Pittwater Life September 2023 Issue

Life Stories
Continued from page 41
jurisdiction, having outlived
both Warringah and Pittwater
councils.
In 1988, it had outgrown the
original room at the Avalon
Baby Centre and moved to what
had been the site of the first
Woolworth’s store in Avalon,
in Avalon Parade, opposite
the Post Office. The Woolies
building had been demolished
to make way for the current
arcade we know today.
The library also took over
a vacant shop in the arcade
which became the children’s
library.
In 2002, there was another
move. Now under the auspices
of Pittwater Council it
transferred to the new Avalon
Recreation Centre – its current
site.
“The library’s collection has
grown from a modest 3500
books to over 23,000 items,”
Meg says proudly.
Items?
“There were no DVDs or
audio books in 1983,” Meg
points out. “There was VHS,
but no-one came to the library
for videos because they
just went to the video store
(at the southern tip of Old
Barrenjoey Rd.”
As well as its own collection
of books, the community
library’s 5,000 members can
also order books from the
other libraries in the Northern
Beach Council area – with
a delivery service ferrying
them several times a week so
readers can just pick them up
from Avalon.
“We have access to all the
items on the Northern Beaches
Library Services catalogue
which the Council’s Library
Service Team keeps updated,
so we know everything that
the other Northern Beaches
libraries have.
“And if a particular item
isn’t to be found locally, we can
always do an interlibrary loan
by borrowing from libraries
outside our own Council area.”
Though the community
library has always received
grants from the relevant
councils, “we do collect funds
from use of our computers,
reservations – and, of course,
fines,” Meg explains.
“Some locals make yearly
financial donations, and we
Continued on page 44
42 SEPTEMBER 2023
The Local Voice Since 1991