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Small Libraries

By Edna Welthorpe

Here are some small libraries in Wellington! These are a big deal and they would always love some support. Thanks in advance!

Collaged image of six different Lilliput Libraries. Each a small wooden glass-fronted cabinet but painted

Wellington City Libraries is a large library! Big old Wellington Library, with all its books, games, periodicals, movies and music, secret occult collection, and other stuff. No big deal, lots of libraries are big.

But some are small. And these are some of the small libraries in Wellington.

Little Red Library

Little Red Library on a red background

If you go to Wellington Trades Hall (which you should! It’s a Wellington landmark), you can visit the Little Red Library, which has an ever-growing collection of leftwing material from Wellington and AoNZ. It has a very cool vibe, but is open only intermittently so check their Instagram first!

The Freedom Shop (which is inside Book Haven)

Book display. Large red sign saying "The Freedom Shop" with an image of three stars next to the words with a shelf above of books.

Image used with permission from The Freedom Shop.

Book Haven is a cool little 2nd hand bookstore in Newtown, so strictly speaking is not a library! But within is a smaller stall (The Freedom Shop) that has a large collection of zines. In a very loose sense – perhaps the loosest sense - it is like a small library that you can browse.

French Library (Alliance Française Wellington)

Yellow edged bookshelves in the corner of the library. In the foreground is a little table and chair with giant pencils in place of legs.

Image used with permission from Alliance Française.

If you’re learning French or you’re a Francophile, come browse the French Library. You need to join Alliance Française to take stuff out, but you’re welcome to rester et lire un livre, as they might say.

Lilliput Libraries

Collaged image of ten different Lilliput Libraries. Each a small wooden glass-fronted cabinet but painted

Image used with permission from Lilliput Libraries.

These are those tiny libraries that you see around the motu with free books to grab (or swap). The Lilliput Libraries started in Dunedin. They have 235! Wellington has 5. However, there are other, non-affiliated ones here – you can find one up by the community gardens in Mount Victoria, and others are in Grafton Road, Holloway Road, Tawa, Khandallah, and outside Zealandia. All over the place. Maybe you could start your own?

Are there more? Please let me know.

bye