Library News

“A library in the middle of a community is a cross between an emergency exit, a life-raft and a festival.  They are cathedrals of the mind; hospitals of the soul; theme parks of the imagination.  On a cold rainy island, they are the only sheltered public spaces where you are not a consumer, but a citizen instead.” – Caitlin Moran, author.

If you’ve been into the Martinborough Library recently, you may have seen the little teacup on the front counter; we are growing some grape hyacinths.  The Waihinga Centre environment is obviously conducive to good growing conditions, as they are sprouting fast!  Customers have enjoyed watching their progress and some have been coming in solely to see where they’re at!  It’s lovely to have a little bit of spring so close by.

Our Matariki children’s activities throughout July were wildly popular; we made things including stargazers, orbs, recycled-material stars, and origami star boxes.  We hosted a twinkly night-time story & craft session, which was a lot of fun.

Launched at the beginning of July, The Daring Club runs every Saturday at the Library from 1 – 2pm.  It is a craft-oriented session for children and their grown-ups; Library staff provide the materials, and children and grown-ups work on the activity together.  The activities have been very popular, as they are things us adults may have done in the “olden days” – coin rubbing, invisible-ink writing and french knitting.  It’s a great intergenerational thing to do with your littlies on a Saturday afternoon.

We are continuing to “spotlight” our different collections; our Pride display of new LGBT teen books has been very popular, with a lot of titles being issued.  Sylvia’s lovely rainbow lamp is the piece de resistance of the display!  Our children’s Māori collection has been refreshed and re-displayed; seeing familiar titles such as “Hairy Maclary”  and “Where the Wild Things Are” written in te reo Māori is lovely.

Some of our new fiction books include: The Vanishing Sky, The Silk House, Gulliver’s Wife, and John Grisham’s new one “Camino Winds”.  We have new non-fiction books on macrame, mixed media, rock art and bonsai, so if you’re looking for a new hobby, come see us.  Quirky title award goes to “Shark drunk: the art of catching a large shark from a tiny rubber dinghy in a big ocean”.  To have a look at any of these new titles, visit our website: www.wls.org.nz

If you can’t get to the Library for any reason, remember our Libby app – all the ebooks and audiobooks you can manage – free!  Library staff are always happy to help with setting you up with Libby.  Don’t forget to “like” us on Facebook, so we can keep you up-to-date with Library goings-on… but of course, we still prefer to see your lovely faces in person! 

“The only thing that you absolutely have to know, is the location of the library.” – Albert Einstein