Wellingtonians will be without a central library for at least a year, so what does the library mean to the capital city? Felix Desmarais finds that for many, it's a home away from home.
The word library comes from a latin word. Liber as a noun means book. As an adjective, it means free.
A library is, of course, a place that houses books, but for many it can be a kind of freedom – and for Wellington's Central Library, that freedom means different things to different people.
It's a place to borrow and read books, but it also provides shelter, community, quiet, learning – even simple access to an internet connection. It's a home away from home.
For Angela Wells, the Central Library has played an important role for her young family.
Moving from San Jose in California with partner Aaron Wells in 2010, the library was an important place to "get her bearings" in their new city.
"You can get information on jobs, but it's also a kind of cultural exchange.
"It's a place you can exist for free. It's a home away from home."
After their son Robert, 2, was born, the library was a place they would visit almost daily.
A place where her son could interact with other kids, as well as a place to learn. It is also convenient for a new parent, with versatile spaces where Robert can play and develop a love of books and learning, and where things as basic as a decent changing table are readily available.
Wells, who lives in Karori, said she was sad about the Central Library closing, but she accepted the reasoning, though she would now "think twice" about going into town.
"Beside from the library, there's not many child-friendly places, especially with Reading Cinema closed. Now there's only really Capital E and Te Papa."
Law, international relations and political science student Geo Robrigado also refers to the Central Library as a "home away from home".
The Filipino Wellingtonian said the library appeals to visitors to the city because it was an information hub in a prime location in the city.
"They either go to the library or museums. It's a one-stop-shop."
On first moving to Wellington, Robrigado had been told that the library was "fantastic" and he was not disappointed.
"I went there, and I was surprised. I was like, 'I am going to drown myself in [books]!'"
The first time he visited, he spent all day there.
"I wanted to widen my horizons and learn."
Since then, his family had learned that, if they wanted to find Robrigado, they could find him in the library.
One day, when he thought his mum was at work, he found her in the library. She was wrapping Christmas presents.
While he didn't necessarily go to the library to research for university, he enjoyed the distraction it could provide from his studies. There, he could read the full collection of Kathy Reichs novels he loves.
"It's lively, discussions are flowing.
"It takes you to a new world."
Verb Wellington's Claire Mabey said her organisation had worked with the Central Library for the past five years on events like LitCrawl, KidsCrawl and the NZ Book Awards for Children and Young Adults.
"As an independent arts company without infrastructure, we also have spent many hours working in the library and holding meetings in Clark's [Cafe].
"We know and have seen over and over how valuable the value is to everyone in the community.
"It is a safe space, an energising space, and that's without even mentioning the invaluable resource that is books and access to stories.
"It's the heart of a community and it's a truly democratic space.
"We are devastated to lose it and know that many individuals have lost a home." She had empathy for the loss of space and staff.
The Central Library had been also partnered with Lōemis, Wellington's annual winter solstice festival.
Organiser Andrew Laking said it had been a place to display interactive public art and to stage free community craft workshops.
"Their team has always been genuinely supportive, knowledgeable and collaborative, and our event won't be the same this year without them."
"It's no small challenge"
The Wellington Central Library closed suddenly and indefinitely on March 19 this year.
The closure was a result of an engineers' report that had found the building had "structural weaknesses" that could compromise the building in the event of a "significant" earthquake.
Despite the library faring well in the 2016 Kaikōura earthquake, new government guidelines released in November prompted the new engineers' report.
The report, which was delivered to the council on March 18, found the library's precast concrete floors were similar to those used in the Statistics House building, which partially collapsed in the 2016 Kaikōura earthquake.
In that case, three precast concrete floor units had dropped onto the furniture below them. It was likely people would have been killed if the quake had occurred during the day.
The council announced the closure of the library within 48 hours of receiving the report, which was authored by engineering firm Aurecon.
Wellington City Council (WCC) chief operating officer Barbara McKerrow said the council was "working hard" to ensure library services were back in the CBD as soon as possible.
"Once pop-up spaces are identified, work to set up those locations will get underway," she said.
The council had also relocated central library staff throughout the branch network of 11 community libraries to provide "additional hands on deck", and had increased opening hours at some libraries.
McKerrow said a small book returns box had been set up in the ground floor reception of the WCC building at 101 Wakefield St, which was an "interim measure" until a larger returns area could be established.
The bulk of this work was likely to fall to the first CBD library pop-up space at 12 Manners St, which the council believed would open at the end of May.
The Central Library had a collection of around 350,000 items still in the building, McKerrow said,
"We are working through where we will store the collection, for example, in a warehouse; how we will move [the collection] there, and what the best way is for the public to access it while options for the library building are worked through."
There was "no timeframe" for decisions about the future of the library building yet.
McKerrow said as of March 25, 45,287 items from the Central Library were out on loan. Due to a blanket loan extension following the closure, all of these items were due back on May 1.
What is due back before May 1?
45,287 items out on loan, made up of: