March 3, 2026 • 14 mins
The new Wellington Central Library named Te Matapihi is opening on Saturday March 14th after $217 million of refurbishments and strengthening.
Nick Mills toured around the building and chatted to project lead Gisella Carr along with other staff in the brand new library.
Was it everything he expected? And is it what Wellington needs to reignite life in the city?
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Speaker 1 (00:07):
You're listening to the Wellington Mornings podcast with Nick Mills
from news Talk.
Speaker 2 (00:11):
Said b Yesterday, Grace and I had the privilege of
wandering through with a group of other media people at
the new Tamata Pehe Wellington Library. I want to just
sit back and turn the tape recorder on and.
Speaker 3 (00:31):
Give you what I got.
Speaker 2 (00:34):
Walkings or we got walking through Tamata Pehe yesterday.
Speaker 3 (00:38):
Hi, I'm super excited.
Speaker 2 (00:39):
I've just been invited down to have a look through
the new library. From the outside, it looks incredible. I'm
just looking around. Gosh, it feels amazing, looking forward to
going inside. Let's step inside and have a lock and
see what two hundred and twenty million dollars buys us
Worrington just walking in the front door of the new library,
same same but different, different, but of color and the
(01:02):
story of the actual strong purple color that used to
be there is no longer there.
Speaker 3 (01:08):
It's kind of.
Speaker 2 (01:08):
A blue, a little bit colder than it used to be.
I used to think the other entrance way was pretty impressive,
but vinyl vinyl have a use of vinyl. As you
walk in the door, the stairs going up to where
the old Clark's cafe is no longer Clark's up there,
so it's different, same, same, but different different. It feels
(01:29):
quite stark now it's not quite open yet, so it
does feel a little bit stark.
Speaker 4 (01:35):
I'm just on a car. I lead the Tanaco teams.
That Tanako being Civic Square that over the last six
years have developed to Mutter Pee. So what you're seeing
is the beloved old building, but also enhanced and enriched.
And some of that has come from the fact that architecturally,
(01:56):
when we put to fix the seismic issues, we put
in base size latters in the basement. We have lifted
the floor six hundred mil. That's enabled us to do
a number of things. One is it means that we
no longer have to enter the library. If you remember,
you came up out of Civic Square and into Clark's,
so you no longer have to do that. You can
walk in directly. And we've also put into new entrances.
(02:18):
So there's the old entrance that you came through Victoria Street.
Behind you is one of the new entrances Harris Street,
and there's also new entrance of the mezzanine.
Speaker 2 (02:26):
I was a regular and I used to come here
just to sit and have a coffee. And always the
food was of a high stand in the coffee, but
you felt like you were part of it.
Speaker 3 (02:36):
This to me looks like you're at the back end
of it.
Speaker 4 (02:38):
Oh that's interesting, Well, come back when it's open and
see what you think.
Speaker 5 (02:42):
Then it's the same operator.
Speaker 4 (02:43):
So the original Clark sold clerks and the people who
ran it then running this one so on social media
or ordering us as a cheese gone coming back.
Speaker 5 (02:54):
In our view, this actually connects more.
Speaker 4 (02:56):
Into the library than the somewhat isolated space before. But
we all loved Clarks and when we all loved that experience.
In fact, it's that emotion that Wellingtonians have felt for
this building.
Speaker 5 (03:07):
That is why were you going to see what you're
going to see today?
Speaker 3 (03:10):
You didn't quite answer my question.
Speaker 2 (03:11):
Why was it taken away from being in the auditorium
and looking down on everything to being at the back.
Speaker 4 (03:16):
Because it gives us a better connection strough to to Naco.
So when we open up the Harr's Street that knew
Harrw Street entrance instead of people just coming into the building,
and probably for every one person who went to have
a cup of coffee, for every ten people who went
to have a cup of coffee at Clark's. One person
would then come down into the library. We now have
no impediment to that happening.
Speaker 3 (03:36):
And that door opens up there from the street to Clarks.
Speaker 5 (03:39):
When the cafe is open, not at other times.
Speaker 6 (03:43):
So in our children's sections specifically, I would say probably
about seventy percent of the books here and new compared
to know what we had previously when libraries last open.
