Wellington City Libraries

Wellington Central Library

The Central Public library (Also known as Wellington Free Library) first opened in 1893 on the corner of Mercer and Wakefield Streets, Designed by William Crichton a prominent architect in his time. The building was demolished in 1945 due to "earthquake concerns" although this is disputable.

The site was later occupied by the City Council Municipal buildings that are still in use today. The Wellington City Council archives https://wellington.govt.nz/your-council/archives/search-the-archives holds the original plans and correspondence for this building, it seems there was concern over the foundations when it was originally built.

In 1937 a new library opened on a block between Mercer and Harris street. The building was subsequently converted into the City Gallery Wellington. In 1991 the new central branch library opened on Victoria and Mercer Streets along the edge of the Civic Square. Ian Athfield of Athfield Architects had designed the new building, which Fletcher Development and Construction built.

The library building consists of three main floors. The ground floor contains fiction, the Sound and Vision centre, the Young Adult and Children's collections and the main circulation desks. The first floor houses the sciences, humanities, arts, music and literature collections. The travel and history and New Zealand reference collections are located on the second floor. Two floors above the Library have until recently been leased by the Department of Conservation. A basement level serves for vehicle parking and for day-to-day circulation duties.

The high-level portico bridge linking the library building to the WCC service centre building is to be demolished (2013) as an earthquake risk. ^{[1] [2]}

Corner view of Wellington Central Library