Birkenhead Public Library - Resources

Resources

The initial Borough Council budget for books was £500 and when it opened in 1949 the library began with a collection of around 1500 items, "swelled by about another twenty books a month." Percy Hurn, a councilor at the time, recalled the first book he selected for the library was "Sunset over France." More prosaically the local newspaper recorded "textbooks on agriculture... a complete set of the books of Walter Scott... and 13 volumes of the works of Thackeray."

Support from the National Library was keenly sought, as it would allow access to "practically every library in the dominion." However this support was qualified: the National Library did not want to encourage "cheap reading" of genre books, such as romance, westerns and detective stories. In the event, when Birkenhead opened nearly half the books present were on extended loan from the National Library. Their "field librarians" continued to provide a regular infusion of books into the Birkenhead collection two or three times a year, for at least a decade. Topics were diverse, from gardening, music, occupations and hobbies, to art, agriculture and home management. Junior books were added in 1953.

One hundred and fifty of the original collection were donations. Items gifted have ranged from the Walter Scott works, to individual titles, to a 34 volume set of Britannica. The Rotary Club provided a $2000 Reference collection for the opening of the 1968 building. Later, Plunkett donated records, while Bob and Norma Inward gave two folios of prints by painters Goldie and Heaphy.

Borrowing then, as now, was free to ratepayers; those outside the area paid 10 shillings in 1949, and fifty years later, a $100 for an annual subscription. Initially one book was issued to each member, with 2-3d charge for additional items. Newer books were more expensive, as much as 6d Rental charges on fiction were dropped in 1990; though the late 1980s saw them on items such as cds, a practice which became generalised across other multimedia items like cd-roms and DVDs. For a while, Internet access was charged too, at $2 per 15 minutes. At the time it was used mainly for email. In 1994 rental fiction returned with the start of a "Bestseller" book collections; Four years later a similar rental collection of bestseller magazines was started.

The collection size in 1968 was 19,000 items, mostly books and magazine. This increased to over 63,000 items in 1992, and included a much more diverse range of media, from children's puzzles to archives, as well as the provision of stock from other branches, and access to system-wide databases. By 2003 Birkenhead's stock had risen to 67,500. Shortly afterwards, the library was temporarily relocated to the Leisure Centre where there was only room to house 40-50% of the collection.

Currently Adult, Young Adults, Junior, and Large Print collections are subdivided in the traditional manner, into fiction and nonfiction areas with the latter arranged according to the Dewey decimal system. Media other than books are generally collated as separate collections or subdivisions. There are exceptions, such as language material which is collated in the nonfiction 400s. Junior material is separated into the widest range of categories, from board books up through various reading-ages, such as picture books, readers, and various levels of chapter books.

Resources unique to Birkenhead library include the Chelsea Sugar Archives, and its local history photo collection. Apart from these special collections most material is available for lending. Exceptions include newspapers, a Reference Collection interfiled in amongst the main collection, a Quick Reference Collection, and a depository of council documents and other official publications (pictured). The front page of the North Shore Libraries website is itself a web portal, for various council and library resources, including the catalogue.