The Aotearoa Reference collection is now available

NZ collection sign

Our NZ reference collection can now be requested. These items can be identified in the catalogue as held at the Offsite NZ Collection. We regret the time taken to make this large collection available. Our preparations were interrupted more than once by factors outside our control. We are still working through the process to stock-check all the books that were brought out of the Central Library. As soon as books are checked they will be made available on our online catalogue. If you have a particular request which you can’t find in the catalogue, please let us know, and we will make this a priority.

Please use this email address heritagequeries@wcc.govt.nz to make your request and one of our team will retrieve it for you. Don’t forget to let us know your library card number and which branch you would like to view the book at. You will receive two emails, one confirming the request, and the second when the book has arrived at the branch. This is a free request service.

Most books will be available for you to consult for three weeks at the library branch. If you don’t need the books for three weeks, just let the staff in the branch library know and they will return the book for you.

If you need to renew the item for a further 3 weeks, make a request through the same email heritagequeries@wcc.govt.nz and the library team will check if there is another customer waiting.

Central Library fiction available to reserve

“We are excited to announce our Wellington City Libraries customers can begin reserving fiction books online from the Central Library collection through our new Collection and Distribution Centre (CDC),” says Laurinda Thomas, Libraries and Community Spaces Manager.

“Once items are reserved through the catalogue they will be delivered to the library branch the customer has chosen. This should take between one to three working days. Our teams will continue to help people find items and place reserves for them where they need it.”

“People can reserve titles from the fiction collection for adult readers at catalogue.wcl.govt.nz. We will add the young adults and children’s fiction over the coming weeks, followed by the non-fiction titles. After that, we’ll work through the reference collections and how we can make these accessible. We’ll keep customers updated as more parts of the collection become available.”

“It’s been mammoth job to find a space with the right climatic conditions and strength to house the more than 350,000 items which remained at the Central Library after taking out the 60,000 items that are available at our three interim CBD libraries. While we opened two of the interim branches last year – Arapaki Manners Library and He Matapihi Library – our plans to open the third library and the CDC in May were delayed by the Covid-19 lockdown. So we are excited the collection is now accessible, and we are opening Te Awe Library at 9:30am, Tuesday 14 July. We’d very much like to thank our customers for their patience and support over the past fifteen months.”

How library customers can reserve items:

In the New Catalogue (catalogue.wcl.govt.nz), look for items held at the “Off-site Storage” location, and select Place Reserve as you do for other items:

The Collection and Distribution Centre in Johnsonville and the library teams based there, manage the distribution of the thousands of new and current library items which are borrowed from, or returned to our 14 library branches every day. The Centre is closed to the public.

Te Awe Library to open Tuesday 14 July

Wellington City Council is pleased to announce the third and largest interim library in the CBD, Te Awe Library (meaning White Feathers), will open to the public from 9.30am, Tuesday 14 July.

“We are delighted to announce we are opening Te Awe Library with a dawn ceremony this coming Tuesday,” says Mayor Andy Foster. “Te Awe Library is the largest of the three, interim CBD libraries we designed for people to use while decisions on the Central Library service are made, and subsequent physical works undertaken.

“Everyone will find something to enjoy in our new oasis in the city among the more than 20,000 items including fiction and non-fiction books, magazines, CD and vinyl, as well as the many popular events and programmes our libraries are known for. It will also bring additional life to this part of the Golden Mile.”

Community Well-Being portfolio lead Councillor Fleur Fitzsimons says Te Awe Library is going to be great for children and young people.

“There is a large space, dedicated for them to read, play, and take part in popular programmes and events like Baby Rock and Rhyme, Storytimes, and Lego Sundays. Baby Rock and Rhyme is a Wellington institution loved by babies and parents alike. I know families have been really missing it, many will breathe a sigh of relief with its return to the central city,” says Councillor Fitzsimons.

The team of specialist librarians have carefully selected the more than 20,000 items in the collection to reflect the interests of customers and added new or related themes to help further exploration, says Laurinda Thomas, Libraries and Community Spaces Manager.

“People will find plenty of seating and quiet zones to study, read, or for groups to gather and chill. There are also spaces and meeting rooms where we’ll run a range of events for everyone, such as movie nights.

“Music lovers and aficionados will enjoy a strong CD and vinyl collection, including many hard to find or stream albums, plus most of New Zealand’s Flying Nun releases. Our music specialists have highlighted seminal or must-hear albums from around the world using new, blue ‘Essential listening’ stickers.

“We all know how important good coffee is for Wellingtonians, so we’re also excited to have Corey and the Collective Café team as neighbours, which will open beside the library on Wednesday 15 July. Everyone will be able to enjoy a hot drink, including Peoples’ coffee, or choose something tasty from their range of organic, free-range food while reading a magazine or finding the latest books.”

