Library of the issue
This column features libraries from around New Zealand and the Pacific. This is a place to proudly share your libraries and whare taonga. What is special about your building or spaces, your communities, and your staff? What initiatives, programmes or services will our readers be keen to learn about?
If you are interested in having your library featured get in touch.
If you are interested in having your library featured get in touch.
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Infofind, the Radio New Zealand (RNZ) Library, can be found on the Terrace in central Wellington. It sits among the producers and presenters for RNZ National and RNZ Concert. These content makers call on Infofind for research into all manner of topics and issues. Infofind librarian Melanie Stassen tells Te Rau Ora Library Life about this unique special library. Read more here. |
Before Te Pātāka Kōrero o Puketāpapa Mt Roskill Library and the neighbouring Fickling Convention Centre opened to the public in 1977, there were plans to develop the site into a theme park. Fortunately, plans were paused on the rollercoasters and merry-go-rounds. Almost half a century later, the library is an essential seven-day-a-week community facility, with services, collections and events designed for one of the most culturally diverse local board areas in Aotearoa.
Read more here.
St Patrick’s College Library is a school library catering to 700+ boys. In March 2024, it opened the doors to a brand-new purpose-built space that brought the library into the heart of the school. The vision of the new learning hub building was to take the school from a classic example of brutalist architecture that almost dared anyone to come beyond the gate to something made of glass and light, allowing the community to feel part of the school.
Read more here.
Northland Region Corrections Facility (NRCF) based in the rural Kaikohe district, is one of four prisons opened between 2005 and 2007. In 2005, Kaikohe Library was contracted to set up and run the prison library. The library was later run by volunteers and overseen by the librarian from Auckland prison, who visited regularly. Sherril McNabb began her employment at NRCF in 2013 when they employed a qualified librarian.
Read about this library here.
Northland Region Corrections Facility (NRCF) based in the rural Kaikohe district, is one of four prisons opened between 2005 and 2007. In 2005, Kaikohe Library was contracted to set up and run the prison library. The library was later run by volunteers and overseen by the librarian from Auckland prison, who visited regularly. Sherril McNabb began her employment at NRCF in 2013 when they employed a qualified librarian.
Read about this library here.
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Rangitīkei District Libraries are located in the southwest of the North Island. If you have travelled through the North Island via State Highway 1 or 3, you will probably have travelled through the towns of Hunterville, Taihape, Bulls or maybe Marton. Or, you may have attended our unique events, such as the Turakina Highland Games, Gumboot Day in Taihape, the celebrations at Rātana Pā, the Shepherds’ Shemozzle in Hunterville, or rafted down the beautiful Rangitīkei River. Situated in a picturesque area with easy access to the mountains and sea, read about these libraries here. |
Te Whare Wānanga o Awanuiārangi translates to ‘the house of learning of Awanuiārangi’ and is situated in Whakatane in the Bay of Plenty. As an academic institution established by Ngāti Awa, it was opened in 1992. Te Whare Wānanga o Awanuiārangi Library is unique in its tikanga, collections and community of users.
Find out more about it here.
Ten years in the making Te Kahu o Waipuna opened its doors to the public on May 12, 2023. Te Kahu o Waipuna is in the heart of the Blenheim CBD and has been an overwhelming success in its first seven weeks of opening.
The building cost $20 million. In 2020 the Government announced a three-billion-dollar shovel-ready fund and Te Kahu o Waipuna Marlborough Art Gallery and Library received $11 million from this fund.
Learn more about Te Kahu o Waipuna.
Through Toi Whakaari New Zealand Drama School, the Nola Millar Library helps support performers, designers, and craftspeople in Aotearoa New Zealand. Named after the first director, the library provides access to its unique collection to current staff and students as well as graduates and the wider performing arts community who can become library members for a yearly fee.
Find out more about Nola Millar Library here.
