Stratford Library

The Stratford library is now in a purpose-built, modern building in Prospero Place, with a bust of Shakespeare outside, but when I was a child and teenager growing up, it was in an imposing two-storied building on the town's main street. It was upstairs, where the council chambers also were housed.

To get to the stairway, you first had to walk through the Hall of Remembrance which is the only war memorial of its kind in New Zealand. It features photographs of all the people from the Stratford district who lost their lives during the two World Wars. (It may even feature more modern wars these days, but I didn't check whether that was so.)

The tile pattern on those stairs was very familiar to me as I went there so often, and even sometimes sat on the stairs to read a book I couldn't wait to get started on!Read more