06 Feb, 2014

New City Library Opens Tomorrow

The new City Library at Level 3, Rundle Place, Rundle Mall, will open its doors to the community tomorrow morning at 10 am, kicking off a week of events and activities to showcase just some of what’s available.
With an artist in residence recording the first day’s activities and a DJ in Francis Lane to welcome library goers, the first official day of business is sure to show some of the fun and colour on offer in the new space with special events and activities continuing throughout the week.

Lord Mayor Stephen Yarwood said the new library is a place for everyone, and people should come and have a look, try out some technology or enrol in a free course run through the Library’s Digital, History and Media hubs or the Innovation Lab.

“The new Library’s layout has been created to provide people and groups with the ability to use the space in their own ways and a great example of place-making in practice,” he said.

From there, it will be business as usual with all the traditional offerings of a borrowing library with the added bonus of state of the art technology and life-long learning experiences available to everyone.

General Manager of City Culture and Community Services Sandy Verschoor is excited by what has been achieved at the new City Library. She says Council has worked hard to develop partnerships with the SA Writers Centre and the Adelaide Writers’ Week and is keen to develop a range of partnerships with community and not for profit groups.

“We encourage all community members, visitors or workers, to come into the library and see what’s on offer, and to think about how the space could be used to suit their own specific interests,” said Sandy.

“Over the coming months we will be unveiling more programs and activities to suit a range of community interests, but we’re also keen to hear from groups and individuals about how they see the spaces working.”

Stephen said the location, the fit out, and the inaugural program of events for the library all send a clear message that the space is modern and interactive, whilst maintaining the traditional books on the shelves and borrowing facilities.

“There are many opportunities to try new technologies and learn new skills and I’m really looking forward to seeing the library take shape, and to seeing the people of Adelaide enjoy the new, modern library space,” he said.

“It is innovative and future-ready, and that’s what the City of Adelaide is all about – embracing the future whilst respecting the past.

“There are lots of exciting plans in the pipeline for the new City Library facility, and people should come in and sample some of these during the opening week celebrations,” said Stephen.

For more information on the new City Library, go to cityofadelaide.com.au/library.

Rebecca Draysey