Hocken Collections Uare Taoka o Hākena at the University of Otago is one of Aotearoa New Zealand’s foremost research libraries, galleries and archives. Established in 1910, it documents life and culture in New Zealand and the Pacific, with strong holdings on Te Waipounamu, particularly Otago and Southland. These include collections of importance for Māori and for Kāi Tahu. There are teaching, learning and engagement resources for Otago University academics and students and the Hocken is a place for all researchers and the wider public to enjoy.
Read more here.
Te Takeretanga o Kura-hau-pō in Levin
A library service that is very much part of the community, Te Takeretanga o Kura-haupō opened ten years ago in a converted supermarket and an extension of the old library. Te Takeretanga o Kura-haupō is the community heart and hub of Levin in the lower North Island. It brings together library services, as well as services and facilities for the community, business, youth, and tourism.
Read more here.
TE MĀTĀPUNA AT TE WĀNANGA ARONUI O TĀMAKI MAKAURAU (AUT)
Te Wānanga Aronui o Tāmaki Makaurau (AUT) became a university in 2000. Built on a proud vocational education foundation and is now Aotearoa New Zealand’s second-largest university. And this year, for the first time, were ranked New Zealand’s second-placed university in the Times Higher Education (THE) World University Rankings 2023. The library is, therefore, the youngest academic library in Aotearoa New Zealand. We have three branches across Tāmaki Makaurau – Waihorotiu, Akoranga and Manukau, ensuring students have access to welcoming study spaces with literature relevant to their courses on their campus.
Read more here.
Te Wānanga Aronui o Tāmaki Makaurau (AUT) became a university in 2000. Built on a proud vocational education foundation and is now Aotearoa New Zealand’s second-largest university. And this year, for the first time, were ranked New Zealand’s second-placed university in the Times Higher Education (THE) World University Rankings 2023. The library is, therefore, the youngest academic library in Aotearoa New Zealand. We have three branches across Tāmaki Makaurau – Waihorotiu, Akoranga and Manukau, ensuring students have access to welcoming study spaces with literature relevant to their courses on their campus.
Read more here.
Tupu Youth Library
Tupu Youth Library is based at Clover Park in Ōtara, Manukau City. The library turned 21 in August. Located close to local schools, its establishment was highly fought for by the community so tamariki and rangatahi would have a space outside of school and home, to grow and learn. It’s the only youth library in Australasia.
Read about this library here.
Te Aka Mauri-Rotorua Library
“This place saved my life over the last three years”. Words like these confirm we are making a difference to the well-being of the Rotorua community. They were spoken by a young migrant woman whose husband and young son were still in India. She lived in a hostel room while studying for a degree and Te Aka Mauri provided a sense of home during their three-year separation. She spoke the above words to a woman in her late 60s who had brought her husband to participate in his weekly Dementia Reading Group. These two women built a friendship while at Te Aka Mauri, one that helped them both with the loneliness and isolation that comes from having your nearest and dearest overseas or in a declining state of health.
Read about Te Aka Mauri here.
“This place saved my life over the last three years”. Words like these confirm we are making a difference to the well-being of the Rotorua community. They were spoken by a young migrant woman whose husband and young son were still in India. She lived in a hostel room while studying for a degree and Te Aka Mauri provided a sense of home during their three-year separation. She spoke the above words to a woman in her late 60s who had brought her husband to participate in his weekly Dementia Reading Group. These two women built a friendship while at Te Aka Mauri, one that helped them both with the loneliness and isolation that comes from having your nearest and dearest overseas or in a declining state of health.
Read about Te Aka Mauri here.
