Pride in our Libraries

We chatted to a few members of the Rainbow Working Group at Tāmaki Pātaka Kōrero Central City Library to find out how their mahi is making a difference for Auckland’s diverse communities. 

 We are lucky enough to have a uniquely positioned library in Tāmaki Makaurau, which sits at the heart of our bustling CBD. The Central City Library caters to customers from all walks of life, and the staff that work there are committed to ensuring the library is a place that supports and embraces all customers – especially the local rainbow communities. 

 The Rainbow Working Group at Central City Library has been collaborating closely with the community to find out what we can do to make library experiences fun, safe and engaging but, most importantly, to give a genuine sense of belonging here at Auckland Libraries. 

 We spoke to members Rhion and Rhi about their innovative projects and their experiences being a part of Auckland’s diverse rainbow community.

 

Rhi Lennox: Library Assistant at Tāmaki Pātaka Kōrero|Central City Library

Tell us about your role at Auckland Libraries, and what you do on a day to day basis.

 As part of the Communities team here, I help out with running our library programmes. I co-facilitate a weekly reading group, Reading Revolution, where we read short stories and poetry together and discuss them. 

 A couple of the regular members of this group also come to Monday Movies, another programme we run where we provide a morning tea for the rough sleeping community, followed by a movie in the Whare Wānanga on Level 2 of Central City Library.

 Another part of our team’s work that I’m involved in is going around to local kindies to read stories and sing songs with the kids there - this is one of my favourite parts of the job. I’m also part of the rainbow staff working group here.

 What do you think Auckland Libraries role is when it comes to advocating for rainbow communities?

 I think Libraries, being at the centre of our communities, should make our spaces visibly safe and welcoming for all communities - including the rainbow community. We do this by having fresh queer content on our displays and on our shelves, and by holding regular events for queer and trans* folks. Here at Central, we try to make our library safe and welcoming for rainbow folks all year round, not just during Pride month.

 Tell us about a rainbow communities project you’ve been involved in at Libraries.

 There are a couple of things we’ve done that I’m proud of. Last year, our rainbow staff working group put together an event called Speed Dating for Queer Friendships. This was an event structured like a speed-dating evening, with question cards and queer bingo cards for each person, but with the purpose of making platonic friendships with other queer folks. Just over 50 people came to the event, and several people approached us to ask when we were going to be having another similar event.

 Following in the footsteps of another staff member who had made pronoun badges previously, I also recently ordered enough pronoun badges for all of our frontline staff. So far, I’ve ordered badges reading they/them, she/her, and he/him; as well as some that say she/they and he/they. If staff prefer badges with any pronouns other than these, I can order one-off badges too. As a non-binary person who uses they/them pronouns, it feels really validating to be able to wear a they/them badge on my lanyard at work.

 What projects and events do your team have planned for Pride and 2020?

 For Pride, we have a few events planned. I’m helping to organise an event called Outspoken: A Pride Open Mic Night. This is an after-hours event where queer and trans* folks can come along and share their musical and/or poetic talents in a safe space. You can learn more about this event and sign-up on our website.

 In the future, how do you personally imagine Libraries continuing to advocate for and support rainbow communities?

 A queer reading group is something I’ve wanted to start for a while. I’d also like to actively engage more with our takatāpui community - starting with making pronoun badges for our staff in te reo Māori that fit with te ao Māori! I would like to learn more about takatāpui perspectives and how we can best serve them here.

Rhion Munro: Team Leader of Unique Experiences at Tāmaki Pātaka Kōrero|Central City Library

Tell us about your role at Auckland Libraries, and what you do on a day-to-day basis.

 Kia ora! I’m Rhion Munro. I’m the Team Leader of Unique Experiences at Central City Library and identify as queer. Libraries advocating for the Rainbow community is very dear to my heart. 

 My role means I’m always busy facilitating events, activating library spaces and producing displays that reflect Central City Library's community, highlighting Auckland Libraries unique collections and specialist knowledge, and creating surprising ways to stumble upon our collections, services and experiences.

As my role is very people-focused, it also involves supporting my team, encouraging their skills and new ideas, holding and attending stakeholder meetings in the community, and of course...administration tasks.

What do you think Auckland Libraries role is when it comes to advocating for rainbow communities?

Creating a safe and enjoyable space for the community to gather! The team at Central City Library established that before we could start creating services for our rainbow communities, we needed to know what the local community needed from us. After reaching out we identified some ways we could help, and went about creating services that aimed to foster community connection in a sober and fun environment. 

 We also made some changes in order to guarantee the library as a safe space for Rainbow people. It was essential that we walk the talk and ensure that our rainbow identified staff can be authentic when they come to work too.

Tell us about a rainbow communities project you’ve been involved in.

I’ve helped to run several events at Auckland Libraries and delivered a series of Trans and Gender Diversity 101 workshops, which were in-house staff training sessions on gender diversity and queer topics. So far we’ve run this workshop five times for a total of about 200 staff members.

What projects and events do your team have planned for Pride and 2020?

Central City Library's Pride line up has something for everyone: a special edition of Pro-ject focused on queer/LGBTQIA+/takatāpui creatives, an open mic night, and an organised playdate session for queer families to meet up. This year we have plans for even more events, and we really want to let the community take the lead. We have great spaces, support and guidance for community ideas. We really encourage communities to contact us to discuss how we can collaborate to create tailor-made events and services.

In the future, how do you personally imagine Libraries continuing to advocate for and support rainbow communities?

Creating libraries that feel like home for the queer community.

Pride events at Auckland Libraries

Central City Library

Grey Lynn Library

New Lynn War Memorial Library 

    Whangaparāoa Library


     Find out more about Auckland Libraries Pride events and LGBTIQ collections and resources on our website.

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