Newsletter November 2007

Welcome

The Libraries 2025 Facilities Plan Working Party will meet twice this month to complete separate northern and southern tours of the Christchurch City Libraries network.

These tours are designed to give the Working Party – an independent group of key community and industry representatives set-up to work in partnership with Council staff and elected members to develop the Draft Libraries 2025 Facilities Plan – a comprehensive overview of the network. They will consider the location of existing libraries, the different environments in which these operate, the issues that exist in relation to future growth of the city and trends in library services.

In the northern sector, the Working Party will visit Bishopdale, Papanui, Redwood and Fendalton libraries, while in the southern sector they will visit South Christchurch, Spreydon and Halswell libraries.

During November and early December, a series of staff-led workshops will also be held with key stakeholder groups to help inform the work and deliberations of the Working Party.

This Working Party is important in the pre-consultation phase of the development of the Plan, ensuring the needs of the wider community forms the nucleus around which the Plan is developed. Its primary functions are to identify priority areas for enhancing community access, developing a hierarchy of library facilities and identifying future opportunities which will form their recommendations to Council.

The Draft Libraries 2025 Facilities Plan will provide a city-wide framework to plan the future development of our libraries network to better meet Christchurch’s changing geographic and demographic needs.

Christchurch City has a proud history of investing in libraries; the city having a network of 19 facilities which provide a customer-driven, value-for-money and technologically advanced service for residents and ratepayers.

Development of the Draft Libraries 2025 Facilities Plan follows the completion in 2006 of the Council’s last 10-year development plan. This Plan saw new library buildings at Papanui, Shirley, New Brighton and Fendalton, and new facilities/services at South Christchurch, Parklands and Upper Riccarton.

The new Plan will look to tailor any development, relocation and extension of services to better meet the changing community needs, address growth and create focal points for community learning and leisure activities. The Urban Development Strategy, Christchurch’s ageing population, cultural diversity in the community and advances in digital information and communication technology will guide the development of the Plan.

Once the draft Plan is completed in March/April 2008, it will be released for public consultation. Any projects recommended in the final Plan will be considered as part of the 2009 Long Term Council Community Plan process.

Regards

Carolyn Robertson
Christchurch City Libraries Manager