The remains are books that were here previous legs. They've
been in storage over the last seven years out in Johnsonville,
and we've been moving them back gradually over the last
few months. And so what's on the shelf right now
is a bit of an amalgamation of.
Speaker 3 (04:04):
Both less books here than there was, Is that right
or read that somewhere?
Speaker 6 (04:08):
I believe across the whole building of the library that
there is a smaller collection than their previously was. I
don't know the exact number. It's somewhere in the region
of forty to fifty thousand I believe on the floors
is However, the actual number of books that are inside
the building is roughly the same because we now have
more storage space available for collection items so people can
(04:30):
request whatever's held on level three, which is not a
public floor, and it can be brought down in five
minutes or so. I think for those that sort of
crave the forest of shelves experience, they will still have that,
not throughout the whole building, but certainly on level one.
We will be going shortly. I believe there's very much
a huge amount of collection items there for people to
get lost in, but there's also much more sort of
(04:53):
open space for people to relax and find a spot
to read, curl up with their comedy, cure whatever they
want to do, and hang out. And that's kind of
something that was a little bit lacking in the previous
iteration of this building. It was very heavy on collection
storage and comparatively light on sort of spaces to just exist.
I am most excited for the public to for teens
(05:16):
to see the youth area and to hopefully find their
spot there, because this used to be such an important
hub for teenagers after school, like you know, on their
way home on the bus or and like on weekends
and stuff. And since this building closed and they're reading
cinema complex, there's really been no indoor free space for
teens to hang out in the city, and I really
(05:36):
want them to rediscover this place and have that be
that for them.
Speaker 2 (05:40):
Yeah. Can I ask for you do things like book
launchers and stuff like that here with authors or not.
Speaker 6 (05:45):
Yes, I mean pretty much everything's on the table, book talks,
author visits, workshops, creative sessions you'll be seeing a little
bit later on the tour. I think the maker Space,
which is a sort of creative hub, people can come
and do all kinds of artistic experiences as well, So
it's definitely a focus on sort of programs that relate
to liberacy. That's a lot more is available as well
(06:05):
within the building there will bring a wider range of
people through the doors. So yes, this is our Makerspace
to Fight tour.
Speaker 3 (06:13):
Oaha.
Speaker 6 (06:14):
It's a space, as Jagella said, for mems of the
public to come in and sort of explore creative technologies
they otherwise might not be able to afford at home.
So some examples of things that we have here. We've
got a bank of thirt D printers just behind you.
Here we have sewing machines and overlocker, a loom for weaving.
We have wool winding materials. We have a CNC machine
(06:34):
here that does carving out of wood. We have rhythm printers,
acrylic and paper cutters, a laser cutter, a suite of
computers that operates all the machines that are in this room,
as well as some machines that don't want to get
any dust from the C and C on them, so
things like a three D scanner and a man embroidering machine.
A small so workshop space we'll be taking classes and
(06:54):
school groups through holiday program activities, craft groups, things like that.
Most material and here is free for people to access.
If they use resources, for example through printing filaments, or
if they use sheets of wood that we provide to
do laser cutting on, then they pay for those resources
that they use.
Speaker 4 (07:13):
One of the things we did for this facility was
invite the archives to go the City Archives. So the
City Archives has never had a front door to the
public before. We've invited them in and we've invited them
in also to work with the libraries to make the
heritage collections of Wellington and their heritage that's laid down
every day every day. Then archive receives new documentation, so
(07:34):
to create more access for the public through having them here.
Speaker 2 (07:37):
So if I wanted to get a plan of my house,
I could come here and get it now.
Speaker 5 (07:41):
Yes, and you can do that online as well, yep.
Speaker 7 (07:44):
But we have multiple reading rooms in the ideas, you
come here to make the appointment and we coordinate.
Speaker 3 (07:47):
It and the timing of that.
Speaker 2 (07:49):
And the old days, if you wanted a plan to
submit to the council, you paid a lot of money
and waited a lot of time.
Speaker 7 (07:56):
For building content searches, there are stall fees, but generally
we can do it within a day. For all of
the historic material has now been digitized, you can search online,
track with down you're after, and we normally do it
within twenty four hours.
