Future of library in doubt

Press, 1 June 1982, Page 6

Future of library in doubt

The Woolston voluntary library is again in danger of losing’ financial aid from the Christchurch City Council. The council ’ should no longer support the use of the former Woolston Borough Council building, the cultural committee recommended yesterday. Woolston has one of the city's 13 remaining voluntary libraries. Some have los’t members and patronage because of the success of fullyfledged branch libraries and 'the new central city library. A 25 per cent jump in membership for the central city library — to 106.000 at the’ end of May — has occurred since it shifted to Gloucester Street, at the start of fliis year. The council spent no maintenance money on the Woolston library I’ast year, and dropped $9OOO from draft estimates this year. Mr K. R. McNeil, the council’s. housing and property officer, said that the $9OOO for . exterior improvements, would have been ‘‘really only the tip of the iceberg." It could cost more than $20,000 if the council wanted to correct the library’s roof and floor problems during the next few years, he said. The councillors were told

that the library’s membership was jess than 500, and the membership was mostly elderly. The volunteers who remained were dedicated to maintaining the service. The committee was told .by the Burwood voluntary library president. Mr V. T. Long, that patronage there had dropped since the new Shirley Branch library had opened last year. Takings were down by about $ll4 a month, from an average of $l9O a month before the branch opened. The Burwood library had lost about $2500 in the last year. It had about 1700 members. but only two-thirds of them used the library now. Fewer books had been bought this year, and the library had higher expenses, said Mr Long. In 1977, the last year that patronage was ' measured, about 40 per cent of. the Burwood members lived in Waimairi County, whose boundary is about a block away. At the time. Waimairi County had refused to help fund the Burwood library. Patronage suffered from both City Council • and Waimairi mobile library ser-. vices. School patronage was also down, he said.

Burwood was "pretty well ahead of most voluntary libraries" in its results, and still provided an excellent service, said the City Librarian. Mr J. E. D. Stringleman. The Burwood library has been established for 94 years, and the Woolston library. 11l years. Cr M. J. Glubb said there was a danger that suburban libraries believed that financial help was coming, when •the council was not able to give it. “The council should state its real position quite explicitly," he said. Without strong support from Waimairi users, there would be “little justification for keeping it (the Burwood library) open." said Mr Stringleman. One suggestion for rejuvenation' of the Woolston library came from Sir Terence McCombs. He said that many young people in the area were not being catered for by the library. He asked if the library committee could actively look for new and younger members who would reflect the population of new housing areas near the library.