The sweet sound of success at Central Library's music month storytime

A string quartet is more at home performing as part of Central City Library's Thursday Lunchtime concert series events than a children's storytime. But a bright idea from staff saw a regular Saturday programme turned into a celebration of song, story and dance for the central library's youngest customers.

Part of May's New Zealand Music Month festivities, the event was the brain child of Music Library Assistant Owen Gordon. Together with musicians Ainsley Murray, Kate Walshe and Ginny Hopkins who generously loaned their time and skills for free, the quartet incorporated music into every facet of the progamme, including the regular welcome song. They also provided special sound effects to stories The Toymaker and the Violin by Pamela Allen, and Willbee the Bumblebee by Craig Smith, The quartet particularly shone between stories with dance breaks, getting the whole audience on their feet.

Partnering for success: Auckland War Memorial Museum + Auckland Libraries

One of the biggest philosophical dilemmas facing libraries today is: how do we make our heritage collections accessible to the public while also protecting them for future generations? 

Kids are given the chance to directly interact with taonga from
Auckland War Memorial Museum at their local library. 

This problem is also faced by museums, art galleries and myriad other public institutions, and historically the answer has been to err on the side of keeping our taonga under lock and key, rather than placing them in the hands of the people.

However, this could all be changing with the implementation of the collaboration between Auckland Libraries and Auckland War Memorial Museum (AWMM).

As part of Pacific Language Weeks 2013, Auckland Libraries piloted a programme in partnership with the AWMM that saw staff from the museum bringing historic artefacts to libraries to deliver interactive storytimes and workshops on Māori and Pacific arts.

“Focus area 4: Priority- Work in partnership with Pacific people to develop programmes that are culturally relevant” - Te Kauroa.   

After evaluation of the 2013 programme, it was decided to extend the workshops and make them available to all 55 library branches throughout the year. Every library in Auckland was given the opportunity to participate and a toolkit of resources was made available to librarians who were interested in partnering with museum staff to deliver a workshop.

Onehunga librarian opens a door into Kiwi life for Chinese Aucklanders

Mandarin-speaking residents of the Onehunga area have seized the opportunity to gain confidence in using local services thanks to a new initiative at their library.

The Onehunga Library Anju Chinese club.

Onehunga Library’s Anju Chinese club started in August 2013 thanks to librarian Annie Cui.

"We decided to develop a programme around our service offer to the growing Chinese community in Onehunga," Annie says.

"My initial thought was around promoting the Chinese collections and e-Resources relevant to Chinese customers. But upon discussions with some of the Chinese community members, this focus quickly changed.

"The Chinese community, mainly elderly, wanted not only to connect with the library, but also to learn basic daily English so they can connect better with the local community and contribute."

Youth Gaming Club a huge success for Manukau Library

Big screens, Xboxes and teens whooping it up: it’s not your traditional library vignette but the scene you’ll find every second Sunday afternoon at Manukau Library.

The Youth Gaming Club was immediately
popular

That’s when the Youth Gaming Club meets. This event is the brainchild of Library Assistant Joseph Tarrant who, as a heavy gamer himself, understood gaming was a great way to break the ice with youth and encourage them into the library space.

“I began the event in September last year with the intention to make a time just for teens, where they can relax, enjoy the library and play some games with their friends. The event is informal and held in the Youth section itself. It helps our young people claim the section as their own and it’s awesome to see our youth enjoying themselves in a safe environment,” Joseph said.

The club has proven to be instantly popular, with around 10-15 young people taking part each session. Joseph said he constantly sees new faces each month, including the first girl gamers recently joining the fold. While the number of attendees means there is some wait time for everyone to have a turn, this hasn’t been an issue so far.

“I’ve seen with the youth that have been coming to play that they really enjoy playing in a group, because if they aren’t playing themselves, they can still cheer their mates on,” he said.