ABOVE: Children’s author Ursula Dubosarsky from Marrickville reading her book in the new courtyard at Casino Library.
Susanna Freymark
The new courtyard at Casino Library is already being well used, regional library manager Gary Ellem said.
The courtyard is fenced so it is safe for children, and it has reading booths to read in the shade and curvy seats to read in the sunshine. There is artificial turf on the ground and centrepiece is a stage.
Special guests from the NSW State Library in Sydney were at the offical opening today, Wednesday, June 7.
State librarian John Vallance said a library was the one focus of any community.
“Anyone can walk in and be expected to be treated with kindness, warmth and respect,” Mr Vallance said.
A grant of $192,800 financed the courtyard build and another grant of $173,000 will fix the entrance to the library.
“I’m proud to be working in the State Library and see works like this,” Mr Vallance said.
“It goes beyond the convention of a library.”
That convention was that a library is only about books.
Mr Vallance likened a library to the churches of the past where communities would gather.
“It’s a way to come together,” he said
Richmond Upper Clarence Regional Library users can now sit outside while they read, use their computers and while children play on the stage.
