Community called to help design new Alice Springs library as location announced
A new location for a $20 million library has been chosen in one Territory town, but in the interim, the community is set to lose access to a room in the existing library as part of a ‘co-share’ arrangement.
A new library location has been chosen for the Red Centre capital, while community groups who used a room in the library are left in limbo in anticipation of a tourism body’s big move to “co-share” the community space.
Alice Springs is set to get a new $20 million library above the current Alice Springs Town Council car park, the local council said on Monday morning via a media release.
“Choosing this location gives us the opportunity to design a space that is modern, central, accessible, and built for the next 40 years of community life,” Alice Springs Town Council Mayor Asta Hill said.
With the location chosen, planning is underway and council is now looking to launch community consultation to help design the new library, the release states.
While no date was given on when the consultation will begin, the council’s website on the project states “more details on how to get involved will be released soon”.
“This is not just council’s library — it’s the community’s library,” Ms Hill said.
“In designing our new library, we want to know exactly what our community values, what they want more of, and what a modern library for Alice Springs should include.”
The location announcement comes after council released the tender to turn the current library into a tourism centre for Tourism Central Australia (TCA).
TCA is set to move from their existing Todd Mall office into the existing council library building.
An indicative timeline from the tender documents has work on the library beginning as early January 6, granted the tender is awarded by December 19.
The library will remain open, and once the tourism body takes over the space, the library’s special collection will be housed in Charles Darwin University, this masthead understands.
The Andy McNeill room will be closed to the public, as TCA is set to “co-share” the library space and take over the room.
Community groups who used the Andy McNeill room will no longer be able to use the space, with council working with those groups to “identify alternative venues where possible,” according to the media release.
Ms Hill said the arrangement gives TCA a “strong, central presence” in Alice Springs and reiterated “there will be no disruption to library services during this planning phase”.
TCA chief executive Danial Rochford, who also sits on the Alice Springs council, told this masthead last week the organisation is hoping “to be in this facility before the start of the tourism season in 2026”.
He also stated he’d recused himself from any discussions around the new library while on council due to his conflict of interest.
Last year, the CLP government committed $14.9 million towards Alice Springs getting a new library as part of a $27m cash splash on the town.
Council’s latest budget – adopted by the previous council in June – states $750,000 has been allocated towards the new library project.
Originally published as Community called to help design new Alice Springs library as location announced
