Warkworth memorial library, 1 Baxter Street, Warkworth. The memorial has only recently been restored and put back up in the entrance to the library.
Minister for Internal Affairs Leon Gotz opened the Warkworth War Memorial Library in Alnwick Street on 14 May 1961. The shrine of remembrance in the library was dedicated by Rev. J.H. Bailey. This incorporated a roll of honour consisting of three bronze plaques recording the names of local men who had died in both world wars: 18 men in the First World War and 16 men in the Second World War.
On 29 October 1994 a new library overlooking the Mahurangi River was opened by Rodney District Mayor Doug Armstrong. A plaque was placed outside the library recording its war memorial status: “On this day the War Memorial status was formally transferred from the previous Library site in Alnwick St with the agreement of the Warkworth and Districts Returned Services Association and the people of the area.” The roll of honour was placed in a quiet corner inside the library.
The library was rededicated as a war memorial on 21 April 2009, at which time the refurbished roll of honour was unveiled in a more prominent site inside the main entrance.
Sources: H.J. Keys, Mahurangi: The Story of Warkworth, Warkworth, 1954, pp. 130-2, 218, 238-9; ‘Warkworth Has New Library’, Auckland Star, 11/7/1960; ‘Warkworth Renamed Workworth’, NZ Herald, 15/5/1961; Harry Bioletti,Warkworth, New Zealand, Warkworth, 1993, p. 20; ‘Warkworth Library Reclaimed as War Memorial’, Mahurangi Matters, May 2009.
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