About Council
We are celebrating 60 years of Marion Libraries in 2019!
From a single branch on Sturt Road in 1959 with 3500 books, our service has grown to three branches housing a collection of around 108,000 items today.
This is our story.
The City of Marion Library was first known as the Pitman Library. It was built in 1958 at the corner of Sturt Road and Morphett Road and was opened on Saturday, 7 February 1959 by the then Honorable Baden Pattinson with an initial stock of 3500 books.
The library was named after the pioneering Pitman family, over 160 members of whom donated money and furnishings to the building. It was the first municipal library in the metropolitan area and the second public library to be established in South Australia.
On the 2nd of November 1963 the first mobile library in the state was commissioned. The Sir Baden Pattinson Mobile Library was the brain child of Jim Crawford, a member of the Libraries Board, who arranged for the Commercial Motor Vehicle Foundation to fit out a 34-foot long bus and donate it to the City of Marion.
1980 saw the headquarters of the library move to Park Holme. The 930 square metre building on Duncan Avenue was opened on the 9th of March 1980 by Mayor Ted Newberry.
The Hallett Cove Library branch was officially opened on the 13th of April 1989 by Mayor Kevin Hodgson. Council purchased a section of the building adjacent to Hallett Cove Shopping Centre for the new library. It was the first Marion library branch to be fully digitized, with the other branches following on with the conversion over the proceeding months.
The Marion Cultural Centre Library was opened on 23 November 2001 by Mayor Felicity Ann Lewis and the Honorable Diana Laidlaw, Minister for the Arts. Inspired by the letters in the name “Marion,” architects created a unique façade and interior for the building that includes the library, domain theatre, meeting rooms, café and gallery.
Mayor Kris Hanna opened the Cove Civic Centre Library on 1 August 2015 at a launch attended by more than 2000 people. The $13.4 million library combined a wide range of facilities under one roof, including a hall, a business training suite and nine meeting rooms. In its first month it welcomed more than 13,500 visitors.
Follow our social media channels to see more fun facts and photos from our 60 year history.