Te Kōputu a te whanga a Toi – the Whakatāne Library and Exhibition Centre – celebrates its first anniversary on Thursday with yet another stunning success to its credit – a huge increase in community involvement.
“The former Library and Museum and Gallery spaces used to attract between 115,000 and 130,000 visitors a year in total,” says Whakatāne District Council Community Services Manager, Paula Chapman. “Te Kōputu surpassed those numbers in less than seven months and by the end of May, with one month of the year still to come, this great new community facility had seen visitor numbers swell to more than 212,000. That level of support is simply outstanding and our Library and Museum and Arts teams are just thrilled with the community’s response.”
She attributes the support in part to great design, but also to the quality of the experience when people walk through the doors. “The Horizon Energy Library and Little Orchard Activity Room and Atrium have a very welcoming feel. They’re bright, airy spaces with comfortable spots to linger and read, or surf the internet. The public programmes provided by our staff are also popular and give us a solid activity base to build from over the coming months,” Mrs Chapman says.
“The versatility of the exhibition spaces has perhaps been the biggest revelation though. In just 12 months, we’ve had 15 separate contemporary art exhibitions in the Opus, Sheaff Family and Whakatāne Community Board Galleries. Our ongoing Museum collection display provides a great snapshot of the area’s history, as does the quirky ‘Lifting the Lid’ exhibition, currently on display in the Opus Gallery, which features some of the weird and wonderful items from the collection. We know that the numbers enjoying those exhibitions have increased hugely. That’s partly because they’re so much more accessible now, but also because people are captivated by the variety of experiences provided.”
Te Kōputu has also captured national attention, winning regional and New Zealand architecture and property awards, not to mention envious glances from the residents of nearby population centres.
Among other interesting vital statistics after 11 months of operation, registered library users have increased by 15% (to 13,525) and more than 3,500 children and adults have participated public programmes such as Book-a-boo storytime sessions for pre-schoolers, holiday programmes, reading programmes, class and community group visits and artist floor-talks.
The one-year anniversary will be marked by a special treat for Horizon Energy Library users. Throughout July, any new and existing customers borrowing rental items will receive a birthday card with a voucher offering a two-for-one special on DVDs, magazines or Top Title books. The gift vouchers provided can be redeemed up until the end of August.
Meanwhile, the development emphasis now switches from Te Kōputu to the Museum Research Centre, where the bulk of the Museum’s approximately 100,000 collection items are stored, together with tens of thousands of photographs and archive documents.
“We’ve been liaising with stakeholders with a view to updating our plans for the museum building,” Mrs Chapman says. “From that process, we will have a planning template which takes into account users’ expectations and aspirations. A key consideration will be achieving the best possible facility at an affordable cost to the community, but the bottom line is that we need to ensure the Museum is capable of providing secure, climate-controlled conditions which will ensure that our treasures are kept in good condition for future generations to experience, enjoy and learn from.”