Eating fish & chips on the Overseas Terminal wharf. Date: 1974. Photographer: Ans Westra. Collection: Ans Westra. Original negative / print reference number AW-844-11.

Wellington City Libraries wishes to thank and acknowledge Ans Westra and her representatives for allowing us to digitise our collection of her work on this platform.

Win a copy of The Magician’s Daughter, our new Kurapae collection, and events for Pride and Local Food Week!

Here are the results from last month's survey! 

Now, on to this month's question...

Mystery vs fantasy?

It's a new month, which means new books added to our collection. Browse our new items and be one of the first to reserve them today!

Your chance to win an exclusive signed copy of H.G. Parry's new book, The Magician’s Daughter!

We are pleased to announce a special competition to celebrate our upcoming event with one of the finest fantasy writers around, H .G. Parry, and the release of her much-anticipated The Magician’s Daughter. All you need to do to win one of these fabulous prizes is attend the book launch and ask the best question on the night!

The event promises to be an entertaining, enlightening, enthralling and totally unmissable event for any fan of fantasy books.

Events details:

Newtown Library
Friday 10 March, 6pm

We are pleased to be hosting two exciting events for Local Food Week!

Local Food Week Talk with Liz Mellish: 'Mā Tōu Rourou, Mā Tāku Rourou, Ka ora ai Te Iwi'

Tuesday, 7 March | 12 – 1pm

Te Awe Library

With your food basket and mine, the people will thrive.

Come along to a presentation by Liz Mellish, MNZM, Te Atiawa, Chairman, Palmerston North Māori Reserve Trust, on the topic of kai of Te Whanganui-a-Tara. 

‘Plating Up’ : a Local Food Week talk about the history of Wellington’s restaurant scene

Thursday, 9 March | 12 – 1pm

Te Awe Library

A one hour talk about the history of the restaurant trade in Wellington. Presented by Gábor Tóth, Local History Specialist, Wellington City Libraries.

Eating out in Wellington has changed hugely over the decades, reflecting corresponding changes in our society. This talk looks at the history of the restaurant trade and food trends in the Capital City over the past 100 years.

(Event Image: The New Commercial Café, 70 Lambton Quay, c. 1929. Cropped and scanned from our collection.)

Did you know that you can set your default "home" library?

The benefit of this is that when you reserve a book, your default library is chosen as the pick-up library. This helps everyone avoid accidently reserving an item to the wrong branch! 

Here are the steps:

1. Navigate to our home page.
2. Navigate to "check your card" under the "your library" tab.
3. Enter your login details.
4. Select "contact information".
5. Scroll down and find your preferred library under the "my branch" drop-down menu.

Have you spotted any of our Kurapae collection yet?

The Kurapae collection consists of highly in-demand book titles — the kind of titles that you might not normally chance upon when browsing because they have long wait lists; the kind of titles you would normally have to reserve!

This new collection is our replacement for the old Bestseller collection, only these titles are free to borrow!

How does this new service work?

• You can borrow a maximum of two Kurapae titles at a time for two weeks.
• Kurapae titles cannot be reserved — they are available on a first-come, first-served basis.
• Kurapae titles cannot be renewed.
• As mentioned above, Kurapae titles are free to borrow!

The Wellington Pride Festival runs from March 4th-18th! Here's some of the ways we're celebrating Pride at Wellington City Libraries.

Karori Rainbow Youth Night

Saturday, 11 March | 5 – 8pm

Karori Library

Join us at the library to celebrate Wellington Pride with some only-slightly-more-than-usual rainbow-themed Youth Nights! We’ll be open after-hours for rainbow and takatāpui youth (and friends!) to socialise, have fun, and chat to a librarian about your favourite queer literature. As usual, there will be pizza, gaming, movies, crafts, and quiet spaces to chill out.

Youth Movie Night for Pride!

Thursday, 16 March | 5:45 – 7:45pm

Te Awe Library

Come along to Te Awe to watch a queer-themed movie and hang out with other like minded teens! For teens aged 14+. The movie will start at 5:45pm and will be shown in our event space on the ground floor.

Please note: The film being screened will have an M rating (suitable for mature audiences).

Pōneke Poets: Open Mic (Out in the City)

Saturday, 18 March | 1 – 2pm

Harbourview Lounge, Michael Fowler Centre (part of Out in the City)

Poets of all background and experience levels are invited to contribute to the vibrant and dynamic queer poetry scene, in ‘Pōneke poets: open mic’. Wellington City Libraries encourages all LGBTQIA+ poets and allies to join in sharing oral histories, personal stories and creative voices in an open-mic poetry hour.

The library is now open (for Wellington Pride 2023).

We know that reading is fundamental for many Wellingtonians, and so this Pride season we're highlighting two gems from our LGBTQIA+ eBook collection, both publications from Aotearoa!

From Saturday the 4th to Saturday the 18th of March, we will be offering unlimited free downloads of anthology collections Out Here : An Anthology of Takatapui and LGBTQIA+ Writers from Aotearoa and 30 Queer Lives : Conversations with LGBTQIA+ New Zealanders. Both eBooks are available through Libby, and are free to borrow with your Wellington City Libraries card.

Regular monthly Mandarin Storytimes are starting up again!

Fun and interactive stories and rhymes to inspire your preschooler and grow a love of literacy. Through stories and play, children learn how to express themselves and understand the world around them.

Recommended for children aged 2 – 4 years with their caregivers

First Tuesday of the month | 10:30 – 11am

Te Awe Library

普通话讲故事时间
提亚威 图书馆 上午10.30—11am
每个月的第一个周二

互动和有趣的故事和童谣时间，激发儿童对文学的热爱。
通过故事和玩耍，儿童会学习自我表述， 并了周围的世界。
建议2-4岁儿童和家长参加
免费