Library Furniture

A room full of history – L203 of the Beanland Memorial Library

This bookcase is not the only historic piece in the library spaces. Other furniture that connects the current students to their School’s rich past are the tables and chairs on Level 2 of the library, in Room L2.03. A standout is the large, silky oak table with 12 chairs. This beautiful long table was purchased in 1930 and was originally the table used by the School Board of Trustees. Mrs Cooke, who always found a home for such older pieces, had the table located in the ‘Estelle Burke Reading Room’ of the 1975 library, and it was around this table where the School’s reading club, the Libellum Society first met in 2001.

2012 Ms Rachael Christopherson and members of the Libellum Society in the Estelle Burke (1947) Room.

In 1962, glass tops were added to this and other wooden tables to protect the surfaces, and so that maps and diagrams could be displayed under the glass while the girls were studying. (Williamson, 1962) Two of these glass- topped tables remain in the current library and the tradition of displaying artworks and items of interest ‘under the glass’ continues. The chairs were initially an exciting addition to the first library, the purchase of ‘a dozen chairs for