Te Ara Ātea: Battle to add 'library' to name heats up in Rolleston

The Rolleston Residents Association is not giving up on its battle to get the word "library" included in the title of Te Ara Ātea.

Star Media has been flooded with reader responses since the article on the issue appeared online and in the Selwyn Times - with all but one letter in support of the word library.

Association vice chair Jens Christensen said he is not surprised by the support.

"That’s why the residents’ association picked it up, on behalf of the community," Christensen said.

"Its (the library’s) principle purpose is a modern library as we know it."

He plans to go back to Selwyn District Council staff and request once more the word “library” follow the words Te Ara Ātea on both the building and other signage.

If staff refuse the request again, he would take the issue directly to councillors and ask for it to go up for discussion at a district council meeting.

But the association won’t be supported by Mayor Sam Broughton.

Broughton has indicated he is opposed to the association’s request.

He said to "label" Te Ara Ātea as a library would not do justice to the "amazing multi-function facility".

"It’s a workshop, a cultural centre, a community gathering space, a museum, a performance and exhibition centre, a café, as well as a library,” Broughton said.

"With almost 600 people a day walking through the doors of Te Ara Ātea, we know the community knows where it is and loves to be in it."

Meaning "the unobstructed trail to the world and beyond", the name Te Ara Ātea was gifted to the community by Te Taumutu Rūnanga.

• The reader responses can be found here.