Tweed Heads Library officially opened after upgrade
22 January 2018
New facility designed to meet community needs into the future
The Tweed Heads Library has been officially reopened following a major renovation which has created more space, upgraded technology and greatly enhanced the facility’s ability to meet the future needs of the community.
A special ceremony was held this morning to commemorate the $2.9 million upgrade which saw library services in the area operating out of temporary facilities for most of the past year.
Mayor of Tweed Councillor Katie Milne, who performed the ceremonial ribbon cutting, said the new facility is bigger and undoubtedly better than before.
“This library is by some distance the busiest community facility in Tweed Shire so we consider this to be an important and worthwhile investment,” Cr Milne said.
“All the feedback I have heard since the opening before Christmas has been very positive and I would like to thank all of those who may have been inconvenienced over the past year for their patience.”
Floor space at the library has been increased from 619 to 1054 square metres with the extra space designed to provide more flexibility of use for meeting areas, study centres and other activities.
A new self-checkout system has been installed for ease of customer service which will eventually be rolled out across the Richmond Tweed Regional Library network.
NSW State Librarian Dr John Vallance was in attendance and spoke about the importance of libraries in the modern world.
“I can remember hearing some time ago that libraries would become extinct, that they would be rendered obsolete by the internet and other forms of technology,” Dr Vallance said.
“This library shows nothing is further from the truth and libraries remain a very important part of our communities.”
A number of new services have also been launched to coincide with the opening including a program offering the most popular titles in the library on short term loans, a new audiobook service which can loan up to 100 copies of the same title at once and a seed library.
Tweed Area Librarian Selina Ryan said the seed library is something which started in Murwillumbah and has proved very popular.
“People can borrow seeds, sow and harvest a crop, then dry and return some seeds to the library next year,” Ms Ryan said.
“Not only is this a program which is sustainable, extremely satisfying, great for your health and the environment it also shows how libraries are changing to adapt to community needs.”
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Caption: Mayor of Tweed Councillor Katie Milne and Tweed Area Librarian Selina Ryan cut the ribbon to officially open the upgraded Tweed Heads Library.