Library History - Frankton Library
Frankton Junction Library was opened by the Mayor J.R. Fow on the 22nd of September 1923. Frankton residents had been advocating for a library for many years. The Waikato Times reported, “A library was a great want at Frankton. There were 180 men at the railway station alone. The people living at Frankton were practically all of the artisan class and should be considered” (1918). Frank Jolly, the son of Thomas Jolly, the founder of Frankton, donated land on Kent Street to be for the library site. Mayor Fow acknowledged the Jolly family in his speech at the opening ceremony, “the whole district owed the Jolly family something which they could never repay” (Waikato Times, 1923).
A proposal for a library was initially approved by the Frankton Borough Council, however the amalgamation of Frankton and Hamilton and war breaking out meant “the matter was allowed to languish” (Waikato Times, 1918). The Hamilton Borough Council informed Frankton residents that there was a conditional grant of £1000 from the Carnegie Trust for the establishment of a reading room in Frankton. This was refused as the “conditions imposed did not suit the Frankton representatives” (Waikato Times, 1931).
It was then suggested to the Borough Council that a “sum could not be placed on the next year’s estimate for the purpose of establishing a small library at Frankton” (Waikato Times, 1931. This proposal was then presented to Hamilton ratepayers and was accepted. Over the last few decades Frankton had advanced and “seen it emerge from a swamp into a thriving industrial centre” (Waikato Times, 1923) and now they were getting their own library. Some Hamilton residents were not supportive of this move and didn’t think two libraries within two miles of was needed.
At the opening speech May J.R. Fow asked the community for support of the library, “the success or failure of the library depended of course upon the people of Frankton themselves.” He asked for assistance not only with funding from subscriptions but also with the actual running of the library (Waikato Times, 1923).
In 1986 the Frankton overbridge was constructed which meant the library had to be demolished. In preparation for this the library had to be moved to a new building on Hall Street. In 1990 the library closed, and the stock and staff were moved to the new library at St Andrews (Lafferty, 2014).
References
Lafferty, B. (2014). Frank: From Frankton to farm to inner city. Barry Lafferty.
Waikato Times. (1918, November 15). Carnegie Libraries: Hamilton and Frankton. £1500 for Frankton. Papers Past.
Waikato Times. (1923, September 24). Frankton’s Advance: New Library Opened. Papers Past.
Waikato Times. (1931, September 17). Veteran Councillor: Services to Frankton. Papers Past.