Speaker 4 (08:08):
This is an amazingly practical suggestion of the Archives, which
is the digitization station.
Speaker 7 (08:15):
The two stations behind that are what we're currently calling
digitization stations. But the idea is if you have your
own photographs, negatives, film video you want digitized, you can
bring it and make an appointment digitize it onto a
us being taken away yourself. So as much as us
having collections and making those accessible, it's a place where
people can bring in their own heritage material and transform
the format, take it away and that kind of thing.
(08:36):
As well. We're assuming it'll be quite popular, so you
book for a particular amount of time, but there are
no fees or charges to use the stations.
Speaker 4 (08:42):
And so we're standing in napol Luhene And if you
remember the old library, there was the bridge that ran
between this building and the cab building now demolished, and
that bridge was an important architectural element in framing the
entrance to t Naco so At Fields. When they started
to think about the building, knew they would need to
replace that feature with this. And this is the new building,
(09:05):
the new room on's side of the building you see
when you drive past.
Speaker 5 (09:08):
But what has happened since that room was designed with
these extraordinary views is.
Speaker 4 (09:13):
That the architects have collaborated through our Manifenoa Co Design
program and it's resulted in this very significant artwork Earth Mothers.
So these are paintings by the artist Darcy Nicholas that
have been taken He painted the originals, so these have
been now turned into light boxes and scaled up. You
can see they go across the ceiling.
Speaker 3 (09:34):
Has clear a field scene the library.
Speaker 5 (09:36):
Ah the good question, I'm sure zax sporter in for me.
Speaker 2 (09:40):
It's lost its color right that it used to have,
and that was clear that she was the color person
of that combination. I'd just be interested to see what
she thinks of it now coming into here.
Speaker 3 (09:50):
Being honest, I feel it's lost its color.
Speaker 5 (09:53):
You don't find the color palette that's come through warmer.
Speaker 2 (09:56):
And for me, when I used to walk into the Library,
I used to almost feel a tear in my eye
and the hair in the back rays because it just
felt like something so so unique and so cool.
Speaker 3 (10:07):
And the same with Clark's.
Speaker 2 (10:09):
I spent hours and hours having every time I had
a meeting around this area, always meet at Clark's, because
you felt like you were in this big, spiritual home
of Wellington.
Speaker 4 (10:20):
I think that I don't know, Nick, I mean, I
think we attached to the experiences we have at a
particular age and a particular environment, and that's our place.
Speaker 5 (10:29):
And the new.
Speaker 4 (10:30):
And young Willingtonians who come in here will attach to
these spaces and your version in forty years time they
will be saying that to my version.
Speaker 2 (10:39):
Very good answer, and I have no argument to that answer.
The plan was out there, the discussions were taking place.
It was supposed to feel like the old library without
some of its hiccups or issues. Do you feel do
you feel that's been achieved?
Speaker 4 (10:54):
Yeah, I mean if you talk to library staff, I
mean the wind and the building leaked, so I mean
just the physical fabric has been significantly improved.
Speaker 2 (11:07):
Now that's in a group surrounding and I just tried
to get to to get to it as much as
I could, and we went through the whole place. I'll
give you my honest opinion of what I thought of
the new library in Wellington. I don't even like calling
it a library. It's more like an event center without
(11:28):
a bigger auditorium.
Speaker 3 (11:29):
You know.
Speaker 2 (11:30):
I described it as Disneyland and library and event center.
You know, I really wanted to just grab the microphone
as I walked out the door of the experience of
going around the library. I really wanted the microphone because
I really wanted to just spill out what I thought.
(11:51):
And this is what I came up with. If you
asked me what I thought about the new library, well,
it's not a library. It's not a library in my
perception of a library. It is an event center with
a library in it. I mean, it's got everything you
could dream of having, from a sewing machine to a
(12:12):
three D printer, to digitally enhancing photos, to getting your
maps and your plans for your house, if you're going
to do an alteration. It's kind of like almost to
the hub of Wellington. It's something like, yeah, it's far
and above. You cannot call it a library. It's a
center of excellence right here in the middle of the city.
