Look up! – See your library in a new way

One of the activities in our Summer Reading Adventure this season is the Upward Looking Urban Photographer, where we’ve challenged you to look upwards while out and about and notice details that you might have otherwise overlooked.

We’ve had a whole gallery of upwards-looking photos sent into us, and we thought we’d share some of our favourites with you. Maybe one of these photos was taken by you! One of these photos was even taken at one of our libraries. If you haven’t submitted a photo for this activity yet, there’s still plenty of time! The Summer Reading Adventure runs until the 31st of January.

  • What’s that perched atop the iconic Cuba St bucket fountain?
  • A familiar location for some of us! Can you identify which library this is?
  • An encompassing canopy of treetops.
  • You might need to take a second glance to see the floating sculpture here.
  • This building’s original owners may not still be here, but they made sure we’d know who they were!
  • Sunlight catching the edge of the clouds.

Inspired by this activity, we’ve taken our cameras around our libraries and pointed them upwards! In this selection of images you’ll find many artworks, interesting angles, library signage, and ceilings seen from a different perspective – it’s an exploration of library architecture!

We have many libraries scattered around Wellington and they all feature different designs and artworks. This challenge has given us the opportunity to look around our libraries with fresh eyes and rediscover the quirky and interesting parts of our spaces.

Can you figure out where the photo (or photos!) of your library was taken?

  • A rope bridge made of twine and popsicle sticks bridges the gap between two bookshelves.
    Arapaki Library
  • A plastic skeleton perches on a bookshelf with a sign reading 'Young Adult Fiction'. On the ceiling tiles above are movie posters.
    Arapaki Library
  • Spackled ceiling with inset boards meeting in a cross.
    Brooklyn Library | Te Whare Pukapuka o Moe-rā
  • Vaulted ceiling with triangular recessed skylights pointing inwards.
    Cummings Park (Ngaio) Library | Te Whare Pukapuka o Korimako
  • Towards the library entry/exit, and internal five-sided window sits in the pointed ceiling.
    Cummings Park (Ngaio) Library | Te Whare Pukapuka o Korimako
  • A large red paper flower and strings of red beads and white shells hanging from a red library sign with 'Can we help" written on it.
    Island Bay Library | Te Whare Pukapuka o Tapu Te Ranga
  • Reflection of the library in the round security mirror by the door.
    Island Bay Library | Te Whare Pukapuka o Tapu Te Ranga
  • Three pictures in a collage. Top: view of the children's area and the coloured triangular pieces of sound-baffling fitting in with the three-pronged lights. Centre: Looking up towards artworks by Robin Kahukiwa and Melvin Day. Bottom: Woven harakeke artwork Whetūrangi on the wall above and below a long window.
    Johnsonville Library | Te Whare Pukapuka o Waitohi
  • A spine-like plastic guard around power cables attaches into a ceiling tile.
    Kai Ūpoko | Library offices
  • Looking upwards at the vertical word 'Library' on a red background.
    Karori Library | Te Whare Pukapuka o Te Māhanga
  • Three narrow windows in a white wall look out onto the street and blue sky. A conical light hangs on the left, the bottom level with the top corner of a narrow window.
    Karori Library | Te Whare Pukapuka o Te Māhanga
  • Checkered glass tiles set in the corner of the building, photographed from the inside.
    Khandallah Library | Te Whare Pukapuka o Tari-kākā
  • Natural wood balcony with stuffed aniimals liiking down, a skylight above, and long tapestry hanging to the left.
    Mervyn Kemp (Tawa) Library | Te Whare Pukapuka o Te Takapū o Patukawenga
  • Coloured paper letters spelling 'Children's Area' on the wall below small high windows with wooden blinds.
    Mervyn Kemp (Tawa) Library | Te Whare Pukapuka o Te Takapū o Patukawenga
  • A blue pillar with outreaching metal struts atop it, in front of a corner window.
    Miramar Library | Te Whare Pukapuka o Motu-kairangi
  • A triangular internal window above a mural of a beach with swimming child, reading octopus, and books flying through the air. In the window, a silhouette of a librarian waves.
    Miramar Library | Te Whare Pukapuka o Motu-kairangi
  • Wooden beams on the right angle up to the natural wooden ceiling. On the left a wooden taniwha attached to a colourful painted wall looks up towards the peak of the ceiling.
    Newtown Library | Te Whare Pukapuka o Ngā Puna Waiora
  • A round, curved, three-dimensional artwork on the ceiling. Shades of blue, with koru like tentacles reaching out from the centre.
    Newtown Library | Te Whare Pukapuka o Ngā Puna Waiora
  • The corner of the building. Orange-toned wood on the ceiling, with a large corner window looking towards a Pohutukawa tree with vibrant red flowers.
    Ruth Gotlieb (Kilbirnie) Library | Te Whare Pukapuka o Te Awa-a-Taia
  • Up past bookshelves of children's fiction are triangular fin artworks, then above those metal beams cross the wooden ceiling.
    Ruth Gotlieb (Kilbirnie) Library | Te Whare Pukapuka o Te Awa-a-Taia
  • Diagonal industrial beam cuts across decorated upper walls above fiction shelves
    Te Awe Library
  • Decorated 1900s eave overhanging the footpath, with a yellow 'Te Awe Library' sign hanging from it.
    Te Awe Library
  • A backless tall shelf of extra large books. Behind this shelf, seen through the gaps in the shelf, are yet more bookshelves.
    Te Pātaka Collection and Distribution Centre
  • Square windows, photo taken looking inside. A vase of roses, a succulent, and a yellow sign with the word 'hot' peak over the windowsill.
    Te Pātaka Collection and Distribution Centre
  • A spiral cord hangs next to a skylight with a red beam across it. Blue sky with fluffy clouds outside.
    Wadestown Library | Te Whare Pukapuka o Ōtari
  • Diagonal angular ceiling line, with a square light in the ceiling and recessed skylight
    Wadestown Library | Te Whare Pukapuka o Ōtari

