Te Hāpua: Halswell Centre turns one with plenty to celebrate

Halswell's new library and community hub is celebrating its first birthday after a year where its popularity has boomed.

Te Hāpua: Halswell Centre – a 3000 square metre hub that incorporates a summer pool, a learning centre, a customer service desk, several multi-purpose cpmmunity spaces and a café - opened in November 2015. 

Christchurch City Council Head of Libraries and Information Carolyn Robertson said the Halswell locals' response to their new library and community hub has been fantastic.On Saturday, November 26 a free family fun day will be held at the centre from 11am to 3pm to mark its first birthday. Activities include face painting for children, guided tours of the facility, Takumi Japanese drumming,  kapa haka, hip hop dance, 3D printing, story and craft.

Te Hāpua: Halswell Centre

“We’re thrilled so many people are making use of the library and everything it has to offer and we're very excited to be able to celebrate the centre's success at the upcoming family fun day."

Since Te Hāpua: Halswell Centre opened a year ago more than 254,000 library visits have been recorded, which is nearly three times the number that visited the old Halswell library.

In that 12 months, more than 355,000 items have been issued from the library and nearly 2000 new members have been signed up. Over 9700 people have attended programmes at the new library, more than three times the attendance at the old library.

The average time spent on a visit to the library is three hours and the busiest day of the week is Monday. Most popular books at the library include those by diet and lifestyle guru Libby Weaver and celebrity chef Nadia Lim, bestseller The Girl on the Train, crime novels by Lee Child and, on a more quirky note, books about ukeleles.

The Halswell Summer Pool has seen a 40 per cent increase in users in the year since Te Hāpua: Halswell Centre opened, with 35,450 visits recorded. A Summer Pool Party will be held there on November 26 from 12.30 until 2.30pm as part of the first birthday celebrations.

Free pool passes will be given to the first 50 children to arrive at the Free Family Fun Day from 11am onwards.