(12:33):
Is it worth the money? I mean, I hate Poma rates,
so nothing's worth the money. Is it as good as
I wanted it to be?
Speaker 3 (12:40):
Well?
Speaker 2 (12:41):
I lost something. I lost something in hair because I
was in love with the old Clark's Cafe. I was
in love with the color, the color of this building inside.
Used to walk in and it was purples and reds
and bright yellows, and your hair on the back of
your neck used to raise when you sat in Clarks
that had the most beautiful coffee and food and looked
(13:01):
over intelligent people studying, spatting, looking at books. I mean,
it was a place to come to. Will it be
like that for my grandchildren?
Speaker 3 (13:10):
I hope.
Speaker 2 (13:10):
So it just feels and I hate to say it
because I want to be positive, because it is a
center of excellence and it's got everything you can ever
wish for in a capital city.
Speaker 3 (13:23):
But it's lost the funk.
Speaker 2 (13:25):
It feels like it's too much vinyl, too much shipboard stained,
too much cold surfaces, and not enough bright clear ath
field colors. Yeah, as I said, and I slept on
it thought about it, it's more than a library. It's
a center of excellence. I don't want to call it
(13:46):
an event center because you think suddenly, you think that
you're in you know, the tesB Arena or something. It's
definitely not that. But it's got a bit of ta Quina,
and it's got a bit of to Papa, and it's
capital ease in there now, you know, every single little bit.
It's just more than a library. And my my, if
(14:08):
I've got a complaint is that we're not financially stable
enough as a city to afford something as huge and
as you know, expensive, you know, two hundred and seventeen
million to call it to twenty million, because that's what
it will come and it could come in it more,
you know, when you combine all those spend spends, do
(14:29):
we have enough money for it?
Speaker 3 (14:31):
And do we need all that stuff? And will all
that stuff get used?
Speaker 2 (14:34):
The recording studio are three D printers that you can
go and get stuff. Do we need that in a library,
that's the question. It's beautiful, cold, stark, but beautiful some areas.
The Darcy Nicholas stuff is just insane. That room is insane.
Speaker 1 (14:53):
For more from Wellington Mornings with Nick Mills, listen live
to news talks It'd be Wellington from nine am weekdays,
or follow the podcast on iHeartRadio
You're listening to the Wellington Mornings podcast with Nick Mills
from news Talk.
Speaker 2 (00:11):
Said b Yesterday, Grace and I had the privilege of
wandering through with a group of other media people at
the new Tamata Pehe Wellington Library. I want to just
sit back and turn the tape recorder on and.
Speaker 3 (00:31):
Give you what I got.
Speaker 2 (00:34):
Walkings or we got walking through Tamata Pehe yesterday.
Speaker 3 (00:38):
Hi, I'm super excited.
Speaker 2 (00:39):
I've just been invited down to have a look through
the new library. From the outside, it looks incredible. I'm
just looking around. Gosh, it feels amazing, looking forward to
going inside. Let's step inside and have a lock and
see what two hundred and twenty million dollars buys us
Worrington just walking in the front door of the new library,
same same but different, different, but of color and the
(01:02):
story of the actual strong purple color that used to
be there is no longer there.
Speaker 3 (01:08):
It's kind of.
Speaker 2 (01:08):
A blue, a little bit colder than it used to be.
I used to think the other entrance way was pretty impressive,
but vinyl vinyl have a use of vinyl. As you
walk in the door, the stairs going up to where
the old Clark's cafe is no longer Clark's up there,
so it's different, same, same, but different different. It feels
(01:29):
quite stark now it's not quite open yet, so it
does feel a little bit stark.
Speaker 4 (01:35):
I'm just on a car. I lead the Tanaco teams.
That Tanako being Civic Square that over the last six
years have developed to Mutter Pee. So what you're seeing
is the beloved old building, but also enhanced and enriched.
And some of that has come from the fact that architecturally,
(01:56):
when we put to fix the seismic issues, we put
in base size latters in the basement. We have lifted
the floor six hundred mil. That's enabled us to do
a number of things. One is it means that we
no longer have to enter the library. If you remember,
you came up out of Civic Square and into Clark's,
so you no longer have to do that. You can
walk in directly. And we've also put into new entrances.