One of our other Summer Reading Adventure activities challenges you to go back in time using Wellington Recollect and find an image of your library taken in decades gone by. We find it very fascinating to go and look through the pictures and see the different library layouts and different buildings there have been over the years. Can you spot anything from our upward-looking-photos in the pictures of your library on Recollect?

View Finders Photo Competition

This April School Holidays, tell us a story by taking a photo!

From the 16th of April to the 1st of May, we’re running View Findersa photo competition for tamariki and rangatahi across Wellington City. There are heaps of cool prizes to be won — and a special exhibition to take part in at the end!

We’re taking submissions in three categories: Nature, Whānau, and Objects/Books, and in two age groups, 5-12 and 13-18.

Don’t forget to check out our special View Finders Beanstack Challenge to earn spot prizes, log your reading, and do some simple activities to get your photography skills into top gear for the competition!

Submissions for View Finders are now closed! We will be announcing the winners on the 13th of May — keep an eye on this blog for updates!

Nature:

Take a picture of something that blows your mind in a local park, down at the beach, or high in the hills! See what flora and fauna you can discover in the great outdoors of Aotearoa.

While you’re out and about, you might want to check out iNaturalist NZ – Mātaki Taiao, which is an app that you can use to record what you see in the natural world! There is also an annual City Nature Challenge for Pōneke/Wellington where us locals can make a big effort to see what we can find!

Whānau:

In a literal sense, whānau means family in Te Reo Māori, and is based on shared whakapapa and descent from a common ancestor.

Whānau is also used by non-Māori to talk about their family. Sometimes, Whānau is used to describe groups of people who come together bound by a common purpose, this could also be called whānau ā kaupapa.

So, for our photo competition, you can take a picture that tells a story about your family, or you can take a broader view of whānau to tell a story about a team or group you are involved in, or even a group of friends.

Objects or Books:

Tell us a story about a physical object that is important to you. It could be a cherished toy, or your comfiest couch! Maybe the object would even be a book (we do love books at the library!) With ComicFest coming up on May 7th, you could find a creative way to photograph your favourite comic book, maybe by putting it in a funny or unexpected location!


View Finders

Get your phone, tablet, or camera at the ready!


You can enter once per category. If anyone else appears in your photo, make sure you have permission to share it with us.

We look forward to seeing your photos and hearing the story behind them! You may want to display your photo at your local branch library at the end of the competition.

