Te Awe Library - Wellington
Te Awe Library.
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Te Awe Library is the third and final pop-up library to open in the Wellington CBD following the unexpected closure of the Wellington Central Library Te Matapihi Ki Te Ao Nui in March 2019. The library is located in the Harbour City building running between Panama and Brandon Streets, just off Lambton Quay and opened in July, 2020, delayed slightly by the first COVID lockdown. This popup was planned to complement Arapaki Manners Library and Service Centre, opened in May 2019 and He Matapihi Molesworth Library which opened in September 2019. |
Te Awe Library is situated on two floors of a refurbished heritage building and recently won the 2021 New Zealand Institute of Architects public architecture award for its design and décor, with a sympathetic colour palette and furnishings as befits the building (now at 100% NBS). The names ‘Te Awe’ or white feathers or plumes provided the design focus with fantastic feature walls designed by students from Clyde Quay and Kelburn Normal Schools who created patterns after interpreting words and ideas around birds and nature, which the Wellington City Council Creative and Brand team then based the design on.
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We’ve had lots of very positive reaction to the design, from members of the public and other visiting librarians. Although deemed a ‘pop-up’, the library will be here until the revamped Te Matapihi opens in late 2025, the fit-out has a feeling of quality and permanence and we’ve received lots of positive comments, with some people suggesting that the pop-up libraries could permanently replace the Central Library – or move into the David Jones building when vacated next year!
In our first month of opening 143 new members joined, most of whom have come from the surrounding Lambton Quay office blocks. A walk to the Wellington Central Library was hard to fit into a lunch break, but Te Awe is just a step away and a very convenient place to pick up reserves or grab some reading material. The library’s most successful event attracted over 120 people; way too many for the space, but the CBD location drew so many attendees in person, even though it was streaming live too. A team of 35 staff work across a seven-day-week at Te Awe, most of them in front-facing team member customer service roles. Some are staff who worked previously at Wellington Central Library, some have moved across from other libraries in the network and about half are new hires. In addition to responding to customer queries and ‘circ’, the team run events and programmes, digital literacy classes and curate displays. Te Awe is a lovely place to work – centrally located and beautifully designed. Collective Café is on-site and is a drawcard for those working and living in the central city. In Level 2 we are still open, but there are strict limits on the number of people onsite and we restrict visit times to just 30 minutes. None of our regular events and programmes are running, so we are looking forward to a gradual easing of restrictions. Nonetheless, we had people clamouring to get in as soon as we reopened, and use of online collections always increases when physical access is limited. |
Te Awe Library.
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Jane Brooker; is the Team Leader, Libraries and Community Spaces, Wellington City Council. After working for 30+ years in tertiary libraries with 15+ years as a manager she took up a team leader role with Wellington City Libraries, a really enjoyable move that Ishe thinks she could/ should have made sooner! Jane grew up in Hastings, studied (M.A. in English literature) and lived for 30 years just two hours south in Palmerston North. She then moved two more hours further south to Wellington nine years ago where she loves living by the sea – a nice change from inland cities! Jane says, “I drifted into libraries after finishing my degree, but it has offered challenge, variety and a great career. |
October 2021