Is this the real life? Is this just fantasy?
The Mt Albert Library turning 50 is real life and not fantasy – despite opening the same month as Queen's ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ reached number one in the UK – the well-used facility is still going strong.
The library doors opened on 22 November 1975 by Frank Ryan, Mayor of Mt Albert City, and the popular Albert-Eden Local Board facility continues to be a pillar for the community.
Chair Margi Watson says it’s a wonderful achievement to reach five decades of library services.
“The Mt Albert Library has played a pivotal role for the community, and 50 years is a special and important milestone to acknowledge. Libraries generate a genuine sense of community, they are accessible, and provide a range of school holiday and general programmes and services.
“This month we’re also seeing the positive impacts of the nearby Pt Chev Library re-opening, after a few years without full library services in the town centre, it’s easy to see the wider impacts that libraries provide.”
The Albert-Eden Local Board is funding an additional $130,000 towards the library for this financial year.
That means, from 10 January 2026 the library will be increase its weekend hours to 9-5pm Saturday and Sunday, which is an additional six hours per week.
Although there’s been lots of change over the decades, the Mt Albert Library has always offered comprehensive school holiday programmes.
However, before printing was simple, flyers and posters for school holiday programmes were created with cut-and-pasting or writing and drawing by hand.
The building itself saw the addition of a Citizens' Advice Bureau next door in 1990, and an extension of the carpark in 2004
However, one constant rock over the decades has been the wonderful books, with the library always recording high numbers of check-outs and returns, regardless of whether the library was open or closed.
Kia kaha Mt Albert Library – here’s to another 50 years.
