About Cummings Park (Ngaio) Library
Our Library and Community
Ngaio is one of the northern suburbs of Wellington, situated among hills and native trees, with glimpses of the Wellington Harbour. The area was settled during the first European settlement of Wellington, and retains many treasures of the past.
Our library, a branch library within the Wellington City Libraries network, is situated at the entrance to Cummings Park and has native trees as a backdrop.
It is very close to the railway station, as well as being on a busy link route. The neighbouring car park makes access to the Library relatively easy and safe. The present building was opened in November, 1989.
The park setting and the neighbouring Town Hall give the Library and the area in general a community centre focus. In the building the community focus has been enhanced by the 850 tiles at the entrance. These tiles were made by two local potters, Paul Winspear and Paul Wotherspoon who worked with children from Ngaio and Chartwell Schools in the Town Hall to design them.
"Ngaio Triptych", a fabric impression of Ngaio by Toni Gernert, is installed above the enquiries desk and is much appreciated by all who see it. Three panels, each 800mm by 2400mm, are fashioned from pieces of manipulated fabric which, with fibre threads and unusual machine stitching, are applied to a canvas background and framed. The artist's commentary is framed for all to share and to enhance appreciation of this unique artwork.
Local pre-school and primary school groups as well as families are regular Library users throughout the school term. All classes from Ngaio School visit the Library three times a term, and visits to Chartwell and Cardinal McKeefry Schools are scheduled. Creche, kindergartens and the kohanga reo (language nest or Maori pre-school) are all regular library users. Twice each week, we run Pre-School Story Times at the Library which are popular with families with young children.
Our Library Team
Our Library team members have many interests, including:
If you think we can be of help to you, then please contact us
Reading
Children and children's literature
Food
Languages
Local history and genealogy
CraftJazz
Horticulture
Art
Economics
Graphic novels
Services We Offer
Photocopying
We have a black and white photocopier that can do both A4 (20 cents per copy) and A3 (40 cents) copies. It is coin-box operated, but we are able to give change.
Free and paid Internet computers
We have a computer offering free access to pre-selected Internet sites, but if you want to use the Internet for email or other general searching, we have a paid Internet computer available for $3 for half an hour ($1.50 for 15 minutes) plus a 20 cents per page printing charge. Our "free internet" computers offer free access to websites we think are useful for information or research. These include websites such as online newspapers, government websites, most NZ websites, the websites recommended in our Kids Catalogues and many more.
Fax machine
We have a fax machine available. There is a $4 base charge for all faxes, plus per page charges for National and International faxes ($1.50 per page for National faxes, $6 per page for International faxes).
Rates payments
Wellington City Council rates and payments can be posted in the red box in the library foyer.
Our Collection
We serve the residents of Ngaio as well as the neighbouring suburbs of Chartwell, Crofton Downs, Wilton, Khandallah and Broadmeadows. All age groups are catered for, from babies to our senior citizens, with varied collections available to all, including books written in the Maori language and some recorded Maori language and music resources.
Special Collections
A special grant, awarded in 1990 to mark the 150th anniversary of the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi, enabled the establishment of a local Oral History Collection. This captures memories of local personalities as a permanent record of the Ngaio area.
