Pacific-themed refurbishment for Linwood Library

10 May 2007

Linwood Library will close for almost three weeks from Monday, 21 May, to enable the first major refurbishment of the facility to be carried out since it opened in 1993. It is scheduled to re-open on Thursday, 7 June, at 9am.

The library is now 14 years old and the interior is looking both tired and shabby, says Christchurch City Libraries Manager Carolyn Robertson.

"Much of the work is required for health and safety reasons," she says.

"The refurbishment involves the replacement of threadbare carpet, painting of the walls in fresh, Pacific-inspired colours, the relocation of some services to make better use of available space and for work to begin on an on-going programme to refurbish the furniture."

Mrs Robertson says the theme for the refurbishment had been inspired by the sea, the colours predominantly being blues, greens and parchment.

"Linwood Library is a busy community library with an average monthly foot count of 15,000. It has a sense strong of community; the customer base being drawn from the local Linwood community and Christchurch's seaside hill suburbs.

"During refurbishment, customers will be able to access regular library services at any of the other Christchurch City Libraries. The closest to Linwood are New Brighton Library at the Pier, Shirley Library within The Palms shopping precinct and Christchurch Central Library in Gloucester Street."

Mrs Robertson says all reserved books will be able to be collected from Central Library which has easy access with Farmers Car Park located next door and the first hour of parking free.

"Customers will still be able to return items to Linwood Library during the closure as the after-hours slot on the driveway side of Linwood Library will be cleared by staff on a daily basis.

"I acknowledge there will be some inconvenience for library customers during this time and I apologise for this in advance. Unfortunately, for health and safety reasons we are unable to keep the library operational during this time.

"The newly refurbished Linwood Library will provide customers and staff with a more pleasant and better environment in which to enjoy the range of services and facilities provided by Christchurch City Libraries," she says.