Happy 30th birthday to our website!

Happy birthday to our library website, now entering its fourth decade and going strong!

The library website was born on 7 June 1995, and she was the first public library internet presence in Australasia:

... The library’s move into the digital age was further boosted in June 1995, when the library established its first web pages. Part of the Christchurch City Council site, the library’s pages were the first public library internet presence in Australasia. In addition to providing information about the library and its services, they offered online catalogue access for the first time

Have a ride on the Wayback Machine and take a look at how we looked back in 1995.

The URL back then was http://www.ccc.govt.nz/library/ and here's the first version of our homepage. 

Maybe not the most stylish look ever but who among us doesn't have a photo with a 90s haircut we're mildly embarrassed about now? We've learned, we've grown, we've stopped using clipart...

Our website continued to evolve and grow over the years. Here's a snapshot at age 10, in 2005:

Here is how she looked on her 20th birthday, a tad more sophisticated and visually appealing:

And here's what the homepage looks like now:

There's certainly been a LOT of change over the last 30 years both in looks but also in library services, programming, and what we now provide to the public in terms of our collection, both physical and digital.

Browse our brief history of Christchurch City Libraries and our factsheet for more milestones, technological and otherwise.