Auckland Libraries blog

Finish your stack of books with the help of our new auto-renewal function! Kick back, keep reading and we'll take care of things for you! From 30 July 2020, we'll automatically renew most unreturned items on your library account for another 28 days. Read on for what you need to know about this new feature.  What you need to know about auto-renewal Your first renewal will now happen automatically unless the item has been requested by another customer. Auto-renewals apply from the due date of the item - ensuring you have another full 28-day loan. Most library items can be renewed twice unless requested by another customer. You must manually renew your item before the due date if you would like to renew it a second time without accruing overdue charges. If the item has been requested by another customer, you will not be able to renew the item. You can renew your own items in your library account online, in the Auckland Libraries app, or with the assistance of our librarians. Some

For the busy, on-the-go, 'just popping in' or adventurous reader, Ready-to-go Reads is a new way to get your book fix, fast! Ready-to-Go Reads book packs are the perfect pick-me-up for yourself, friends and whānau of all ages.  It's simple - our librarians will choose five great books from your favourite genres and bag them up. You drop by with your library card, grab your bag, use the self-checkout and you’re ready to go! Choose from a selection of prepacked Ready-to-Go Reads book packs during your visit, or visit our website to order a pack online . We’ll send you an email when your Ready-to-Go Reads book pack is ready to collect from your local library. Don't want a lucky dip? You can still browse our catalogue and place a request if you're wanting a particular read. Read on for how to click and collect a request. Click and collect Place a request for the hottest new blockbuster or the upcoming book in your favourite series to ensure your place in the reading qu

With libraries closed and Aotearoa in lockdown over the last 8 weeks, many Aucklanders turned to our eCollections and online resources to read, watch and learn while staying safe at home. A whopping 498,287 eBooks and eAudiobooks were issued, and we welcomed 3,772 new members to the Auckland Libraries whānau. Our staff were also getting busy, making over 15,000 calls to members of Auckland's over 70s community and offering support in these difficult times.  Many of our heritage collections staff spent time transcribing nineteenth-century letters in the collections , making them more accessible for keyword searching. Our Stay Connected series on Instagram , Facebook and Twitter saw Aucklanders share with us (and each other!) their stories, whakapapa, lockdown lives and more. We also got creative and started offering our popular events and programmes online. With musical performances, craft activities, storytimes, webinars, virtual bookclubs and knitting groups, it’s been amazing

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 a

Auckland Libraries loan periods for books, DVDs and magazines will change temporarily over the summer holidays. From Saturday 23 November 2019 you will be able to check out certain items for a longer period of time to accommodate reduced hours during the summer holiday period. Loan rules for Nov 2019 - Jan 2020 From 23 November - 28 day loans become 42 day loans  From 7 December - 14 day loans become 28 day loans  From 4 January - 28 day loans go back to normal  From 11 January - 14 day loans go back to normal 

Auckland Libraries are collecting food donations for the Auckland City Mission from 24 September - 8 October. The Auckland City Mission is seeking food donations to ensure their holiday food parcels can be delivered to Aucklanders in need. Auckland Libraries are supporting the food appeal by providing local drop-off points at 55 locations in communities across Tāmaki Makaurau. How you can help Drop off your donations of non-perishable food in the collection boxes during opening hours at any of our 55 Auckland Libraries . The following food items are especially helpful: Canned meat, fish, tomatoes, corn, beans, fruit salad Rice, pasta, biscuits, peanut butter, jam Tea, coffee and long-life milk. Donations are also accepted at the Mission Distribution Centre, 15 Auburn St, Grafton, between 9am and 3pm Monday - Saturday. For large donations, get in touch with the Mission at  distribution@aucklandcitymission.org.nz  or call them on 09 377 4322. Find out more about the Au

Help shape the services and activities our new $21 million Avondale Library and Community Centre will offer, which will, in turn, inform the design process and types of spaces that are available! Whau Local Board Chair, Tracy Mulholland, says that it is important for the Avondale community to have their say. "This facility will be at the heart of the Avondale community, and we want to know how people want to use it. "Over the years the community has told us about the types of things they want to see there, but now is the time to help us build on that feedback with the design process about to begin. "It is really important to us that the connection between the community and this new facility is strong, so we want to hear from as many people as possible during the consultation so that the final facility is well used and enjoyed by everyone." Have your say! Consultation is open now until 26 April and there are a number of ways to contribute your feedback:

