Sometimes, if we’ve been good, librarians are allowed out to go visit other libraries. And sometimes, when we’ve been particularly amazing, we get to go to special places – places that may not be open to the public in the same way that, say, the Central Library Peterborough or the Linwood Library at Eastgate or Upper Riccarton libraries are.
The Christchurch Art Gallery library is one of those places, and recently a group of us went there for a visit. Located in the middle of the Art Gallery building, it’s a bit like the Gallery itself: closed but open. You can’t just wander in and poke around, but you CAN call the Gallery and make an appointment.
So why would you do this? People who visit here are looking for a deeper level of information than you might find on the shelf at your local library. If you are interested in art (and by interested, I mean you’ve looked at all the fantastic art books that the public library have, and still want more; or you are researching local artists both past and present, or want to know the background to the story behind the latest Court Theatre production), it’s THE place to go. There are specialist books and magazines, archives full of ephemera relating to artists and exhibitions, folders of press clippings and more.
The collection itself is primarily focused, naturally, on areas related to the Art Gallery, so you probably won’t find heaps of information on, say, the Italian Renaissance, but you WILL find, for example, things related to Picasso’s lithographs, because the Gallery owns one of them.
So for anyone with a deeper interest in all things arty, or a need for specialist help in specific areas, you could do no better than to arrange a visit – the librarian is warm and welcoming, and not at all scary, and there are treasures untold waiting to be discovered!
- Read posts on the Art Gallery’s Bunker Notes blog
- Check out their exhibitions including the wonderful Fernbank studio show at Central Library Peterborough.
Christchurch City Libraries Blog 