Collingwood Memorial Library bequest
Four Collingwood Memorial Library stalwarts, from left; Penny Griffith (committee member), Jean Beatson (chairperson), Joan Johnson (secretary/treasurer/bookbuyer), Peter Foster (committee member). Photo: Gerard Hindmarsh.
The Collingwood Memorial Library last month benefited to the tune of $2,000, a bequest from the estate of former Collingwood beach resident and prominent real estate agent Colin Baas, who died in May 2008.
The money will be used for the ongoing purchase of new books (with around 15 bought so far) and the trial of two new magazine subscriptions: National Geographic and NZ House and Garden.
Secretary/treasurer Joan Johnson says the bequest was “a real shot in the arm for us.”
“This little library runs with the help of about a dozen rostered volunteers and the occasional monetary input from Grants from Rates [$250 in the last round] and donations from community organisations such as Trash Palace.”
Occupying the front annex of the Memorial Hall in Tasman Street, the Collingwood Memorial Library currently stocks around 2,500 fiction and non-fiction books, nearly all owned by the incorporated society that runs it. Only the large-print books are borrowed from the library in Richmond.
TDC used to pay a part-time librarian to run the outreach library, but when the community resisted council-led efforts for the library to be incorporated into that of the Collingwood Area School around 10 years ago, the council withdrew its support other than through contestable funding.
The now thoroughly independent community library has around 100 registered borrowers, with around 25 hard-core reading regulars who take full advantage of the twice-weekly service (it’s open Tuesdays and Saturdays from 11 to 1pm). Volunteers have noticed a steady increase in borrowings over the last year.
Anyone in the area is welcome to join, and this is free. Costs for taking out new books are 50c each in your first year of membership and 20c thereafter, which works out to be far lower than the Takaka library charges.
Gerard Hindmarsh