Massey Library will close at 4pm on Sunday 17 February and re-open with reduced hours and reduced services in anticipation of the opening of our new library and community centre, Te Manawa in late March. Transitioning from the existing Massey Library to Te Manawa is a complex task and we know for a short time it may be inconvenient. We thank you for your patience and can’t wait to share Te Manawa with you on Tuesday 26 March. Read on for the answers to some frequently asked questions about the Massey Library closure and about our new library and community centre, Te Manawa. Why is Massey Library closing? The closure of Massey Library and the opening of our new library and community centre, Te Manawa, has been in the works for well over a decade. It is a legacy project that was committed to by the former Waitākere City Council and passed to the new Auckland Council in 2010. While the Massey Library will be closing in its present building, it will be re-opening as part

Massey Library will close at 4pm on Sunday 17 February and re-open with reduced hours and reduced services in anticipation of the opening of our new library and community centre, Te Manawa in late March. Massey Library will be closed from Monday 18 February - Sunday 24 February, inclusive. The library will then re-open for four weeks with reduced hours as follows: Monday 25 February – Thursday 28 February, 10.00am – 3.00pm Monday 4 March  – Thursday 7 March, 10.00am – 3.00pm Monday 11 March – Thursday 14 March, 10.00am – 3.00pm Monday 18 March – Thursday 21 March, 10.00am – 3.00pm Massey Library will then be closed permanently from 3pm Thursday 21 March. Reduced services will be as follows: Request pick-up and return drop-off only No Internet access or printing facilities For a full range of services nearby, Kumeū Library , Waitākere Central (Henderson) Library , Rānui Library , and Te Atatū Peninsula Library will be open regular hours. Our new library and comm

All our libraries will be closed for Auckland Anniversary Day and Waitangi Day,  with the exception of Botany Library . Auckland Anniversary Day All libraries will be closed on Monday 28 January for Auckland Anniversary Day, with the exception of Botany Library Botany Library will be open 10am - 5.30pm Mobile Libraries will not operate Waitangi Day All libraries will be closed on Wednesday 6 February for Waitangi Day, with the exception of Botany Library Botany Library will be open 9.30am - 5.30pm Mobile Libraries will not operate Looking for information or a relaxing read? Our online resources will be available 24/7, as usual. Find out more about our eBooks, eAudiobooks, eNewspapers and eMagazines

Auckland Libraries loan periods for books, DVDs and magazines will change over the summer holidays. From Saturday 24 November you will be able to check out certain items for a longer period of time to accommodate reduced hours during the Christmas holiday period. These changes will continue to roll out in December. Loan rules for Nov 2018 - Jan 2019 From 24 November - 28 day loans become 42 day loans  From 8 December - 14 day loans become 28 day loans  From 5 January - 28 day loans go back to normal  From 12 January - 14 day loans go back to normal 

Our We Love Feedback survey is now updated and better than ever. Our expanded survey aims to collect customer feedback covering many specific aspects of your experience at Auckland Libraries. We want to hear your feedback on staff service, library spaces, our collections, online spaces and much more. You may receive an invitation in your email, or you can head to our website and click the We Love Feedback link  at the bottom. We always love your feedback!

Auckland Libraries' Reading Between the Wines  brings together bars, books and bookworms from all across T ā maki Makaurau.  On the first Thursday of each month, awesome librarians will meet you at a different venue around Auckland, with over 40 books for you to browse through.  Community Librarian Laura Caygill recently spoke to  Jesse Mulligan on Radio New Zealand  about the history of Reading Between the Wines , the upcoming session this Thursday 6 September, and our exciting plans to branch out onto the North Shore in October. You can listen to the RNZ segment here. This Thursday 6 September, Reading Between the Wines will take place at The Conservatory on the Viaduct. Don't worry if you're not a member of the libraries, you can join up on the night! Enjoy a glass of wine or two and meet like-minded people, whilst searching for your next favourite read.  Keep up to date with the latest Reading Between the Wines news by following  their Facebook page . 

  Auckland Libraries, together with Spark Foundation, are helping to provide stress-free internet access to households without a broadband connection. Auckland Libraries has recently become a local partner for Skinny Jump , a programme that provides access to modems and a subsidised prepaid wireless internet connection. It is available to anyone who does not have a broadband connection at home because cost is a barrier. "We already provide access to free WiFi and public computers within our libraries, but we know internet access at home is a much more effective way to address digital inclusion. "Helping to bridge the digital divide is incredibly important to Auckland Libraries, which is why we jumped at the chance to get involved with this programme" says Digital Solutions Lead, Philip Miles . Skinny Jump participating libraries Albany Village Library Avondale Library Botany Library Central City Library Epsom Library Glen Eden Library Glenfield Library Glen

