Books all lined up to loan

The windows have been polished, the cafe’s crockery carefully stacked in place and books are arranged neatly on shelves –

Tu¯ ranga is all but ready.

The South Island’s biggest library will open in central Christchurch on Friday.

One of the city’s key anchor projects after the earthquakes, the

$92 million library holds more than

180,000 printed items – 160,000 of which are books – will employ more than 100 staff and draw an expected 3000 people a day through its doors.

Hundreds were expected to visit following its grand opening, with staff leading tours to show people what was on offer.

Carolyn Robertson, the city council’s head of libraries and information, said excitement was building as workers carried out a final spring clean.