(02:18):
So there's the old entrance that you came through Victoria Street.
Behind you is one of the new entrances Harris Street,
and there's also new entrance of the mezzanine.
Speaker 2 (02:26):
I was a regular and I used to come here
just to sit and have a coffee. And always the
food was of a high stand in the coffee, but
you felt like you were part of it.
Speaker 3 (02:36):
This to me looks like you're at the back end
of it.
Speaker 4 (02:38):
Oh that's interesting, Well, come back when it's open and
see what you think.
Speaker 5 (02:42):
Then it's the same operator.
Speaker 4 (02:43):
So the original Clark sold clerks and the people who
ran it then running this one so on social media
or ordering us as a cheese gone coming back.
Speaker 5 (02:54):
In our view, this actually connects more.
Speaker 4 (02:56):
Into the library than the somewhat isolated space before. But
we all loved Clarks and when we all loved that experience.
In fact, it's that emotion that Wellingtonians have felt for
this building.
Speaker 5 (03:07):
That is why were you going to see what you're
going to see today?
Speaker 3 (03:10):
You didn't quite answer my question.
Speaker 2 (03:11):
Why was it taken away from being in the auditorium
and looking down on everything to being at the back.
Speaker 4 (03:16):
Because it gives us a better connection strough to to Naco.
So when we open up the Harr's Street that knew
Harrw Street entrance instead of people just coming into the building,
and probably for every one person who went to have
a cup of coffee, for every ten people who went
to have a cup of coffee at Clark's. One person
would then come down into the library. We now have
no impediment to that happening.
Speaker 3 (03:36):
And that door opens up there from the street to Clarks.
Speaker 5 (03:39):
When the cafe is open, not at other times.
Speaker 6 (03:43):
So in our children's sections specifically, I would say probably
about seventy percent of the books here and new compared
to know what we had previously when libraries last open.
The remains are books that were here previous legs. They've
been in storage over the last seven years out in Johnsonville,
and we've been moving them back gradually over the last
few months. And so what's on the shelf right now
is a bit of an amalgamation of.
Speaker 3 (04:04):
Both less books here than there was, Is that right
or read that somewhere?
Speaker 6 (04:08):
I believe across the whole building of the library that
there is a smaller collection than their previously was. I
don't know the exact number. It's somewhere in the region
of forty to fifty thousand I believe on the floors
is However, the actual number of books that are inside
the building is roughly the same because we now have
more storage space available for collection items so people can
(04:30):
request whatever's held on level three, which is not a
public floor, and it can be brought down in five
minutes or so. I think for those that sort of
crave the forest of shelves experience, they will still have that,
not throughout the whole building, but certainly on level one.
We will be going shortly. I believe there's very much
a huge amount of collection items there for people to
get lost in, but there's also much more sort of
(04:53):
open space for people to relax and find a spot
to read, curl up with their comedy, cure whatever they
want to do, and hang out. And that's kind of
something that was a little bit lacking in the previous
iteration of this building. It was very heavy on collection
storage and comparatively light on sort of spaces to just exist.
I am most excited for the public to for teens
(05:16):
to see the youth area and to hopefully find their
spot there, because this used to be such an important
hub for teenagers after school, like you know, on their
way home on the bus or and like on weekends
and stuff. And since this building closed and they're reading
cinema complex, there's really been no indoor free space for
teens to hang out in the city, and I really
(05:36):
want them to rediscover this place and have that be
that for them.
Speaker 2 (05:40):
Yeah. Can I ask for you do things like book
launchers and stuff like that here with authors or not.
Speaker 6 (05:45):
Yes, I mean pretty much everything's on the table, book talks,
author visits, workshops, creative sessions you'll be seeing a little
bit later on the tour. I think the maker Space,
which is a sort of creative hub, people can come
and do all kinds of artistic experiences as well, So
it's definitely a focus on sort of programs that relate
to liberacy. That's a lot more is available as well
(06:05):
within the building there will bring a wider range of
people through the doors. So yes, this is our Makerspace
to Fight tour.
Speaker 3 (06:13):
Oaha.
