About Mervyn Kemp (Tawa) Library
Our library and community
Mervyn Kemp Tawa library is the northernmost branch of the Wellington City Libraries network. Borrowers come from areas around Tawa such as Linden, Grenada North and Redwood. There are also many rental borrowers from the Porirua and Kapiti areas. On average we serve around 2500 customers per week. This includes many pre-school and primary school children.
The first library in Tawa was opened in August 1964 and was built by volunteer labour. It was only a temporary library; but a replacement was opened on the Main Road in October 1974. This Library was named after Tawa Mayor Mervyn Kemp. The Tawa Wall Hanging in the library depicts aspects of the Tawa Valley area. Several oil paintings also hang on the walls.
Near to the library there is an indoor swimming pool, a reasonably sized shopping centre, a medical centre, and a Wellington City Council Service Centre. Situated on the main street of Tawa, the library is on the bus route and there is a train station close by.
Services we offer
Apart from regular library services such as answering enquiries, issuing and returning library items, the library is a pick-up and drop-off point for housebound items, where library items are collected by a designated person for elderly or incapacitated borrowers. Mervyn Kemp Library also holds popular preschool storytimes, holiday programmes, and Tea and Tales sessions for seniors - for more details of these see our What's On page.
Internet access is available via two services:
- free access to selected sites including reference websites and newspapers online, plus New Zealand government and local organisation websites.
- email, search engines (eg. Google) and other general Internet access is available via the "paid internet service''. Minimum access time is 15 minutes ($1.50), with 30 minute and 45 minute time codes also available for purchase. If you do not use all of your time during a session at the computer, you can use up the remaining minutes at any WCL branch within the code's validity (usually 30 days).
Apart from offering library services, customers can also buy Wellington City Council rubbish bags, daily or monthly parking coupons and recycling bins.
Our collection
Mervyn Kemp Library has about 24,000 items in its collection.
