Officially opened at the start of this month, the new $9.3 million Newport Community Hub has smashed library attendance records.
On the opening weekend of September 2, 2709 visitors attended celebrations at the new civic precinct at Paine Reserve.
More than 3700 people visited within the first five days of opening – more than the temporary library at The Substation had in three months.
The new building and restored Mechanics Institute includes a library, maternal child health services, senior citizen and youth services, and meeting spaces.
Hobsons Bay council commissioned Haskell architects to design the building. The company already had an impressive track record through the Altona North and Altona Meadows libraries.
The Newport project had a controversial start when original plans were leaked showing no bookshelves – a “bookless library”.
The council had considered a proposal for people to order books online and collect them from a chute-like system after internal research showed people were increasingly using libraries to read newspapers or go online.
A community group called Save Newport Library quickly formed to campaign against the plan and it was promptly shelved.
Then there was a war of words at a public council meeting over what to call the building.
A community reference group had shortlisted three names, none of which contained the word “library”. Newport Community Hub was chosen to maintain consistency with Laverton Community Hub.
Visitors to the new hub show no sign of dropping off – as of last week, more than 7800 people had been through the doors.
