Akaroa Coronation Library

Maintained by the Akaroa Civic Trust, this 1875 original was the town's official library for a long time but has it's origins in a community organisation named the Literary and Scientific Institute which started in 1860.

A grant from the Provincial Council enabled the group to engage architect Samuel Farr to design this little gem a meeting place, which immediately became useful also as a library.

"Colonial architects like Farr were often little concerned about consistency of style," (John Wilson City and Peninsula)

When it was repaired in 1911 using a George V coronation grant, it gained it's name, and the frontage gained it's Arts and Crafts appearance. "Given a style that reflected the contemporary domestic architecture," (Wilson)

The public library was built later alongside the school.