After the opening ceremony, Te Awe Library will welcome the public from 9.30am, Tuesday 14 July. This branch’s normal opening hours will run from 8am – 8pm, Monday to Friday and 9.30am – 5pm on Saturday and Sunday.

We will swap the central city weekend hours from Arapaki Manners Library to our larger Te Awe Library. So from Monday 13 July, Arapaki Manners Library will be open between 8am – 7pm, Monday to Friday and closed on weekends.

Te Awe Library can be accessed via either 29 Brandon Street or Panama Street next to the Collective Café.

There are return slots at both entrances, and the one in Panama Street is open after-hours.

Map of our 3 CBD Branch locations

Update on future Central Library services

This afternoon the Mayor Andy Foster, Deputy Mayor Sarah Free, Councillor Fleur Fitzsimons and Councillor Iona Pannett shared a paper going to Council that outlines a range of scenarios available to strengthen and refurbish the Central Library, and options to accommodate the Central Library services. It also seeks Council approval to kick off a broad public engagement process to seeks people’s views on what that value and expect from a modern 21st century library.

This is a significant investment for Wellington and ratepayers. The estimated costs to strengthen the building range from $36m to $133m, plus approximately $40m for upgrading the building’s support services and systems, like the lifts, air-conditioning. The building’s interior will also need to be upgraded as it has not changed since it opened in 1991. This is predicted to cost between $20-30m.

“Libraries at their heart are spaces for people,” says Laurinda Thomas, Manager Libraries and Community Spaces. “This is why we are keen to talk to people throughout late June and August about what they want and expect from a redeveloped Central Library Service. Peoples’ views will help us design the different zones where people can go to find quiet spaces, interact with others or learn; join events and programmes, and ensure they are accessible and welcoming to everyone. This will be used to develop a design concept which will be which will be put out for public consultation as part of the Long Term Plan process.”

“We are also closer to the Central Library collection being available again, and opening the third and largest interim library in the CBD. Work on Te Awe Library in Brandon Street and the new Collection and Distribution Centre in Johnsonville were originally to have opened this week. This has been delayed as work stopped on 25 March under the Covid-19 lockdown. Our contractors and staff were able to begin work again under Alert Level 3 so we expect both services to be available in July.”

“The Central Library collection has also resumed its move to the new Collection and Distribution Centre. Once this is complete, library customers will be able to browse the collections virtually, alongside the current library catalogue (with staff assistance where required), and order items to pick up from the library branch of their choice. We know our customers miss the variety of the Central Library resources, so it was unfortunate to experience the delay in making this happen due to the lockdown. We appreciate everyone’s patience and will share more information about using the new collection around the end of June.”

You can read the media release and the links to the Council paper on the Wellington City Council website.

Central Library’s collection is on the move

The Central Library collection is getting ready for its new home in the Johnsonville Collection and Distribution Centre.  A mix of approximately 400,000 books, CDs, DVDs, magazines, newspapers and other reference materials will be carefully packed in order, moved and re-shelved over the coming eight weeks.

“We are pleased to be in the final stages of making the much-loved collection available once again, and we thank our customers for their ongoing support,” says Laurinda Thomas, Wellington City Libraries and Community Spaces Manager.

“The Centre in Johnsonville provides both the climatic conditions, space and transport routes needed to manage the collection safely over the long term, until decisions can be made about the future central library services.”

“Although we move thousands of items around our 14 branches every day, this will jump substantially when people are able to order from the CDC. So we are finalising the ordering process and timings so people know what to expect. Towards late April we will advise customers how to order items, and the timings for when they can pick them up from the branch of their choice.”

Over 12,500 items are available in two of the three planned CBD libraries, which opened in May and October last year. Arapaki Library in Manners Street provides a mix of fiction, non-fiction and popular children’s titles. He Mataphi Library within the National Library has over 5,000 items with an Aotearoa and Māori focus.

The third and largest of the three CBD libraries, Te Awe will open in May. Te Awe will provide spaces where people can read, study or collaborate. There is also a dedicated space for a children’s collection, parents’ room and the popular Baby Rock ‘n’ Rhyme sessions.

People will be able to access around 31,000 items which have been tailored to represent the diverse range of subjects which Central Library customers have requested or reserved.

Council staff will be providing advice to the Council on Wednesday 25 March on options for future central library services and the external engineering assessments on the Central Library building. We will share the papers on the Wellington City Council website on 19 March.

Wellington City Libraries’ rare book collection is now housed at the Wellington City Archives at 28 Barker Street.

More information:
Timeline for Wellington Central Library Replacement Services