New Blenheim library and art gallery 'an all ages space'

Ten years in the making, Blenheim's new library will open its doors to the public for the first time today.

The building, which cost $20 million, will also be home to the region's art gallery.

Mayor Nadine Taylor said the facility was much more than just a library.

"It is of course the library and the art gallery but it's a living space, it's a children's space, it's an all ages space and it's a future technology space and that's what the people of Marlborough wanted."

With a view out across the Taylor River, Blenheim's newest library provides plenty of spaces to curl up with a book in the Marlborough sunshine.

The project was initiated in 2013 as part of the Growing Marlborough process, which found the district's public art gallery and library facilities were no longer adequate.

"Part of council's concept really early on when we discussed this with the community was about revitalising our riverfront area. The town had previously perhaps turned its back on the river a little bit and we have got a really strong strategic plan to revitalise this space and it's already working."

Taylor said the location, which previously housed a number of small commercial buildings, was significant to iwi.

Rangitāne o Wairau kaiwhakahaere matua (general manager) Corey Hebberd said the new facility sits on whenua adjacent to a former Rangitāne pā site.

"Rangitāne has a long association with the awa and adjacent land, which was the home to former pā and gardens alongside the waterways around which Blenheim is built.

"It is therefore fitting that the new library and art gallery facility will play an important role as a hub that will sustain and nourish the knowledge, wellbeing and resilience of our community into the future."

Libraries manager Glenn Webster said the new facility was a big step up from the region's old library.

"We've left a building which was 1400 square metres to move into this building which is 3600 square metres. We're co-locating with the gallery so there's more opportunities for people to come to one place and be able to go and visit exhibitions, come to the library and get a coffee from our cafe."

The complex was a shovel-ready project, given $11m in funding from the government's Kānoa Regional and Economic Development Unit.

The two-storey building has different areas for kids, young adults and seniors - and has embraced new technology.

"We have a 3D printer so people can design something themselves, send it through to us and we will print it for them, we have tech kits that people can borrow so along with books, we have electronic drum kits, we have a ukulele, we have robots that people can programme."

It is also thought to be one of the only libraries in the country to pay its staff penal rates for weekend work.

Collections librarian and union delegate Tania Miller said it took two years of negotiations to ensure the new, much larger library would be well-resourced with staff.

"We're just really fortunate that our council has recognised that weekend work is worth our staff's time and we've been able to negotiate weekend penal rates that mean that any weekend hours worked we'll be able to receive a higher rate of pay."

Art Gallery director Cressida Bishop said the region's first public art gallery opened 23 years ago.

"It was in a converted office building that had once been the first library in Blenheim, so there's a quite nice little connection there, and it was a nice space that functioned okay but it really didn't meet building spec for environmental conditions for collections and it had other limitations for exhibitions and we'd outgrown it well and truly."

The gallery now has climate-controlled exhibition and storage spaces, enabling the exhibition of works it couldn't have before.

"Our first exhibition is called Threads of Whātonga, it's a local pepeha and it's looking at the past, the present and the future and a lot of the works on show come from our permanent collection and from local iwi collection."

The gallery and building will be officially opened with a naming ceremony at the end of June.