Notable for being the first ‘Carnegie Library’ to be completed in New Zealand, the classically inspired brick and plaster Westport Public Library (Former) building, constructed in 1904, at Lyndhurst Street, Westport, reflects New Zealand’s part in an unprecedented programme of cultural philanthropy that crossed national boundaries. Representative of the small library type building that was common in New Zealand in the early twentieth century, the Westport Public Library (Former) was constructed on the site of the town’s earlier timber Athenaeum and Library, destroyed by fire in 1903, and the 1904 replacement building bears similarity to its predecessor. The façade and plan are also similar to a number of other Carnegie-financed buildings subsequently constructed in our small towns. The Westport Public Library (Former) has aesthetic, architectural, cultural, historical and social significance or value.

Kawatiri is the Māori name for both the town of Westport and the Buller River, the long river that flows nearly 180 kilometres from Lake Rotoiti through the Buller Gorge and out to Te Tai-o-Rehua (the Tasman Sea), near Westport. Māori have occupied sites near the Kawatiri/Buller River mouth from a very early times in Aotearoa New Zealand’s history. The place continues to have significance to Māori, especially to Te Runanga o Ngāti Waewae and Ngāti Apa Ki Te Ra To. Pākehā arrived in the mid nineteenth century and showed interest in acquiring resources and lands. A controversial 1860 Arahura purchase deed saw West Coast land title transfer to the Crown although native reserves were negotiated, including small native reserves in and around Westport. These included No. 36 Kawatiri (south bank) Native Reserve, situated on the south bank of the Kawatiri/Buller River and No. 43 Orowaiti Native Reserve, a 50-acre reserve situated just north of Westport. In the township itself was No. 42 Kawatiri (Township) Native Reserve, a four-acre reserve situated on the north bank of the Kawatiri/Buller River that was later partly destroyed by flood. One block back from the river, on Palmerston Street, was a reserve set aside for public offices. In the late nineteenth century a timber Athenaeum and Public Library was erected on part of this public reserve, on Lyndhurst Street.

After the timber Athenaeum and Public Library building in Westport was totally destroyed by fire on 1 January 1903, ‘Lucky Westport’ received a gift of £2,000 from Carnegie in early 1904 for the construction of a replacement library. Councillors from the Borough of Westport met with members of the Athenaeum committee in February 1904, where it was agreed the new library should be on the same site as the destroyed building, to be built in brick rather than timber, and that John Marshall be asked to undertake the duties of architect. John Marshall was not an architect but, rather, a local builder closely involved in public works. He agreed to prepare the plans on the condition that he also be allowed to tender for the building contract.

Marshall’s sketch plans were ready by March 1904 and tenders were called for two options, one for building in imported brick and the other for building in local brick plastered with cement mortar. Several tenders were received. Marshall’s tender for building in local brick was accepted and Borough Engineer, Julius Schadick, was employed as supervising architect. In a public ceremony held on 30 June 1904, the Mayoress laid the first brick and the Mayor, Fergus Ferguson Munro, placed a capsule in a cavity in the wall. The capsule contained parchment copies of correspondence between the Town Clerk and Carnegie, copies of local newspapers and coins. The completion of the Carnegie ‘Westport Free Library’, a handsome brick building, was reported in newspapers throughout New Zealand in November 1904. It was formally opened on 23 December 1904, with speeches by the Mayor and others.

Funds were raised for furniture, with the Union Steam Ship Company contributing £26 5s towards the Westport Free Library Furnishing Fund in late 1904. Thomas Dollman became the Secretary and Librarian of the new building.