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Buller District Libraries
Buller District has an ageing population of around 10,000 people and stretches across 8,574 square kilometres. Our small library is based in Westport (population 4,500) with a branch library in Reefton (population 1,500). Before the New Zealand Libraries Partnership Programme (NZLPP) funding, our digital literacy support consisted of Stepping UP classes once a year on the DORA bus and minimal one-on-one help for individuals. We knew from our customers that they were feeling left behind, and they wanted to learn how to use digital technology. We needed to help. READ MORE > |
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Te Paataka Koorero o Takaanini - A place to call home A collective dream ten years in the making, Te Paataka Koorero o Takaanini is a reo-rua (bilingual) community hub, a library, and a home away from home nestled in the emergent South Auckland community named for Ihaka Takaanini, paramount chief of Te Ākitai Waiohua. The Hub was officially opened on 27th March 2021 by Auckland Mayor Phil Goff, Papakura Local Board Chair Brent Catchpole and Te Ākitai Waiouhua representative Kathleen Wilson. READ MORE > |
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Victoria University of Wellington Te Herenga Waka Law Library
There’s a lot that is unique about the Victoria University Te Herenga Waka Law Library. The library supports study, teaching and research for the Faculty of Law at Pipitea campus through an extensive range of online and print material. It is one part of the extensive university library situated in what’s known as New Zealand’s largest and grandest wooden building. READ MORE > |
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Rakiura Stewart Island Community Library
People have lived on Stewart Island since the 13th Century, when the Māori named it Rakiura, meaning “Land of the Glowing Skies”. Although the island has a total area of 172 square kilometres (similar in size to Singapore), its 400 inhabitants are concentrated around the township of Oban. The island’s first library, the Stewart Island Athenaeum, opened in 1885. The current library is in the Stewart Island Community Centre which opened in 1999. Kirsten Hicks explains more about New Zealand’s southern-most library. READ MORE > |
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Te Awe Library - Wellington
Te Awe Library is the third and final pop-up library to open in the Wellington CBD following the unexpected closure of the Wellington Central Library Te Matapihi Ki Te Ao Nui in March 2019. The library is located in the Harbour City building running between Panama and Brandon Streets, just off Lambton Quay and opened in July, 2020, delayed slightly by the first COVID lockdown. READ MORE > |
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The New Zealand Comics and Cartoon Archive The New Zealand Cartoon Archive was launched on April 1 1992 as a partnership between the New Zealand Cartoon Archive Trust and the Alexander Turnbull Library. Over the archive’s nearly 30-year history it has managed to collect over 60,000 cartoons, covering a range of social and political events across Aotearoa’s history. In 2005, the Cartoon Archive was fully absorbed into the Alexander Turnbull Library, and the trust was replaced with a Guardian’s committee. Then, in 2019 the Guardian’s announced that they were stepping down, and the library took the opportunity to reconsider the scope of the collection. READ MORE > |
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Te Aka Matua Research Library at the Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa
Did you know Te Papa Tongarewa has a library? The Te Aka Matua Research Library has supported the research output of the museum since 1867. It is classified as a special library but is more akin to an academic library in scope. Te Aka Matua is an integral part of Te Papa’s Knowledge and Information offering, which includes library, archives, records management, media assets, intranet, general enquires via the Te Papa website and more. A team of nine information professionals support this mahi. The library itself is staffed by three full-time librarians. READ MORE > |
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Westland District Library
We are delighted to feature Westland District Library in this issue of Library Life. The library supports a community from Hokitika to Haast, on the lovely West Coast. Library manager, Natasha Morris shares what they do and how the New Zealand Libraries Partnership Funding is making a difference to library services on the Coast. Westland District Library serves a population of 8,640. Half live within commutable distance of the library, and usually (weather permitting, bridges and roads intact, no pandemics etc.), there are a significant number of tourists utilising library services too. READ MORE > |
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Library Displays at Unitec Library
Pacific Language weeks, Matariki, Te Wiki o Te Reo Māori, ANZAC Day, exam/study tips, research symposiums and other events such as Pink Shirt Day and Daffodil Day are some initiatives that were celebrated through library displays at Unitec Library last year. We explored new and different ways to promote our library collection to our staff and students to draw attention to the materials we hold in both our library branches at Te Puna and Waitākere Library. This included both digital and physical collections to inform our staff and students that the library offers more than just books. READ MORE > |