News Blog @ Wellington City Libraries

Pirates, puppies, a slimy eel, dancing pukekos, parrots and a big red bus can be found in our latest children’s picture books.

Do you find that sometimes the most popular CDs and DVDs aren’t available at our libraries?  Then ‘Select: Sound & Vision’ – our new collection – is designed to make it easier for you. Titles in this collection can’t be reserved, and have a reduced loan period of 3 days, meaning you find them on the shelf more often.  It’s like a Bestseller collection for CDs and DVDs.

Here’s a sampling of some of the DVD titles: The King of Kong, Taxi to the Dark Side, The Savages, WALL-E… but there are many more too.  CDs include new offerings from Kanye West, David Byrne, Britany Spears, Katy Perry, Bruce Springsteen and the top pick on many Best Of’s last year: TV on the Radio’s Dear Science

You can find more information on our News page.

Second in our series of interviews with our favourite zine producers, we have Bryce Galloway, author of the longest running zine we know of, with one of the longest names: Incredibly Hot Sex With Hideous People. The WCL Zine Collection holds 30 issues, so come check them out on the first floor of the Central Library.

Describe an average day:

Exceptional. It’s all in my zine. Check it out.

How did you first get into zines?

I wanted to promote the release of a CD I’d put out and I wasn’t getting much help from the music press so I figured why not just print something myself.

Describe your work:

My zine work is autobiographical with a penchant for the embarrassing moment and everyday crisis. There’s also a bit of musing on the things that have immediate impact on my life, like parental gender roles and loss of youthful mojo.

What do you like about zines?

I like the immediacy and I like the modesty and pathos of the media. More “substantial” magazines can be so MOR (middle-of-the-road). There’s real personality in zines. The advertising and editorial pressures of the regular press can make for boring reading.

Is there anything you don’t like about zines as a medium?

No. I’m little surprised if a zinester tries to sell their $1’s worth of photocopying for $10 as there’s a bit of an ethic of accessibility which usually equals affordability.

How do you get inspiration for a zine?

I just stare at my navel, or my wife and kids, or my own expectations.

Tell us about some of your favourite zines:

Arlo Heynes is a local twelve-year old comic artist who draws great loopy narratives with titles like The Adventures of Steve and Human Buzz Fly.

Wellington musician Stephen Clover once made a zine called ‘Looking For A Fish-Drying Plant?’ It was so brilliant, he invested so much in it, that he hasn’t made a zine since. I wish he would. In one great piece of journalistic invention he flew around the country posing different dietary requirements like vegan and kosher so he could write airline-food reviews.

Auckland artist/musician Glen Frenzy has made some wonderfully dark tribute CD + zine combos about the late junky musician GG Allen, following those up with a tribute to Billy Joel!!! He inspired my own John Lennon tribute and a Madonna one that I have in the pipeline.

For more info about the WCL Zine Collection, please visit /zines

In our February new graphic novels selection you’ll find the latest in Brian Michael Bendis’s Powers series, plus more from the Gotham City Police Department in Gotham Central: Unresolved Targets. Also in our recent picks this month: Guy Delisle’s Burma Chronicles – “an insightful and illuminating memoir of a year under a totalitarian regime” – and James Kochalka’s acclaimed webcomic American Elf in print form. Plus, Blade of the immortal, an Aliens omnibus, existential horror in Nightmare factory (adapted from a collection of stories by Thomas Ligotti), and much more. Have a look!

Yes, it’s time for new science fiction & fantasy books. There are new titles by Elizabeth Bear, Todd McCaffrey and Justina Robson. Margo Lanagan’s Tender Morsels adapts the story of Snow White and Rose Red. Plus in our selection this month you’ll also find valkyries, cyborgs, heroes, ancient terrors of legend and Celtic warriors. Have a look!

In our selection of new Mystery Fiction this month you’ll find… Wisecracks tossed out like firecrackers; nail-biting danger; high-octane blends of romance, laughs & chills; “pulp” fiction detectives; and fast-talking international burglars. If you love crime fiction, be sure to check out our Mystery Fiction recent picks for February!

Interested in astronomy? 2009 is the International Year of Astronomy and in our Science Recent Picks this month you’ll find several ‘astronomical items’. In A Passion for Mars, discover the red planet. Science journalist Andrew Chialkin writes about the enduring dream of a manned mission to Mars and presents four decades of photos of the martian landscape sent by to Earth by robotic explorers. Plus, in National Geographic’s Planetology you’ll find even more photos of planetary landscapes, plus information on how they might have formed, along with parallel examples from Earth’s varied landscapes.

Did you know that water covers more than 70 per cent of planet Earth and constitutes about 70 per cent of our bodies – yet if all the Earth’s fresh water were decanted into a gallon jug, less than a tablespoon would be drinkable? Find out more facts about the most extraordinary molecule in Water: The essence of life, by Mark Niemeyer. Also included this month: books about time, the wisdom of birds, quantum physics, and the nature of matter. All in our February Science Recent Picks.