Takapuna Library (9 The Strand)

Takapuna’s first public library was housed in the Lake School at the corner of Taharoto and Northcote Roads beginning in 1874. Service was by subscription and one of the library’s first customers was local poet Susie Mactier (née Seaman). When the school moved to Katrine Street (now Anzac Street) in 1897, the library went with it.

The library continued to jump around throughout the twentieth century. In 1916, it moved into the new Takapuna Borough Council chambers, and in 1923 it moved to a different council building on The Strand. By 1936, subscribers were complaining that the library’s collection was stale and poorly maintained. In 1939, R & W Hellaby on Hurstmere Road offered a small block of land at the back of their butcher’s shop for a library.

Meanwhile, in 1924, the Trimble family bought land on The Strand where the current library sits today. Sisters Fanny and Catherine Trimble remained unmarried and not long after Fanny died, Catherine donated her sister’s portion of their inheritance to the Takapuna Borough Council. The deed stated that the money was “to establish and equip a free reading room to be used in conjunction with the Municipal Library of the Council.”

The story of the first Takapuna Library building continues at the next stop. The building before you is the second purpose-built library 2in Takapuna. Shortly before North Shore City was amalgamated in 1989, work began on a revitalised civic centre on The Strand, complete with council chambers and offices, a community centre, and a new library to replace the older structure across the road. The new Takapuna Library was designed by Geoff Martin with interiors by Buisson & Stretz. It opened on 5 July 1989. Plans to install a large feather through the front arched window were abandoned due to cost.

Walk toward Lake Road and stop in front of activWorx.