Special thanks to our friends at Splendid Photo, who are helping us to judge the competition, and Ben & Jerry’s Wellington, Light House Cinema, and Unity Books, who are kindly providing us with spot prizes to give away. Ka rawe!

6 New Non Fiction to read by the end of summer!

Hey kids! Check out the latest junior non fiction in the library. Books featured in this post include information about Everest and animals, books to keep you entertained, as well as help you with your maths homework and a movie guide long in the making that will give you insight to the world of the “How to train your Dragon” movie franchise.

Enjoy!

image courtesy of syndeticsEverest.

“There is a place where a mountain grows. It is the highest spot on Earth, the ultimate challenge for mountain-climbing adventurers, the towering figure of Sagarmatha, the Goddess of the Sky … Welcome to Mount Everest. In this stunning book, travel back to the mountain’s ancient origins, learn about the flora and fauna of its great flanks, and discover the rich culture and history surrounding it.”– Provided by publisher.

image courtesy of syndeticsCardboard creations : open-ended exploration with recycled materials.

Provides instructions for creating art projects using recycled materials, such as cardboard boxes and old jars and containers. Great ideas to keep you amused and entertained indoors on a rainy day.

image courtesy of syndeticsSquares, rectangles and other quadrilaterals.

A picture geometry book that introduces children to quadrilaterals, including parallelograms and trapezoids, using hands-on activities and simple explanations. — Provided by publisher.

image courtesy of sydneticsPolka dot parade : a book about Bill Cunningham.

This is a moving and impassioned picture book about the iconic fashion photographer Bill Cunningham that will inspire young readers to go discover their own ideas of beauty and embolden the world with their own creativity!

image courtesy of syndeticsWild: Endangered animals in living motion.

One of the coolest books I have ever read. Wild captures eight endangered animals in living motion. From the cover panda shown lazily munching on leaves, to an albatross swooping its magnificent wings, to a bumblebee taking a sip of water, Wild throws a spotlight on the mammals, birds, and insects that are threatened with extinction. A librarian’s choice all the way!


image courtesy of syndeticsDragons : ultimate movie guide.

Discover all about your favourite Vikings and their dragons in this ultimate guide to the How to Train Your Dragon trilogy! This definitive, official guide gives you the lowdown on all of Toothless and Hiccups adventuresfrom how they first met to their biggest battles. Find out dragon myths, Viking legends and battle stories in this bumper book of Berk.

Check out the trailer to How to train your Dragon: The Hidden World. The epic conclusion  to the How to train your dragon movie series and one of the best films to date! Absolutely love that Toothless the night fury dragon gets a girlfriend in this film. Hilarious moments include when he tries to impress and flirt with the female night fury.

 

 

 

 

Top 10 Children’s Non-Fiction May 2017

Taking centre stage in the month of May… screen-plays and scripts galore!

We are heading towards the 20th anniversary of the first Harry Potter book reaching the shelves! Delve back into the magical world of Harry Potter with the scripts for Harry Potter and the Cursed Child and the new original screen play of Fantastic Beasts and where to find them.

 

  1. The LEGO ideas book, by Daniel Lipkowitz
  2. Minecraft Annual 2017, by Stephanie Milton
  3. Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, by Jack Thorne, John Tiffany and J. K. Rowling
  4. Minecraft : Redstone handbook, by Nick Farwell
  5. Terraria, by  Daniel Roy
  6. Awesome LEGO creations with bricks you already have, by Sarah Dees
  7. Star Wars Character Encyclopedia, by Simon Beecroft and Pablo Hidalgo
  8. Small Scenes from a Big Galaxy, by Vesa Lehtimäki
  9. Master builder : Hack for Minecrafters, by Megan Miller
  10. Minecraft : the survivors’ book of secrets, by Stephanie Milton.

6 New children’s non-fiction to keep you entertained over the school holidays

image courtesy of syndeticsOxford Roald Dahl Dictionary.

From aardvark to zozimus, a real Roald Dahl dictionary of everyday and extra-usual words. Yes, believe it or not, there is a Roald Dahl dictionary in existence! This book will inspire you to choose and use each and every word brilliantly in your own writing – whether it’s a real word, a Roald Dahl word or your own made-up one. A must read for anyone who is a Roald Dahl fan or wanting to become a writer.