Caption: Image 1: Mr George George - MC for Cook Islands Stage Polyfest 2018, Manukau Sports Bowl Turou! Oro mai! Auckland Libraries is celebrating Te Epetoma o te reo Māori Kūki ‘Āirani Cook Islands Language Week from 29 July - 4 August 2018. The language week is a special opportunity for Cook Islanders living in New Zealand to acknowledge, celebrate and embrace Cook Islands culture, history, customs and, most importantly, language. Auckland is the largest Pacific city in the world with just over 35,000 people who identify as being Cook Islanders living in Tāmaki Makaurau. Auckland Libraries is delighted to connect with our Cook Islands community and celebrate the pearl of the Pacific. Kiaorana e Kia Manuia! Events O Moana Nui performing Arts Group Drummers, Turou Korero Mai exhibition opening - Corbans Estate Art Gallery 2017 Discover the stories, music and dance of the Cook Islands at Storytime sessions for kids , arts and crafts workshops or visit Central City

Checkouts from Auckland Libraries main digital reading platform, OverDrive, reached five million this month, making us some of the biggest digital library borrowers in the world! The lucky five millionth checkout was Spain and Portugal's best trips by Lonely Planet . Our library system is one of the fastest-growing in the world since launching in late 2007. Auckland Libraries have made especially great strides with our digital collection and have set records within the last two years. In 2016, we were one of 17 libraries worldwide and the only library system in the Southern Hemisphere that circulated one million digital books for the first time. We built on this success in 2017 with 30% circulation growth, remaining the only library system in the Southern Hemisphere to achieve one million checkouts annually. We are on pace to set another record in 2018, and have already contributed greatly to the one billion checkouts achieved across the OverDrive network earlier this y

We're excited to have our first standalone reference collection of Auckland fiction at Research Central , Level 2, Central City Library. Fiction lovers can browse the Kōrero paki nō Aotearoa/Local Fiction Collection seven days a week, and visitors to the city can find a pathway into our culture through our stories. Whilst focusing on Auckland fiction, the collection also includes work from wider New Zealand with an emphasis on Māori, Pacific and Asian NZ writers. Local gems include short story writer O.E. Middleton's 1972 collection The Loners – with each story beautifully illustrated by celebrated artist Ralph Hotere. We also have a complete set of the New Women’s Fiction anthologies first published in Auckland in the 1980s. These were important counters to the lack of publishing opportunities for women writers in literary journals and major anthologies at that time. Aorewa McLeod, Ngahuia Te Awekotuku and Vivienne Plumb are some of the many voices found in these vo

Checkouts from Auckland Libraries’ main digital reading platform, Overdrive , reached 4 million this month, making us some of the biggest digital library borrowers in the world. Auckland Libraries is now eighth in the world for Overdrive checkouts and one of only two libraries outside of the United States to hit 4 million checkouts. We join Toronto Public Library, New York Public Library, Los Angeles Public Library, King County Library System, Cuyahoga County Public Library, Boston Public Library and National Library Board Singapore in the 4 million club. Since November 2013, over 78,800 people have checked out at least one eBook from Auckland Libraries' Overdrive collection and this figure continues to grow, hitting an average of 27,543 eBooks borrowed per week this November. Catherine Frew, Auckland Libraries Head of Content and Access, is delighted to see Aucklanders' eBook borrowing grow and attributes this to Auckland Libraries’ innovative approach to their digit

​With approximately 20,000 visitors per day to our website, it's important that we deliver a digital experience that meets the growing needs of library customers.  We've put insights from customers at the heart of our website. Using your feedback, we've created a simplified and intuitive web experience that makes it easy to access the library catalogue, eBooks and magazines, major databases and heritage resources, as well as find out what’s happening at your community library. We encourage you to take a look around our new website and tell us what you think using the feedback options at the bottom of each page. Visit our new website now and find out more about our vision for the site .

The Library Connect team is the virtual team providing customer service to those who access library services without coming into a physical library.  The need for the service was highlighted when 70% of customer research participants stated their preference for managing enquiries remotely. The Library Connect team are Alison (pictured above), Meenu, Abi, Epi, and Jo. Their collective 100 years of library experience enable them to answer a huge range of enquiries every day.  They bring a wealth of library knowledge and experience from across the region. Each week they answer around 1000 calls and 400 emails. Their recent enquiries include: finding book titles using only descriptions of the cover and the plot of a book; introducing customers to the vast range of magazines available free from RBDigital eMagazines; talking customers through registering for Lynda.com to provide them with the opportunity to study from home; helping customers become confident users of their