NEW REFERENCE LIBRARY

Press, Volume LXXXVI, Issue 26129, 3 June 1950, Page 2

NEW REFERENCE LIBRARY

OPENING YESTERDAY FAVOURABLE COMMENT RECEIVED The Canterbury Public Library’s new reference room on the first floor of the library building was opened to the public yesterday. The work on this new room was started last October, said the librarian (Mr E. J. Bell), last evening. Last Saturday Boy Scouts helped to move the whole library of nooks from the old room and during the last week the final alterations had been made. The Mayor (Mr E. H. Andrews), the chairman of the City Council’s library committee (Cr. J. E. Tait), the Deputy-Mayor (Cr. J. N. Clarke), and the Town Clerk (Mr H. S. Feast) inspected the library on Thursday and expressed their satisfaction with the work that had been done.

The new room was made by flooring in the gallery of the reading room on the corner of Hereford street and Cambridge terrace and taking down the wall between the west end of the gallery and what used to be the old lecture room. This room has more recently been used as a storeroom. By this means a completely new room of more than 100 feet along the Hereford frontageZand about 30 feet wide has been built. The library is reached by the stairs from the circulating library and is entered through two swinging glass doors. To the left is the general reference section with seating at double desks for about 28 persons and book shelves along the walls and in the middle. It was hoped to provide a few lounge chairs later, said Mr Bell, and these would be more comfortable than those at the desks. The cork floor has been varnished to tone with the furniture.

To the right is the receptionists’ .desk and the magazine section. This was the old lecture room and is of a slightly different architectural style from the main part of the room. At present this end is not complete. The New Zealand reference section is housed at this end and there are sloping stands to hold magazines. When it is completed there will also be a number of tables, similar to those already provided, in this section. The most prominent feature of the new room is the fine natural and artificial lighting. During- the day light is provided by windows on three sides and a large skylight on the roof. For use at night there are double sets of fluorescent fittings giving shadowkss. even lighting. He had had many visitors during the day, said Mr Bell last evening, and all had commented on the excellent job done. He was particularly pleased with the new library, he said.

These alterations arc part of the City Council’s plans for modernising the Christchurch Public Library, which, now has the biggest reference section of any municipal library in New Zealand or Australia.