News Blog @ Wellington City Libraries

Every year thousands of avid readers and music lovers gather at Wellington Central Library for the end of year book sale. And judging by its past popularity, this sale should be no different. Past buyers have used the sale to find the best book deals, to complete their personal collections or just to rummage and find a gem. And the sale helps our libraries by making room for an ever increasing collection.

The sale includes books, CDs, cassettes, DVD, magazines and journals on every topic imaginable. Stock is replenished at regular intervals during the sale ensuring there are always fresh bargains to be found. And they really are bargains – prices start from 50 cents for magazines, with most other items between $1 and $6 and some marked prices.

If you love a bargain, you won’t want to miss it. Book sale starts Tuesday 7 December, 9.30am.

Here are some photos from the Zinefest last weekend:

All rights reserved. Photographs cannot be used without prior permission from Wellington City Libraries.

Wellington City Libraries has a monthly radio show on Radio Access. For a recent show (27th November, 4.00 – 4.30) we interviewed Tama Waipara, singer/songwriter behind the 2009 release ‘Sir Plus and the Requirements,’ – a beautifully realised concept album rich in pop hooks and delicous arrangements.

Listen to the Tama Waipara interview here

Tama talks generously about his inspirations, lyrics and songs and the 35 minute interview includes 6 songs from his 3 albums so far.
Below are the albums featured in the show:

Sir+Plus and the Requirements

Triumph of time

Leaving Paradise

Our Bestsellers collection is the ‘no-wait way to borrow’ latest popular books.

Simply check out the distinctive red shelves on the ground floor of the Central Library and at selected branch libraries. Bestsellers books cannot be reserved and are $5 for a one week loan (overdue charge is $1/day).

These titles will be available for free in the main collection. However, there may be a reserve queue.

Martin Bosley / photographs by Jane Ussher.
“This elegant, outstandingly produced hardback book brings together over 100 of Martin’s favorite recipes, both from Martin Bosley’s Restaurant and his earlier stint at the famous and late-lamented Brasserie Flipp. Photographed beautifully by Jane Ussher.” (description from martin-bosley.com)

The life and times of a brown paper bag / Kevin Milne.
“Kevin writes in a relaxed, laconic style that draws the reader in immediately – he’s an excellent story-teller and raconteur. He includes many wonderful anecdotes about the well-known people who have been Fair Go reporters over the years, for example Kerre Woodham, Brian Edwards, Carole Hirschfeld, Kim Hill. Plus hilarious tales of the best dodgy dealers, scams and rip-off artists that Fair Go has uncovered over the years.” (description from randomhouse.co.nz)

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If you are a proud parent of a baby you may be becoming all too familiar with the wonderful world of music for babies and other small people, and it may be driving you a bit mad.

Never fear! While your baby is still at the captive audience stage, and before he or she starts expressing musical preferences (The Wiggles, again and again and again), you can treat them to lullaby renditions of your favourite rock bands, thanks to the Rockabye Baby! CDs in the children’s CD collection.

Are you into classic rock and metal? There’s Pink Floyd, Metallica, AC/DC, U2 or Queen, for example (yes, there’s a lullaby version of ‘We will rock you’).

If you’re a punk or alternative purist you may shudder to hear there’s also The Pixies and The Ramones (’I wanna be sedated’), and for people who like things a bit more current there’s also Coldplay or Radiohead (no surprises).

These are all one week issue, and free on a child’s card.

Wellington City Libraries has a large collection of lullaby (and other music) CDs for children. Have a look the next time you’re in the library, or have a look on the catalogue here for a selection.

Kim from the Wellington Zinefest Committee 2010 (also Lady Fest co-organiser) very kindly answered some of our questions about all things zinefest.

How did Wellington Zinefest get started?

In New Zealand there had been zine events, such as Auckland’s Small Print, but never much in Wellington. In  2007  Kylie Buck was working at the Wellington City Library, they had just started their zine collection and she and I organised the first Wellington Zinefest, which was also a nice welcome platform for the Library Zine Collection.

What is most challenging about organising an event like Zinefest?

What are zine people like to work with?

What cool things will be happening on the day?

Why do you think there has been such a revival of zine culture?

Are there any zines you are hanging out to see/buy at the Fest?

Thanks Kim!

Wellington Zinefest Committee 2010. Left to right: Matt Whitwell, Bryce Galloway, Claire Harris and Kim Gruschow

News on the street is that this zinefest will be the best one yet! There will be an opportunity to make your own zine, zine/comic movies to watch and of course many many awesome zines and CDs to buy – including the world’s smallest zine!
We are super-duper excited to be bringing zines from our collection of over 1,000 to join in the fun and creating a comfy reading area for you to relax and recover from all the DIY fun.  If you are gonna be there this Saturday, make sure to visit Jeremy, Vita and I in the zine reading area.

We’re excited to announce that we’ve started adding ebooks to our OverDrive Collection. OverDrive is a digital media platform where library customers can download ebook and audio titles onto Mac or PC and transfer them to portable devices e.g. eReaders (Kobo, Sony Reader). Choose from a growing collection of contemporary fiction, non-fiction, classics, young adult and children’s titles. You can download for free, 24/7, from the comfort of your own home and never have to pay overdues!

What you will need:

• An internet connected computer
• A Wellington City Libraries membership card
• Free software for PC and Mac : Adobe Digital Editions (eBooks) available from the  downloadable media homepage.

Try the quick start guide or take a guided tour to get started now.

NB An OverDrive app is expected to appear in Apple’s App Store very soon which will provide eBook compatibility with iPad, iPhone, and iPod Touch models. If you don’t want to wait and can handle a little bit of complexity – this tip from Library Journal might help

Our Bestsellers collection is the ‘no-wait way to borrow’ latest popular books.

Simply check out the distinctive red shelves on the ground floor of the Central Library and at selected branch libraries. Bestsellers books cannot be reserved and are $5 for a one week loan (overdue charge is $1/day).

These titles will be available for free in the main collection. However, there may be a reserve queue.

Sunset Park / by Paul Auster.
“Sunset Park follows the hopes and fears of a cast of unforgettable characters brought together by the mysterious Miles Heller during the dark months of the 2008 economic collapse. [...] Sunset Park is a surprising departure that confirms Paul Auster as one of our greatest living writers.” (description from Amazon)
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Kerry Bogert’s book Totally twisted teaches how to combine sterling silver and coloured wire with glass beads to create something special. Advice is given throughout the book on the 20 designs together with step-by-step photos, methods and tips.

With Christmas around the corner Joelle Hoverson’s book More last-minute knitted gifts will be useful for creating inexpensive and quick presents. The 30 projects include sachets, baby blankets and ornaments just to name a few. Creative ideas for gift-wrapping are also included.

Colour is the new black according to Kristin Nicholas! In her book Color by Kristen she encourages knitters to be bold and knit with multiple colours. This book is aimed at all levels of knitters.

Create with these books and find other ideas in this month’s Craft Recent Picks including bead-weaving, embroidery and even feisty stitching.