ComicFest 2024 is Sat 4 May! Register your interest

ComicFest 2024 Website

This May 4th 2024, Wellington City Libraries in association with the National Library of New Zealand, will be celebrating 10 years of ComicFest — join us for this fantastic, and totally free, national celebration of all things comics-related in New Zealand!

Explore the world of cartoons and comics at the National Library of New Zealand in Thorndon! From 9am – 4:30pm, we will be hosting a festival of workshops, talks, comic giveaways, live drawing, and even a children’s cosplay competition!

We’ll be teasing our full line-up of amazing artists in the upcoming month, so save the date and stay tuned!

Register your interest in ComicFest

What? ComicFest 2024!
When? 4 May 2024, 9am – 4:30pm
Where? National Library Wellington,
Cnr Molesworth and Aitken Street

Rugby and Soccer World Cups: New Sports Books

Sports book covers superimposed over a stadium field

Our sports men and women share what it means to be at the top of their chosen sport in our picks of the new sports books this month — both what it takes to perform at the top of their sport (whether it be in a competitive or coaching role), or to be themselves as a top talent and find acceptance and understanding in the sporting world. Plus, pick up new skills or find a complementary sport, whether it be yoga for runners, or kiteboarding as a relatively new discipline. Have a browse!

Smithy : endless winters & the spring of ’22 / Smith, Wayne Ross
“Wayne Smith is arguably the finest rugby brain in the world – a man the players he coached dubbed ‘The Professor’. In Smithy: Endless Winters & The Spring of ’22, we’ll hear from not only Wayne, but also the women and men who took the Ferns to a World title. In this long-awaited memoir, Wayne Smith will tell his best, most entertaining, insightful, and amusing anecdotes from an amazing career in in the game. We’ll look inside the Black Ferns’ World Cup triumph, which saw Wayne go from a man entitled to free bus rides with his Gold Card, to the dancing leader of a diverse, vibrant group of players and coaches who won all Kiwis’ hearts.” (Catalogue)

The race to be myself : a memoir / Semenya, Caster
“Olympian and World Champion Caster Semenya is finally ready to share the vivid and heartbreaking story of how the world came to know her name. Thrust into the spotlight at just eighteen years old after winning the Berlin World Championships in 2009, Semenya’s win was quickly overshadowed by criticism and speculation about her body, and she became the center of a still-raging firestorm about how gender plays out in sports, our expectations of female athletes, and the right to compete as you are.” (Catalogue)

My journey to the World Cup / Kerr, Sam
“Sam Kerr is widely considered to be one of the best female footballers of all time. She is famous worldwide for her skills on the soccer pitch – but before she was the Matildas captain and the leading goal scorer for Chelsea, she was just an average Aussie kid who wanted to play AFL. This is her incredible football journey to the FIFA World Cup, from making the switch to soccer to becoming one of the best female strikers in the world. Sam gives us insights into what keeps her motivated, how she handles the pressures of life as a professional athlete and what she believes is really important in life. Inside you will find: Facts about the FIFA World Cup. Everything you want to know about the Matildas. Amazing facts about Sam – her early days, family life, teams, playing for Chelsea FC and the Matildas.” (Catalogue)

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Post-punk Auckland, Sonic Youth and more: New music books

Music books spotlighted against a backdrop of a guitar

Whether it’s photos from post-punk Auckland in ’80s Aotearoa, or music biographies (Amy Winehouse, Thurston Moore, Sinéad O’Connor, Bowie, recorded sound itself…), there are plenty of good reads in this month’s picks of the new music books. Have a browse…

Amy Winehouse : in her words
“Global icon, six-time Grammy winner, headline-maker, the most talented recording artist of her generation; much has been said about Amy Winehouse since her tragic death aged just 27. But who was the real Amy? Amy Winehouse: In Her Words shines a spotlight on her incredible writing talent, her wit, her charm and lust for life. Bringing together Amy’s own never-before-seen journals, handwritten lyrics and family photographs together for the first time, this intimate tribute traces her creative evolution from growing up in North London to global superstardom, and provides a rare insight into the girl who became a legend.” (Catalogue)

