Napier library move opens doors for Museum Theatre Gallery

Napier City Council community services manager Antoinette Campbell and MTG director Laura Vodanovich check out the MTG space which, come January, will house a temporary library. Photo/Warren Buckland

Napier's cultural precinct is set for new opportunities, with the joining of the city's library, and museum, and art gallery.

From January, the Napier library will temporarily be housed in the storage area of MTG Hawke's Bay.

The current library building on Station St was one of two Napier City Council buildings found to be earthquake prone in June.

MTG visitor engagement co-ordinator Kirsten Kelly said its staff were excited about the relocation of the library.

"The team sees a great deal of synergies in incorporating the library into the museum.

"We are within Napier's cultural precinct, and the museum, the Community Arts Centre, the Art Deco Trust and all the various artist and dealer galleries within a small radius - it does seem like a natural fit to bring the library into this mix."

With both the MTG and library being community facilities, bringing the two groups together would open the way for collaboration around providing services to the community, and education and research facilities.

Although there were lots of opportunities "which could and will arise from this move", staff from the MTG, and the library were working on the logistics of the relocation first, but would share any new ideas with the community.

"We hope the public will enjoy being able to access both these services within the one building," Ms Kelly said.

MTG was chosen from three sites - the others being a site within shopping complex Ocean Boulevard and the old home of Pumpkin Patch on Dickens Street.

The council was looking at how to capitalise on the move to the MTG - by perhaps aligning the opening hours of both facilities, or removing the entry fee for the MTG.

When asked if this could benefit MTG's entry numbers, Ms Kelly said it was something it wasexploring, and itwould take options to the council in "due course".

The relocation is expected to happen over the summer, when the current Napier library closes for a slightly longer Christmas period than usual, before the temporary library opens some time in January.

It will be located at the rear of the MTG. This space is currently being used for archives and storage, which will be moved to the council's off-site storage.

The MTG has previously had problems with low visitor numbers.