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Upper Hutt City Library

History

HistoryBeginnings
The first known library service in Upper Hutt was the Railway Library which was housed in the Railway Social Hall in the early part of the century. It was a subscription library and was open to the public. A variety of small commercial lending libraries operated over the next fifty years.

A Municipal Library
A series of campaigns to persuade the Council to provide a Public Library achieved success following a poll of ratepayers in May 1952. On 4 July that year a new Library opened in three small rooms above the Red Robin milk bar in Main Street. An enthusiastic committee organised teams of volunteers to get things ready in the preceding six weeks. From these a group of 28 volunteers was selected who were rostered to provide sufficient staff to serve the Library in its early days. The National Library Service which had provided most of the initial stock of 5170 books, and its expertise, also seconded a member of its staff, Miss I. Nuesch, who became the first Librarian.
At the end of the ﬁrst week, 1044 borrowers had registered and 1950 books had been issued. The Library stayed in these cramped quarters for four years, by which time borrowers had increased to 4500 and annual issues reached 148,000.

The Library’s Second Home
The first move in September 1956 was to the new Council building at the west end of Main Street, now used as the Information Centre. Ian Malcolm replaced Miss Nuesch as Librarian immediately after the move and remained with the Library for the following eight years, during which time membership reached 9800 and the number of annual issues climbed to 220,000.
The new building was soon severely over—taxed. There was no workroom or stackroom and the tiny office was a corner concealed behind display stands. In 1966 plans for a new library building to be part of the new Civic Centre were approved by Council. Simon Cauchi was now the Librarian having been appointed following the resignation of Ian Malcolm in 1964. Simon Cauchi remained in the position until 1967 and was succeeded by David Archer in 1968.

Moving Again
Shortly before David’s appointment a decision was taken to add a floor to the proposed new Civic Administration Building for temporary occupation by the Library. In August 1968 the second big move took place. With a team of volunteers provided by Rotoract, Upper Hutt College students, Library staff and friends, the Library stock, furniture and equipment were transferred to the new Civic Administration Building.
In this new situation the Library continued to progress. An event which had considerable effect on the development of the Library was the Local Government Commissioner’s revision of boundaries in the Wellington area in 1973. This increased the Upper Hutt City area ﬁfty-fold. Membership climbed sharply and in September 1975 a Mobile Service was introduced to bring library services to the city outskirts.

Moving to the Current Premises
After Upper Hutt College students had helped to move its 65 000 books, the Library opened in its current premises adjacent to the Civic Centre on July 20, 1978. The official opening by the Governor-General, Sir Keith Holyoake, followed two days later, some twelve years after this new building was originally proposed and programmed. The 'leader' printed 3 pictures on August 1. During the years the plans had changed and grown considerably. The new premises included a mobile library garage and stackroom.

More Recent Developments
In 1982 David Archer retired and was replaced by David Lee-Smith. In 1993 a computerised circulation system was introduced. Four years later the Pinehaven Library became a branch of the Upper Hutt City Library. Pinehaven had been administered by the Upper Hutt City Council since the reformation of local government in 1989. In 1996 the Upper Hutt Heritage Collection was established. Elizabeth Griffiths was appointed in 2001 following the retirement of David Lee-Smith the previous year. Jeff Cabral followed and then was succeeded by Debbie Duncan.
The November 23, 2005 'Leader' printed a group of articles on a review by consultant Jan Bierman. The library was currently open 48 hours a week, but only 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Saturdays, and was closed on Sundays; these hours were seen to be barriers to access, as was 5-30 closing on Tuesdays and Wednesdays. He recommended 10-8, Monday-Friday, and 10-4 weekends. There was also a need for more space; a library for 37 000 people shuld be 2600 square netres; the current figure was 1471..
There had been a proposal to close Pinehaven Library; it had met Ms Bierman's report said that further spending there would be irresponsible; it was issuing only 4% of checkouts, and was badly placed for serving much of the southern community. The use of volunteers to run the library was a possibility.

In February 2018 a new assessment of the Central Library building was received which designated the building as earthquake prone, the decision was made to close the building immediately rather than put the public and staff in danger. Following the closure the library continued to offer services through Pinehaven branch and the Mobile Library. Hold pick-ups and public access computers were offered on Level 6 of the CBD Towers on Main Street. On the 26th April 2018 the temporary “Pop Up Library” on Level 1 of the CBD Towers was opened to the public.

Photos

Upper Hutt Libraries; Tukutuku Panel Workshop; June 2024

Upper Hutt Libraries; Wayang Kulit Performance of Ciptoning; November 2023

Rainbow Storytime at Upper Hutt Library; 2017

Pop Up Library; CBD Towers; April 2018

Library 4, Fergusson Drive; construction of building, 1977.

Publication

Upper Hutt Libraries Short Story Competition 2023 [Pub 234]

Pinehaven Library A Community Legacy [Publication 64]

Former Library Promotional Material [Publication 133]

Upper Hutt City Library pamphlet

City of Upper Hutt Public Library

Library Heritage Collections Brochure 2007

UH Children's Library August Holiday Programme

Upper Hutt City Library 1952-2002 Souvenir History

Library Heritage Collections Brochure 1997

Christmas Material in the Children's Library

Organisation

Upper Hutt City Council

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