The Palmerston North City Library is the main public library provided by the Palmerston North City Council for the residents of Palmerston North

Palmerston North

Palmerston North is the main city of the Manawatu-Wanganui region of the North Island of New Zealand. It is an inland city with a population of and is the country's seventh largest city and eighth largest urban area. Palmerston North is located in the eastern Manawatu Plains near the north bank...

, New Zealand

New Zealand

New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...

.

Purpose

The Palmerston North City Library is branded as "The Living Room of the City" and exists "To inspire people to explore the pathways of the world - Te Ara Whanui o Te Ao" It serves the city through a variety of collections that include books, magazines, CDs, DVDs and electronic resources. It provides recreational and educational opportunities from an award-winning building located on The Square in the centre of the City, as well as four other branch libraries around the City.

Facilities

The Palmerston North City Library is located in The Square in the restored and extended C M Ross building. The design for the building was created by New Zealand architect Ian Athfield

Ian Athfield

Ian Charles Athfield is a New Zealand architect. He was born in Christchurch and graduated from the University of Auckland in 1963 with a Diploma of Architecture. That same year he joined Structon Group Architects, and he became a partner in 1965...

and was opened in 1996. The library operates from other service points including branches located in the suburbs of Highbury, Roslyn, Awapuni and Ashhurst as well as a Mobile Library Bus.

History

A library service in Palmerston North dates back to June 1876 with the provision of a reading room available to subscription members only. The fledging service suffered various setbacks including a fire in 1885 which destroyed the entire collection. In 1894 the remainder of the library collections were transferred to the local Fire Brigade which had a members library open to public subscription. In 1900 the Council restarted a public library service with the opening of a public reading room. In 1938 the Council made the library service free to all city residents. The library has occupied a number of buildings over the years and the current central library is the 6th location.

External links

• Palmerston North City Library website