By Claire Matthews
Brisbane’s Everton Park library will receive an $11.6 million refurbishment to update and future-proof the community space.
Brisbane City Council is investing in its 33 libraries, with multiple projects to ensure the libraries continue to serve the community.
Lord Mayor Adrian Schrinner said Brisbane libraries had reinvented themselves beyond just being venues where books were borrowed, and the Everton Park upgrade would prepare the space for the future.
“Everton Park Library is 56 years old and one of the smallest among Brisbane’s 33 libraries, and we’re investing $1.4 million this financial year to begin the project and give the growing community a bigger and better facility,” Cr Schrinner said.
The Everton Park library will double in size and gain new multi-purpose spaces, meeting rooms, a computer lounge, a dedicated quiet room and a children’s area to support early literacy development.
The contemporary design will also provide a peaceful setting and improve connections to nearby Fallon Park and Fallon Cottage.
Over the next 12 months, the Inala and Zilmere libraries will also be refurbished. Inala will receive a new children’s library, a bigger and better meeting room, a new interior fit-out and the introduction of a self-service returns system.
Carindale library is also getting an extension, including more areas for meeting rooms and creative spaces.
These projects will also help ensure that the council’s Home Library Service for frail and elderly residents can continue across many suburbs.
Cr Schrinner said library staff had worked incredibly hard over the past year to make their offerings even more accessible, including creating Brisbane’s first BNELibraries app.
“The BNELibraries app has been downloaded more than 50,000 times since going live in March 2020 and has hosted more than 780,000 searches, 218,000 physical collection holds, 188,000 physical collection checkouts and almost 25,000 digital loans,” he said.
“We’ve also seen almost 25,000 new library members sign-up since January alone, and there have been more than 1800 in-library sessions held in the past 12 months with more than 12,000 participants.”
The Everton Park library transformation will be completed by late 2023, with construction to begin from late 2022. Planning and design work is underway for the Inala Library refurbishment, and the Zillmere Library upgrade is expected to be complete this term.