Auckland Libraries blog

Join Karen and Louisa on Books and Beyond this week, to explore works from some of New Zealand's finest Pasifika writers.  Listen to this week's episode on  PlanetFM's website  and read on for all the books mentioned in the show. A celebration of Pacific literature: Slavers in Paradise by Henry Evan Maude The Adventures of Vela by Albert Wendt Tupaia: The remarkable story of Captain Cook's Polynesian navigator by Joan Druett The sea! The sea! by Peter Jay Mātini by Rachel Reeves   Auckland Libraries' new radio show Books and Beyond explores the world of books with guest authors, recommended reads, gems from the Central City Library basement and... beyond.  Catch us on Planet FM104.6, Sundays at 9.35pm. Recent shows can be listened to via the Auckland Libraries podcast .

On this week's Books and Beyond, Louisa is joined by Keven Mealamu to discuss children's books, illustrations and the All Blacks.  Listen to this episode on the Auckland Libraries podcast  and read on for all the books mentioned in the show. Keven Mealamu - from All Black to illustrator: Paul and the Magic Pencil by John Parker Home Sweet Home by Josephine Sim And Keven's own recommendation: Iceman: the Michael Jones story by Robin McConnell Auckland Libraries' new radio show Books and Beyond explores the world of books with guest authors, recommended reads, gems from the Central City Library basement and... beyond.  Catch us on Planet FM104.6, Sundays at 9.35pm. Listen to recent shows via the Auckland Libraries podcast .

This week on Books and Beyond, Anton Blank discusses his new book Global Roaming , a collection of short stories that focus on the journey of identity.  Listen to this episode on the Auckland Libraries podcast. Auckland Libraries' radio show Books and Beyond explores the world of books with guest authors, recommended reads, gems from the Central City Library basement and... beyond.  Catch us on Planet FM 104.6, Sundays at 9.35pm. Listen to recent shows via the Auckland Libraries podcast .

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 .

Dr Majid Daneshgar from the University of Otago is the winner of this year's Auckland Library Heritage Trust scholarship 2016/17.  Dr Majid Daneshgar This is a scholarship awarded annually by the Trust to fund research into collections held in the Sir George Grey Special Collections at Auckland Libraries. Dr Daneshgar is preparing a catalogue of Middle Eastern manuscripts in Auckland Libraries. These include Arabic, Persian and Ottoman Turkish works collected by Sir George Grey and Henry Shaw. Dr Daneshgar reads in Urdu, Persian, Arabic, Ottoman Turk, and Malay (Jawi), and is in the process of completing a census of Middle Eastern and Islamic manuscripts in New Zealand. Libraries and archives that Dr Daneshgar has worked through in search of materials include the Turnbull Library, the Sir George Grey Special Collections at Auckland Central City Library, the Heritage Collection in Dunedin Public Library, and Special Collections at Otago University. A 19th centur...