Transcript for A Brief Tour of Engineering Library History

Engineering Library started its life in town,

in what is now the Arts Centre.

The current building by the Mushroom

dates from 1967.

This aerial shot is from 1982...

and this one's from 2009.

But let's go back to a time when

trees were shorter,

and photos were black and white.

Haere mai and welcome

to Engineering Library, 2006.

And 1979, when we still had separate desks

for reference and circulation.

The combined desk dates from 1998.

In 1968,

our olive green carpet was a novelty

and the librarian had brochures on hand

to explain its advantages to the curious.

In 1983 we didn't have access to E4 yet

but we did have a lot of journals in print.

By 2006

online journals had changed all that.

Of course, this is what

the library catalogue looked like in 1980.

Let's see that again in 2006.

No history would be complete

without Ruaumoko,

stolen in 2008 while at conference

and carved again in 2009.

The last stop on the ground floor is

the photocopiers.

In 1978, these were staff only.

Thirty years later,

students fend for themselves.

Now let's wander upstairs,

past the Lyttelton Tunnel drawings,

through the smoke-stop doors, to...

1967, when the building was brand new.

By 2006, level 2 is full of books, tables,

and of course potted plants.

This particular plant dates from 1982.

The other thing that dates from 1982...

...are the curtains.

We got new window shades in 2008.

That fire hydrant hasn't moved...

... and nor has the lift.

We're looking east here.

In 1984 a whole new section

was added onto the Library.

The new space for shelves

and a quiet study zone

was used for the first time in 1985.

Construction in 2008 gave us

a new lift and a new walkway.

And where construction will take us next -

who knows?