Upper Riccarton Community and School Library /
Te Kete Wānanga o Pūtaringamotu

Upper Riccarton Community and School Library is the newest library in Christchurch City Libraries network. Opened on 25 February, 2006, it is a new direction of library service for the network, located on the grounds of Riccarton High School and sharing library services with the school. This kind of community/school partnership for a library is more common in rural towns and the only other example in the Christchurch City Libraries network is the Akaroa Library’s partnership with the Akaroa Area School.

Background

The need for a library in the Upper Riccarton area had been part of library planning for some years before construction had been approved. A report by libraries manager Sue Sutherland in 2001 stated:

“The location of the proposed Upper Riccarton/Avonhead library still needs some research and analysis to determine the best location … The work has not yet been completed on catchment populations but its very location would suggest no less than 800 sqm and probably larger. Land needs to be acquired but there are possibilities for working in with those who have land (such as the Riccarton High School) for joint development.”

Planning for the project started in September 2002. A number of public meetings was held in 2003 and 2004 to gain ideas from the community and stakeholder groups. The final design (by Warren and Mahoney) for the library was officially signed off in late 2004. Mainzeal Property and Construction won the contract to build the library and construction began in January 2005.

An eco- friendly building

The building was designed to reduce energy demand with large windows to let in as much natural light as possible and low energy lighting systems on daylight sensors. Automatic openers on the windows allow for air flow and an automated fan helps air flow on hottest days.

Automated louvres on the front of the building track the sun, reducing overheating in summer while capturing useful heat in the winter. Internal concrete walls and floors retain the sun’s heat and combined with high levels of insulation and double glazing these keep the temperature stable naturally. Pipes set into the concrete floor circulate water which is cooled in summer and warmed in winter.

There is also solar water heating to assist with heating tap water. Rain water is collected from the roof and used for toilet flushing. The bathrooms are fitted with low-use water fittings.

At over 1600 square metres, the library is one of the biggest in the network and houses more than 50,000 books, magazines and audio visual items. It serves about 30,000 residents from the Riccarton, Avonhead, Ilam, Sockburn, Wharenui and Wigram communities. The library is also the Learning and Information Centre for the Riccarton High School which has a population of 950 students and 75 staff. Joan Simpson was appointed the first community librarian.

Facilities include a café and three learning rooms; one computer lab and two classrooms each with data projectors. The lab is a networked computer suite of 31 computers, each with their own web camera, an inbuilt data projector, and printer/scanner/photocopier.

The official opening celebrations took place on 25 February, 2006. The library was opened by Mayor Garry Moore on behalf of Christchurch City Council and Riccarton High School. This was followed by a community festival including stalls, bouncy castle, face painters and live performers on stage.

Art in the library

The library is home to two striking artworks - a sculpture by Auckland artist Jeff Thomson named Garden and a sculpture entitled Knowledge by Christchurch artist Phil Price.

Garden is a 13-metre sculpture made of more than 200 pieces of screen-printed, corrugated steel and second-hand corrugated iron and now hangs along the north wall inside the library. The individual pieces represent flowers, ferns and leaves and each was cut individually and screen printed in three to four colours. Intermixed are pieces of corrugated iron, also cut into plant and flower forms. The sculpture is 90cm high and, in some places, up to 30cm thick.

Christchurch artist Phil Price was commissioned to create a sculpture to celebrate the library’s opening and created Knowledge an abstract form of off-centred or cantilevered disks resembling a stack of books that look as if they are about to topple over. The sculpture, one of the first contemporary public art works by Phil Price, was unveiled at Upper Riccarton Community and School Library on Friday 16 June, 2006. He said the random position of the pieces had a latent kinetic feel, and provided a balance to the perfectly linear architecture of the Upper Riccarton library.

Library and community

The library hosts regular community events and meetings and the learning centre runs regular programmes for individuals and families. Extra equipment available for use in the learning centre includes video cameras, digital cameras, a datashow projector, tablet PCs, a polycom sound station and a portable overhead projector. The library is open seven days a week (9am to 8pm Monday to Friday and 10am to 4pm Saturdays and Sundays) and the café is open every day except Sunday.

Photos from www.flickr.com