Auckland Libraries blog

Have you ever imagined seeing your own story in a book? This is now a reality for adult learners at Literacy Waitākere! Auckland Council Libraries, in partnership with Literacy Waitākere , is proud to present three new titles in the series "Stories of our Lives: Tō Mātou Ao, A Mātou Pūrākau". These short, heartfelt books were written by adult learners themselves, right here in Tāmaki Makaurau. About the new books From Bamyan to Auckland by H. Dawlatyar H. Dawlatyar writes about his experience of living in the Bamyan Province, Afghanistan, and the journey his wife and six children took to New Zealand in 2022. Extraordinary by Vi'ia Tovia Su'a Lupo Vi'ia was born in Aotearoa New Zealand and is proud to be of Samoan and European heritage. She was born with cerebral palsy but doesn't let it define her. She has gained qualifications in tourism and continues to work towards achieving her goals. The River by MJT MJT recounts experiences growing up in Ngāruawāhia,

Due to maintenance, our online library services will be unavailable on: 10pm Wednesday 3 September to 5am Thursday 4 September. The outages will include searching for library items in the library catalogue, logging in and managing your account, paying online and joining the library.   The outages will also affect our eCollections platforms, the Auckland Libraries app and our eLearning resources. Our apologies for this inconvenience.

Our family history librarians love to help people solve mysteries about their ancestors! For better or worse, you never know what you might find when you start digging into the past. Uncovering family secrets might seem scary, but the rewards far outweigh the risks. Enjoy these stories that illustrate the good that can be done when our research resources and expertise are deployed to uncover family stories and bring people back together. Family history success stories  Tracking down family in a foreign land Determined to find information about her New Zealand birth father, in 2017, a woman flew from her home in Japan to Auckland and asked the team at Tāmaki Pātaka Kōrero Central City Library for help. Her father served in J Force – the New Zealand force that took part in the occupation of Japan at the end of WWII. With only a few names and photographs to work from, Seonaid (Senior Family History Librarian), Miyuki (Senior Library Assistant) and other staff, with assistance from Aucklan