News Blog @ Wellington City Libraries

The latest New Zealand recent picks include a short history of sheep, memorable moments in New Zealand sport, and in time for any holiday travelling: a small epic journey down State Highway 1, plus holiday homes and baches to rent.

New to our YA CD collection – art metal from Isis, electro pop from Gwen Stefani, melodic songwriting from Fall Out Boy , urban music from the soundtrack of Dave Chappelle’s Block Party and more. New to our YA DVD collection – Flight of the albatross, Pirates of the Caribbean: dead man’s chest, She’s the man, Pop star and more. Check out our CD and DVD Hype page for details.

We have Christmas music on CD and DVD, including ‘The Baroque Christmas album’, ‘The three tenors: Christmas’, Bach’s ‘Christmas Oratorio’ (BWV 248), and ‘The Nutcracker Suite (Shchelkunchik)’ by Tchaikovsky. We also have scores for carols and instrumental classical music. More information is available on our Classical Christmas music page.

Remember to check our Christmas & New Year holiday hours. Children’s holiday programmes are on this week in our libraries – come along for Christmas storytimes and crafts.

At discounted prices. Come into Central to pick up some bargains – magazines 20c and fiction $1.

“Music Ad Lib”, hosted by our own library staff music enthusiasts, airs monthly on Access Radio 783 AM, at 4.30pm for 30 minutes. Our December 30th show will feature country-americana-alt.country-american-folk-roots whatever you want to call it (more info).

Our science page has a feature on the National Library’s digitisation of the fascinating Transactions and Proceedings of the Royal Society of New Zealand 1868-1961. ‘Transactions’ features a wealth of New Zealand zoological, botanical and geological information. As well as the full text, you can also browse the picture gallery full of fossils, botanical illustrations and more.

Our latest biography picks include books about Helen of Troy, Gordon Ramsay, and Irina Baronova (one of the ‘Three baby ballerinas’ featured in the documentary Ballet Russes). ‘Romancing Spain: a memoir’ is a love story. ‘Nabeel’s song’ by Jo Tatchell is the story of the Yasin family who opposed Saddam Hussein’s Ba’athist regime.

Hidden beliefs in Shakespeare’s works, the pleasures of the novel and the secrets of bestselling author Janet Evanovich are amnog our literature recent picks. We have new ‘dummies’ books on Jane Austen and technical writing, plus ‘Writing your first novel’ by John Reynolds, for aspiring NZ writers.

Our new graphics books look at harmonious use of colour, knowing the needs of your clients, anime techniques, the poster and more.