Rather safe than sorry at library

Wellington is well-versed in quake-damaged buildings being shut or demolished and, inconvenience apart, life went on without much of a ripple. But the sudden closure of the city’s library has struck a painfully raw nerve. It would be the case even if it were just the way libraries are so often portrayed in books – a collection of bricks and mortar, books and shelves, and bespectacled librarians with rubber stamps.

But Wellington’s library is far more than that – a social hub that connects people, that provides comfort and shelter, a centre for learning and personal growth, a fountain of knowledge beloved equally by young and old. Mayor Justin Lester rightly calls it the ‘‘living room of the city’’.

We’ve been promised alternative library services, and Wellington City Council should not underestimate its residents’ demands that these are delivered properly and speedily.

The void left by the council’s decision is real and tangible, but a sense of perspective is also needed given the library’s huge popularity and the unpredictability of earthquakes.

The library’s floors are similar to those of Statistics House, on the waterfront, which would in all likelihood have claimed many lives were it not for the Kaiko¯ ura 2016 earthquake striking mercifully in the dead of night.

The loss of our library is painful and inconvenient, but infinitely preferable to a loss of life.