Remuera Library turns 100 years old – a celebration of its history continuing importance to the community.

Tēnā koutou katoa. Nau mai, haere mai ki tēnei whare ataahua. Ngā mihi nui, ngā mihi mahana ki a koutou kua huihui mai nei i te ata nei.

Good morning and a warm welcome to our very special occasion today – the celebration of this library’s 100^th anniversary. It is wonderful to think that this building was built as a library and is still a library.

I’m Sue Jackson and I have had the privilege and pleasure of being the manager here in this beautiful library and community at Remuera for a very long time – not 100 years but a good portion of those 100 years. I know this building very well!

I would like to extend a special welcome and thank you to CJ and the wonderful kaumatua and kuia from Ngāti Whātua. Thank you for your karakia and mihi. Welcome to our Deputy Mayor, Desley Simpson, our Orākei local board – Sarah Powrie, Scott Milne, Troy Churton, Margaret Voyce, David Wong, Amanda Lockyer and Angus McPhee, Beronia Scott and Te Puāwai, the wonderful group of weavers from Ngāti Whātua Ōrākei, who created our beautiful tukutuku panels, Mar and the Civic events team, our library team and of course all of you.

Thank you all for joining us to help us celebrate. I think the large number of you here today is a reflection of the value this community places on our library and this beautiful building.

The morning will go a little like this – a few speeches, cutting of the cake, refreshments (karakia first) and entertainment and activities. We would like you all to enjoy yourselves.

I feel as though I know this building very well. The longer you spend in it, the more you appreciate the skill and expertise of those involved in building it. I am going to talk mainly about the building.

Next Friday 31 July, at 3.00pm, it will be exactly 100 years since the library officially opened its doors to the Remuera community. On the day, Saturday, there were about 200 people, all formally dressed, standing at the bottom of the front steps, longing to see inside the building they had been waiting for, for some years. They were greeted by the Mayor, Mr Baildon and Miss Ellen Melville, chair of the Library Committee of the City Council, who addressed them from the top of the front steps.

In her opening speech, Miss Melville talked about the importance of the suburban library (Remuera was the 4^th after Leys 1905, Grafton 1913, Parnell 1913). She said that “they brought the books to the people. They were a great educational force in the life of the community. It was self-development in an atmosphere of freedom”. She explained that “Each branch library contains a lecture hall, seating 300-400 people. It is the object to encourage the establishment of community interest with the library as the pivot”.

Remuera had a small library before this – a two-storey wooden building. It was opened in 1915, just along the road from here, (by Wild Bunch florist) in the former Roads Board building. The one special feature about this was that it had a separate children’s room, (thanks to Chief Librarian John Barr who was very keen to develop children’s services) which was a little different from earlier libraries and proved so popular that it very quickly became far too small for this rapidly growing community.

In 1924 the Council secured this wonderful corner site for £4,729. It was actually part of 40 acres of land once owned by wealthy stockbroker, Joseph Newman who lived in the beautiful house next door. His property stretched from here to Ascot Avenue and down as far as Greenlane Road. In the early 1920s some of this property was subdivided. Council bought this site and St Aidans was also built on another part of his land. Council and the community understood that an amazing site needed an amazing building. Fortunately, city ratepayers agreed to the raising of a £12.000 loan for a new library.

Gummer & Ford architects were selected to design the building (very prominent and highly regarded architectural practice of the time) – some of their well-known buildings are the Auckland Railway Station, Dilworth Building and the Winter Gardens. The contractors were Messrs Philcox and Sons. They had such a high reputation that they agreed it would be unnecessary to appoint a clerk of works. It’s wonderful that joining us today are Claire Gummer, grand daughter of Mr Gummer and Alison Philcox, great, great granddaughter of Mr Philcox. Claire currently works at Grey Lynn library (another Gummer and Ford designed building) and Alison was a librarian with Auckland Libraries until last year. It’s fantastic to have you both here today with such a close connection to this place. We see today that the building is testimony to the skill and expertise of these contractors.

Today, I consider this to be a very handsome, stately building standing proudly on its prominent corner – it must have looked magnificent in 1926.

The design is the Neo-Georgian classical style, which was popular at the time and certainly suits the site and surroundings. An innovative design was chosen for the interior, with none of the usual dividing screens or walls. This made it feel very open and spacious and allowed more light to come through into every area. And it was flexible! Thanks to this flexibility we have been able to make it work for the very different way we do things today. There was a children’s area to the right of the front doors, a public reading room to the left and a large lending department. The lecture hall with a small stage was at the back and a meeting room alongside this. They also proposed ponds and a fountain outside but went for the cheaper option of a sundial and lawn.

At the time it was said to be one of the finest libraries of its size in NZ. In 1928 it was awarded a Gold Medal by the NZ Institute of Architects. A very prestigious award.

There have been a few alterations over the years – it remained pretty much the same until the late 1950s, when the entrance lobby was given a more modern look, with the dark timber panelling covered over, and an angled wall put in. In 1961 the lecture hall was incorporated into the main part of the library by removing the dividing wall. Lino was laid on the floor, covering a lovely wooden floor. The lino was apparently red and grey squares.

In 2002, a major renovation took place and the changes made in the 50s were removed. The mezzanine floor was installed, the new desk and shelving put in, and a wonderful refresh given. The beautiful qualities of the original design were cleverly restored. It looked amazing! And it still looks amazing today. Lynda Simmons was the architect for this project and her work won an NZIA Resene Local Award for Architecture in the Heritage and Conservation Division in 2004. It’s lovely to have Lynda here today.

In 2024 – 2025, the building underwent seismic strengthening and a little refresh at the same time – new paintwork and carpet and some restoration of wooden shelving. We very much enjoyed working with Heritage Architects, Antony and Jane Matthews, on this project.

As a community we are so lucky to have such a beautiful public space in our midst. We are grateful to the Council and Ōrākei local board for maintaining and caring for this building.

Thinking back to Ellen Melville’s words, describing the library as a pivot, I believe we are still that today.

We like to think of this place as a community hub, a central meeting place, a warm and welcoming space for anyone who enters our doors. A place of learning, connection, socialising and recreation – a place to be in the presence of others, not necessarily engaging with others.

Not many weeks go by without someone coming in to revisit the building after a time away. It brings back great memories – still smells the same and looks very much the same. I think it’s that sense of familiarity and permanence that people love.  It’s one place which has remained a constant presence in this community, which has seen such huge change over the years.