Redhead Community Library

by Anne Davy

I felt immediately at home from the first minute I opened the door. The wooden bookshelves, the smiling librarian behind the curved counter and the comforting smell of books. It took only a few minutes to get my library card. Mollie Haynes had summed me up and before I knew it, I had volunteered to work two Saturdays a month.

It was March 2002.I had returned to Lake Macquarie after twenty years on the Mid North Coast. My marriage was over. I had a new home near the beach where I could once again enjoy the sea air. This was the beginning of my volunteer service in Redhead Library. I Joined the committee after a few years. March 2024 is my twenty-second year. During my time there were a few changes on committee with Elaine Shepherd replacing Molly as Chairperson. Maggie Lavercombe followed. Helen Carpenter is the current chairperson in 2023-24.

Over the years I learnt about the library’s history from my colleagues, some of whom had been there at the Community Libraries conception. In 1985, during Lake Macquarie’s Library’s restructuring, the Redhead library was tabled to be closed. There was a great outcry from the residents of Redhead with petitions and submissions written and newspaper articles.

They were successful and Council allowed the building to remain open as a Community Library staffed by volunteers, with a yearly grant for new books. There were some welcome renovations. The library continued to be a popular hub with U3a classes in Art, porcelain painting, numerology and creative writing taking place. For over twenty years Landcare and a book club have had their meetings there at night. In May 2011 the library was again threatened with closure. The Redhead residents and volunteers once again rallied with submissions to Council. This resulted in a further renovation to the staff room and an internal toilet with disabled access and parking. Before the renovations Lake Mac’s Head Librarian filmed the original 1958 curved counter and bookshelves for library history.

Today I work just one shift on a Saturday. The library opens 3-5 Thursday and Friday and 10-12 Saturday. U3a classes, book group, and Landcare continue. It is well utilized by the community. Now that Lake Mac ‘s Rover no longer services Redhead I hope Redhead Community Facility continues to fill the gap and serve the community for many more years.

This work by Lake Macquarie City Library is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License