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APRIL 10, 2025
Library fully booked
By Mary Anne Gill
Cambridge’s library desperately needs more space, and the answer could lie short term with a shipping container. This is one of the suggestions made by Cambridge Community Board chair Jo Davies-Colley and deputy chair Elise Badger in their final reports as board members. Speaking at Waipā District Council’s Strategic Planning and Policy committee meeting last week, they highlighted the current cramped library environment, with books stacked on the floor, lack of space during programmes, and safety concerns for staff and the public. Staff produce “amazing programmes” that make the library an important part
of the community, despite working in a compromised environment, said Badger. “The pressure on our library is going to continue to increase and if action is not taken in the short term, not the medium term, not the long term, the solutions are only going to get more expensive, more difficult,” said Badger who is not standing for re-election to the board later this year while Davies-Colley will stand for council. “I urge you to take an innovative and creative problem-solving approach to this issue,” said Badger. “The more we kick this can down the road, the more difficult it’s going to get to deliver the service our community deserves.” One solution is to bring in a shipping container and install it alongside the council’s
service centre on Wilson St, next to the Japanese Garden, or to find space in another building in town for part of the collection. Creative thinking could help find an affordable option in the short term while council staff had the time and space to investigate longer term solutions. A goldstandard solution suggested by a recent library feasibility study would not meet service delivery standards by the time it was built due to the town’s growth. “Timely investment in a solution is critical.” Cambridge Library has occupied 822 square metres of the council’s Wilson St Service Centre since 1998 while Te Awamutu Library, opened nine years ago, covers 1468 square metres. “This discrepancy in the sizes of our
The environment is cramped, with books on the floor and lack of space – but residents continue to join and use the Cambridge library.
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libraries across the district is the result of overlooking and underinvesting in the Cambridge Library not just recently, but over many years, and we all know that this problem is not going to resolve itself,” said Badger. Cambridge outstrips Te Awamutu in book issues – in a usual week there are between 5700 and 6700 from Cambridge and 3200 and 3700 at Te Awamutu. Badger said that after a two-week closure during December and January, Cambridge issued 3064 items on the first day back and 8040 in the first week, which comprised three days. Te Awamutu had half the number on day one and 3780 fewer for the week.
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Photo: Mary Anne Gill