea 1950-53, Malaya 1952-66, Borneo 1964-66 and Vietnam 1964-72.
The Hall of
Memories windows and mural, and the bas relief plaques outside were
designed and painted by Peter McIntyre.
The mural depicts a
joint assault by the three branches of the armed forces on an
unspecified beach..
Restoration work was
undertaken on the mural in 1994 with the assistance of the New
Zealand Lottery Grants Board.
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1993
The Hastings Central Library was extensively altered in 1993, with
two new wings added plus a mezzanine floor. The refurbished
library was opened on 17 July 1993 by the then Mayor of Hastings, Mr
Jeremy Dwyer.
The building increased
in size from 920 sq metres to 2410 sq metres (including the Hall of
Memories).
The extensions were
designed by David Ironside of Works Consultancy in Spanish Mission
style, and features large windows to give a sense of light and
space.
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