Library settles

Rosemary Sorensen | Bendigo Weekly | 27-Sep-2012

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if you’ve been looking for the chute to return your books to Bendigo Library, it’s not there – yet.
Installing the returns chute is just one of the many tasks that have confronted manager Vivien Newton and her staff as they bed in the temporary library in the old Advertiser building on Pall Mall.
The chute is being transferred – like everything else in the temporary library – from the old site, which is about to undergo major transformation into a showpiece for the city.
“The chute is imminent,” Ms Newton said this week.
“The light works, and now we’re just waiting for a building to install it.”
The chute will be on the Hargreaves Street site of the temporary library, which houses the research collection.
There’s an amnesty on fines until the end of October, just to make it a bit easier for everyone to get used to the new arrangements.
To actually borrow or return a book over the counter, you have to enter via the Pall Mall side, as the two sites aren’t connected for public access.
It’s all a bit tricky, is how Ms Newton describes it, but, after a couple of weeks, they are getting there.
“Every day is better than the one before it,” she said.
“People are finding us, and most people are enjoying the adventure of finding their way around.”
Ms Newton said the hours of opening are a little different for the temporary library, with opening at 9am and closing at 6pm, and the research centre open Wednesday to Friday and Saturday morning.
Although there’s no wifi in the building, the computers are up and working well.
“We’ve nick-named it the take-away library, because you can’t sit in it for very long,” Ms Newton said.
“The mobile library has been off the road too (with electrical problems), so that’s all been a bit tricky, but there’s a real buzz about this building and everyone is happy.”
The builders moved in immediately to the old site and the demolition part of the project is due to begin very soon.
- Rosemary Sorensen

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