Chester Hill Library and Knowledge Centre

Chester Hill Library and Knowledge Centre
Photo of the interior of Chester Hill Library
Read about what you can do at the Chester Hill Library and Knowledge Centre. Chester Hill Library Knowledge Centre canterbury bankstown Read about what you can do at the Chester Hill Library and Knowledge Centre.  
Photo of the interior of Chester Hill Library

Contact details

Phone: 9707 9740
Use our contact form

Opening hours

Monday, Tuesday and Thursday: 9.30am-8pm 

Wednesday and Friday: 9.30am-5pm

Saturday: 10am-1pm

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The Chester Hill Library and Knowledge Centre​ was built in 1958 and has continued to grow ever since, with its most recent upgrades in 2013. Thanks to new technology, modern facilities and an extensive collection including latest releases, the library is a centre of excellence and the gateway to a wealth of information and entertainment. 

Frontispiece Integrated Artworks

'Frontispiece' is the title of the integrated artworks at Chester Hill Library and Knowledge Centre. The frontispiece is the decorative illustration facing a book’s title page, but it is also known in architecture as the combination of elements that frame and decorate the main or front door and façade of a building.

Fabricated in Corten Steel, a cold rolled weather resistant steel that protects itself; the piece will weather naturally to give a beautiful organic rich deep brown-red oxide appearance creating an ever changing canvas. The material was chosen as in a subtle way it is interactive, each time you visit the library you will notice a slight change in the surface.

‘Frontispiece’ is a statement on the varied ways in which we communicate, referencing the interests of young and old, ethnic groups and the various user groups of the library, it is a reflection of the diversity to be found in the people of Chester Hill.

The written language commenced in the Middle East about 5,500 years with invention of cuneiform. Cuneiform was based upon pictograms; pictograms were stylized versions of images of the natural world first recorded 30,000 – 60,000 years ago depending on what part of the world you look.

The sharing of information has changed our world and defined our civilisation. Libraries continue the sharing of information and knowledge to local communities and in ‘Frontispiece’ we have portrayed this through a timeline.

Our timeline begins with the first recorded form of communication and then progresses through the ages, highlighting events or occurrences that many experts regard of great importance. All these have good arguments for and against their inclusion in the work, our selection has been based upon our own research and BBC Radio 4 program ‘The Written World’ by Melvin Bragg, a 5 part series documenting the history of writing, encapsulating contemporary thought on the subject.

We culminate with technology, the new way of sharing information and knowledge represented by the QR code. This code links to Councils website and displays relevant information related to the screens.

A key feature is the musical language, a piece which an artist has composed specifically for this project, this screen has its own QR code which links to Council’s website where the piece can be heard directly through the smart phone.

‘Frontispiece’ is a statement on the varied ways in which we communicate, referencing the interests of young and old, ethnic groups and the various user groups of the library, it is a reflection of the diversity to be found in the people of Chester Hill.

The composer of "Della Libreria" is Shawna O'Neill who retains the copyright and has given the council permission to use on the website.

The artists and fabricators of the ‘Frontispiece’ are:   

  • Peter Day - Environmental Art and Design
  • Fernando Mosca
  • Sandie O'Neill
  • Vivien Tagalakis
  • RCR Laser
  • Crawford's Casting
  • Rollco
  • Stripco

No

Title

Description

Material

1

Primitive Non Verbal

Australian Aboriginal cave painting, Cuneiform, Hieroglyphics

Corten steel

2

Gutenburg Bible

First printed book

Corten steel

3

Cartography

Early map of Australia

Corten steel

4

Literature

The Tempest - William Shakespeare

Corten steel

5

Scientific Method

Opticks - Sir Isaac Newton

Stainless Steel

6

Other Languages

Della Libreria – Shawna O’Neill, Braille

Corten steel

7

Documentation

Sir Joseph Banks

Corten steel

8

Multi Lingual

Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star

Corten steel

9

Chester Hill Writers Group

Anthology

Corten steel

10

Nobel Laureate

Patrick White – The Vivisector

Stainless Steel

Serv​​ices

P​ro​​grams​

Available online only

​Location​

12 Chester Hill Road, Chester Hill NSW 2162 ​​

The City of Canterbury Bankstown acknowledges the traditional custodians of the land, water and skies of Canterbury-Bankstown, the Darug (Darag, Dharug, Daruk, Dharuk) People. We recognise and respect Darug cultural heritage, beliefs and relationship with the land. We acknowledge the First Peoples’ continuing importance to our CBCity community.