 

image courtesy of syndeticsGo Photo!

Looking to becoming a nature photographer or do photography based projects over the school holidays? Then check out this amazing book the features 23 hands on and creative photography activities. Accessible, fun and practical, the activities in this book have been brought together to engage kids in the fun and wonder of photography. Great to use for indoor and outdoor activities.

 

image courtesy of syndeticsThe Story of the Olympics.

The Olympics are nearly here, why not get schooled up just in time by reading The Story of the Olympics? Full of wacky facts about the Olympics and Olympic champions down the centuries, this book takes you through the entire story and history of the Olympics, from their beginning in Ancient Greece right up to the Rio de Janeiro Olympics of 2016. Also contains the funny, surprising, heroic exploits of winners and loser around the world.

 

 

image courtesy of syndeticsDo Animals go to schools?

Do you think animals go to school? Of course not!  Although animals don’t go to school in a special building, they do have to learn important lessons to survive. They must master how to catch and store food, make nests, fight against enemies and find their way around. Sometimes their parents teach them. Sometimes they learn by themselves. Do animals have refrigerators? Do they go to the doctor? Do they dance and sing? These and many more questions are answered in this intriguing natural history book.

 

 

Do Animals need umbrellas?image courtesy of syndetics

This book is the perfect introduction to the amazing diversity of the animal kingdom. Do animals carry umbrellas or wear winter clothes? Of course they don’t! In nature, animals have to survive using only their own bodies. Creatures in cold climates have thick fur, feathers or fat to keep them warm. Those that live in dry places need to drink very little water. Animals in wet places have waterproof fur, feathers, scales or skin to keep them dry. Such adaptations help creatures to survive. Do animals play in the waves? Do they ever get stuck in the mud? These and many more questions about how animals live in different habitats are answered in this entertaining book.

 

 

image courtesy of syndeticsOutside: A Guide to discovering nature.

This fantastic guide offers a lot of information that allows you to discover nature in one’s own backyard, and includes tips on identifying trees, flowers, mammals, rocks, and insects, and examining the night sky.

 

Win your height in books

Take part in a competition to celebrate NZ Bookshop day.

NZBookshopDayBookshops are really important – they give you access to a huge range of amazing reading materials that you can fill your house and bedroom with. People who write and illustrate books use bookshops to sell their books and make money, so they can then write and illustrate even more books. So the more often you use your local bookshop, the more books can be created, and that’s an awesome thing.

NZ Bookshop Day is on Saturday 31st October (yup – same day as Halloween). To celebrate and get people involved they are running a photo competition. It’s really easy – just snap a funny and entertaining picture of yourself reading anywhere and any way, and upload it here.

The best photo will win their height in books, and the 2nd best photo will win their knee-height in books. That’s a lot of books!

Get reading, get snapping, and get into your local bookshop.

(Entries close 29th October at 5pm).

Seaweek 2014 – bring in your favourite photos of the sea!

New Zealand Seaweek 2014 runs from 1-9 March and is an annual celebration of our ocean, its habitats and the cool creatures that dwell there!  This year the theme for Seaweek is  “Our fragile, finite taonga – be alert to the fragility of the marine environment and its treasures. Kia mataara! Tiakina te au o te moana, he kōpīpī tōna”.

Hosted by the NZ Association for Environmental Education (NZAEE), Seaweek is an opportunity to learn more about ocean life and encourages exploration and discovery.  Check out your local rock-pools, participate in a coastal clean-up, have a go at an ocean sport like snorkeling or visit a marine ecology lab!  There’s heaps happening in Wellington for Seaweek – so rally your friends and family together and get involved!

For more information about Seaweek including a list of local and national events, visit their website seaweek.org.nz.

 

To celebrate Seaweek we want to display your photos in the central library.

With the weather improving this is a great opportunity to take out your camera! We would love to have your favourite piece(s) of work admired by library visitors. If you’re interested in sending us your photos, take them to the Information Desk at the Central Library, where you’ll see the blue Seaweek box until 28 February.

Please write your name and contact details on the back of the photo(s) so that we can make sure they go back to the right person. Check out some rules first.