Kingscliff Public Library

The Begginings
1973 - Ballina, Lismore and Tweed finalise agreement on establishment of Richmond-Tweed Regional Library. Libraries to be at Murwillumbah and Tweed Heads.
1974 - Region begins operation from Lismore building. Lismore City Council acts as Executive Council. Library Board of NSW process books for Tweed Libraries.
1975 - Tweed staff appointed and trained at Lismore.
- Murwillumbah and Tweed Heads libraries open.
1977 - Branches open at Alstonville and Kingscliff Branch in relocatable building on the beachfront.
- Byron Shire negotiates membership of Region.
1978 - Byron Shire joins Region. Branch opened at Byron Bay.
1984 - Multi-Task Computerised library management system installed.
- Richmond-Tweed takes over BNA processing for NNLF catalogue.
1985 - Family History Research facility established at Central Library.
1987 - Membership of ABN and catalogue data transferred. Microfiche catalogue produced by National Library instead of BNA.
1988 - Kingscliff Library located in Pearl St Shopping Village
- Dynix Library management system purchased.
1989 - Catalogue transferred to Dynix installation.
- Resigned as member of NNLF.
- On-line circulation to all Richmond-Tweed libraries.
1991 - OPAC (Online Public Access Catalogue) installed at all Richmond-Tweed libraries.

Current History of the Library
The controversial building, of the new Kingscliff Public Library, was officially opened on the 28th of June 2000 by Mayor L. Beck. The building won an award of excellence from the American Society for Architectural Perspectives.
In late 1999, now retired Tweed Shire councillor Barbara Nowland was pessimistic by criticising the building as "awful" and was very hostile when she said that the building was similar to the shape of a "box".
Architect Mark Trotter, from Tweed Heads firm Fulton Trotter Moss, said he had decided for a basic design with a flat roof and an aspect overlooking onto nearby forest after considering the budget he had to work with.
The building, which will also accommodate a kitchen for Kingscliff Meals on Wheels, will be located next door to the library surrounded by swampy forest in Turnock Street west of the town centre.
Since moving to the new location there was a small drop in the number of elderly borrowers but has sinced increased in numbers as new retirees have moved to the Kingscliff area.
It has been noted that a large percentage of children have now gained access to the library. This can be seen in the large number of statistics in the childrens' and young adult borrowings. At the helm of the library for the past 19 years has been Larry Price, who has had the pleasure of serving the local community and the children who have since grown up, had families or moved away to greener pastures, i.e. university or corporate employment around the world.

Above: Kingscliff Library 2003, Photo courtesy of Nathan White

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