Speaker 6 (06:14):
It's a space, as Jagella said, for mems of the
public to come in and sort of explore creative technologies
they otherwise might not be able to afford at home.
So some examples of things that we have here. We've
got a bank of thirt D printers just behind you.
Here we have sewing machines and overlocker, a loom for weaving.
We have wool winding materials. We have a CNC machine
(06:34):
here that does carving out of wood. We have rhythm printers,
acrylic and paper cutters, a laser cutter, a suite of
computers that operates all the machines that are in this room,
as well as some machines that don't want to get
any dust from the C and C on them, so
things like a three D scanner and a man embroidering machine.
A small so workshop space we'll be taking classes and
(06:54):
school groups through holiday program activities, craft groups, things like that.
Most material and here is free for people to access.
If they use resources, for example through printing filaments, or
if they use sheets of wood that we provide to
do laser cutting on, then they pay for those resources
that they use.
Speaker 4 (07:13):
One of the things we did for this facility was
invite the archives to go the City Archives. So the
City Archives has never had a front door to the
public before. We've invited them in and we've invited them
in also to work with the libraries to make the
heritage collections of Wellington and their heritage that's laid down
every day every day. Then archive receives new documentation, so
(07:34):
to create more access for the public through having them here.
Speaker 2 (07:37):
So if I wanted to get a plan of my house,
I could come here and get it now.
Speaker 5 (07:41):
Yes, and you can do that online as well, yep.
Speaker 7 (07:44):
But we have multiple reading rooms in the ideas, you
come here to make the appointment and we coordinate.
Speaker 3 (07:47):
It and the timing of that.
Speaker 2 (07:49):
And the old days, if you wanted a plan to
submit to the council, you paid a lot of money
and waited a lot of time.
Speaker 7 (07:56):
For building content searches, there are stall fees, but generally
we can do it within a day. For all of
the historic material has now been digitized, you can search online,
track with down you're after, and we normally do it
within twenty four hours.
Speaker 4 (08:08):
This is an amazingly practical suggestion of the Archives, which
is the digitization station.
Speaker 7 (08:15):
The two stations behind that are what we're currently calling
digitization stations. But the idea is if you have your
own photographs, negatives, film video you want digitized, you can
bring it and make an appointment digitize it onto a
us being taken away yourself. So as much as us
having collections and making those accessible, it's a place where
people can bring in their own heritage material and transform
the format, take it away and that kind of thing.
(08:36):
As well. We're assuming it'll be quite popular, so you
book for a particular amount of time, but there are
no fees or charges to use the stations.
Speaker 4 (08:42):
And so we're standing in napol Luhene And if you
remember the old library, there was the bridge that ran
between this building and the cab building now demolished, and
that bridge was an important architectural element in framing the
entrance to t Naco so At Fields. When they started
to think about the building, knew they would need to
replace that feature with this. And this is the new building,
(09:05):
the new room on's side of the building you see
when you drive past.
Speaker 5 (09:08):
But what has happened since that room was designed with
these extraordinary views is.
Speaker 4 (09:13):
That the architects have collaborated through our Manifenoa Co Design
program and it's resulted in this very significant artwork Earth Mothers.
So these are paintings by the artist Darcy Nicholas that
have been taken He painted the originals, so these have
been now turned into light boxes and scaled up. You
can see they go across the ceiling.
Speaker 3 (09:34):
Has clear a field scene the library.
Speaker 5 (09:36):
Ah the good question, I'm sure zax sporter in for me.
Speaker 2 (09:40):
It's lost its color right that it used to have,
and that was clear that she was the color person
of that combination. I'd just be interested to see what
she thinks of it now coming into here.
Speaker 3 (09:50):
Being honest, I feel it's lost its color.
Speaker 5 (09:53):
You don't find the color palette that's come through warmer.
Speaker 2 (09:56):
And for me, when I used to walk into the Library,
I used to almost feel a tear in my eye
and the hair in the back rays because it just
felt like something so so unique and so cool.
Speaker 3 (10:07):
And the same with Clark's.
Speaker 2 (10:09):
I spent hours and hours having every time I had
a meeting around this area, always meet at Clark's, because
you felt like you were in this big, spiritual home
of Wellington.
