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Canberra Today 17°/20° | Friday, March 29, 2024 | Digital Edition | Crossword & Sudoku

Artworks enhance new Queanbeyan Library

WITH council election only two weeks away, Queanbeyan’s current Mayor, Tim Overall, is taking advantage of any opportunities to bask in the light of City Council’s success stories.

One such is seen today in the opening of the new Queanbeyan Library at 6 Rutledge Street, backing onto the car park that also houses the Queanbeyan Performing Arts Centre, The Q, creating a new arts precinct.

Carved out of a pre-existing building made over at a fraction of the cost of a new construction, the new library offers about 60 per cent more floor space than its predecessor on Crawford Street, which will now be used to house Council staff from a number of buildings around the Crawford St/Lowe St area.

The Library features a research room, enhanced computer facilities for the public and a dedicated children’s area, with space for story-time and other forms of entertainment.

At the official opening this morning, Mayor Overall also unveiled site-specific artworks commissioned by council from five artists.

The most striking of these is an exterior metal impression by local sculptor Neil Dickinson of three “Floating Pages,” installed between the columns along the entry ramp way. The pages are inscribed with laser-cut text from Shakespeare, Banjo Paterson and Australian poet Ian Mudie.

Visible from Rutledge Street is a large floor to ceiling tree sculpture by artist Shannon Henry, inscribed with text and images written on the bark using a pyrographic burning technique.

Inside, matching different sections of the library, are wall mounted clusters of painted books by John Vukovic, while along one wall is a huge mural by painter Timo Nest intended to evoke the experience of walking through local grasslands.

Requiring closer scrutiny is an unusual three-dimensional “Tunnel Book” artwork by Natalie Maras depicting the development of the written word through history.

Staff at the library were keen to point out that this is not just a local but a regional facility, servicing nearby towns like Bungendore, Braidwood and Captains Flat.

“The development of the new Queanbeyan Library has been a long time coming, but … residents will be able to access a more spacious and inviting Library which has dedicated areas for children, history and research and study,” Mayor Overall said.

The new Queanbeyan Library will maintain the old opening hours of Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday 9.30am-6pm, Thursday 9.30am-7pm, Saturday 9.30am-4pm and it is closed on Sundays.

Front view, exterior

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Helen Musa

Helen Musa

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