Sonic life : a memoir / Moore, Thurston
“Thurston Moore moved to Manhattan’s East Village in 1978 with a yearning for music. He wanted to be immersed in downtown New York’s sights and sounds–the feral energy of its nightclubs, the angular roar of its bands, the magnetic personalities within its orbit. But more than anything, he wanted to make music — to create indelible sounds that would move, provoke, and inspire. His dream came to life in 1981 with the formation of Sonic Youth, a band Moore co-founded with Kim Gordon and Lee Ranaldo. […] In the spirit of Just Kids, Sonic Life offers a window into the trajectory of a celebrated artist and a tribute to an era of explosive creativity. It presents a firsthand account of New York in a defining cultural moment, a history of alternative rock as it was birthed and came to dominate airwaves, and a love letter to music, whatever the form. This is a story for anyone who has ever felt touched by sound — who knows the way the right song at the right moment can change the course of a life.” (Catalogue)

Crush : photos from post-punk Auckland / Ganley, Jonathan
“CRUSH – Photos from Post-Punk Auckland looks back at the hard-edged music of the years 1982 to 1990 through the eyes of photographer Jonathan Ganley. With 136 images of 33 groundbreaking local and international bands and musicians, the book showcases era-defining artists such as The Clash, The Fall, The Clean, Fetus Productions, Chris Knox, Straitjacket Fits, and Sonic Youth. Alongside his evocative analogue images that vividly capture the scene and the times, the book also contains Jonathan Ganley’s eye-witness accounts of the first Auckland gigs by some of the best international post-punk bands, and describes some of his experiences photographing local musicians, on-stage and off. CRUSH – Photos from Post-Punk Auckland celebrates a decade of innovative music that still reverberates with music fans around the world.” (Catalogue)

Why Sinéad O’Connor matters / McCabe, Allyson
“A stirring defense of Sinéad O’Connor’s music and activism, and an indictment of the culture that cancelled her. Irish singer-songwriter Sinéad O’Connor burst onto the pop scene in 1987 with her album The Lion and the Cobra, and followed it with the Grammy-winning I Do Not Want What I Haven’t Got (1990), which featured a cover of Prince’s song “Nothing Compares 2 U.” In 1992, she infamously tore a picture of Pope John Paul II on Saturday Night Live to protest the sexual abuse committed by priests and covered up by church authorities. O’Connor was immediately castigated for her politics, which were already radical, and her career suffered ever since. […] The book works through O’Connor’s life and career in chronological order, from her abused childhood to initial success, stardom, and the ensuing fallout. McCabe compares O’Connor with Madonna, digs into how she aspired to be a protest singer rather than a pop star, and McCabe explores O’Connor’s attempts to de-stigmatize mental illness” (Catalogue)

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Summer Reading is back!

Summer Reading 2023 Blog

Summer Reading 2023 Blog

Read books, explore the city, win prizes! This year the Summer Reading Adventure runs from 1 December 2022 — 31 January 2023, and we are inviting intrepid explorers of word and page of all ages to join us — children, teens, and adults!

Pre-registrations are open from the last week of November — find all the information over on our Summer Reading information page, or head straight to our Summer Reading Beanstack website to get started!

Continue reading “Summer Reading is back!”

Kanopy’s play credits are having a revamp from November!

In the past, when you used the Kanopy streaming movie service available via our library subscription, you had a monthly allocation of six play credits. From November 1st “credits” became “tickets”, and the amount allocated monthly to you changed to 18 tickets. Just like with credits, on the first of each month, you’ll receive a new allocation of tickets.

The big change Kanopy has made is the way your allowance can be used, meaning you have more control how you spend (redeem) your tickets. In the past, one movie view, or a TV series view, used one or two of your play credits. With the revamped ticket system, each movie or TV series is labelled with the amount of tickets needed to watch it. This will depend on the movie’s or series’ run time (the length of the feature in minutes). This is clearly indicated in the information about the title.

Also changed is the time you have to view the feature you’ve chosen. A regular length film, costing two tickets, can be viewed within 72 hours of you starting to watch (up from the previous 48 hours!) All of this information is under the title of each movie, giving you a better understanding of how long you’ll have to view what you’ve chosen.

What hasn’t changed is the thousands of feature films, documentaries, and bingeable series that are available for free on Kanopy. This includes some great new movies like the 2022 Palme d’Or winner Triangle of Sadness (also available on DVD & Blu-Ray) and some excellent new BBC TV series (our pick, Call the Midwife ).

Want more information about this change? When you visit Kanopy’s website or app there is a pop-up which will take you through the changes and how they’ll work. If you have further questions, please email us at enquiries@wcl.govt.nz