Speaker 4 (10:20):
I think that I don't know, Nick, I mean, I
think we attached to the experiences we have at a
particular age and a particular environment, and that's our place.
Speaker 5 (10:29):
And the new.
Speaker 4 (10:30):
And young Willingtonians who come in here will attach to
these spaces and your version in forty years time they
will be saying that to my version.
Speaker 2 (10:39):
Very good answer, and I have no argument to that answer.
The plan was out there, the discussions were taking place.
It was supposed to feel like the old library without
some of its hiccups or issues. Do you feel do
you feel that's been achieved?
Speaker 4 (10:54):
Yeah, I mean if you talk to library staff, I
mean the wind and the building leaked, so I mean
just the physical fabric has been significantly improved.
Speaker 2 (11:07):
Now that's in a group surrounding and I just tried
to get to to get to it as much as
I could, and we went through the whole place. I'll
give you my honest opinion of what I thought of
the new library in Wellington. I don't even like calling
it a library. It's more like an event center without
(11:28):
a bigger auditorium.
Speaker 3 (11:29):
You know.
Speaker 2 (11:30):
I described it as Disneyland and library and event center.
You know, I really wanted to just grab the microphone
as I walked out the door of the experience of
going around the library. I really wanted the microphone because
I really wanted to just spill out what I thought.
(11:51):
And this is what I came up with. If you
asked me what I thought about the new library, well,
it's not a library. It's not a library in my
perception of a library. It is an event center with
a library in it. I mean, it's got everything you
could dream of having, from a sewing machine to a
(12:12):
three D printer, to digitally enhancing photos, to getting your
maps and your plans for your house, if you're going
to do an alteration. It's kind of like almost to
the hub of Wellington. It's something like, yeah, it's far
and above. You cannot call it a library. It's a
center of excellence right here in the middle of the city.
(12:33):
Is it worth the money? I mean, I hate Poma rates,
so nothing's worth the money. Is it as good as
I wanted it to be?
Speaker 3 (12:40):
Well?
Speaker 2 (12:41):
I lost something. I lost something in hair because I
was in love with the old Clark's Cafe. I was
in love with the color, the color of this building inside.
Used to walk in and it was purples and reds
and bright yellows, and your hair on the back of
your neck used to raise when you sat in Clarks
that had the most beautiful coffee and food and looked
(13:01):
over intelligent people studying, spatting, looking at books. I mean,
it was a place to come to. Will it be
like that for my grandchildren?
Speaker 3 (13:10):
I hope.
Speaker 2 (13:10):
So it just feels and I hate to say it
because I want to be positive, because it is a
center of excellence and it's got everything you can ever
wish for in a capital city.
Speaker 3 (13:23):
But it's lost the funk.
Speaker 2 (13:25):
It feels like it's too much vinyl, too much shipboard stained,
too much cold surfaces, and not enough bright clear ath
field colors. Yeah, as I said, and I slept on
it thought about it, it's more than a library. It's
a center of excellence. I don't want to call it
(13:46):
an event center because you think suddenly, you think that
you're in you know, the tesB Arena or something. It's
definitely not that. But it's got a bit of ta Quina,
and it's got a bit of to Papa, and it's
capital ease in there now, you know, every single little bit.
It's just more than a library. And my my, if
(14:08):
I've got a complaint is that we're not financially stable
enough as a city to afford something as huge and
as you know, expensive, you know, two hundred and seventeen
million to call it to twenty million, because that's what
it will come and it could come in it more,
you know, when you combine all those spend spends, do
(14:29):
we have enough money for it?
Speaker 3 (14:31):
And do we need all that stuff? And will all
that stuff get used?
Speaker 2 (14:34):
The recording studio are three D printers that you can
go and get stuff. Do we need that in a library,
that's the question. It's beautiful, cold, stark, but beautiful some areas.
The Darcy Nicholas stuff is just insane. That room is insane.
Speaker 1 (14:53):
For more from Wellington Mornings with Nick Mills, listen live
to news talks It'd be Wellington from nine am weekdays,
or follow the podcast on iHeartRadio
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