Library Notes 6 November 2019
Published on November 06, 2019
Top 10 books
New Fiction
The Rogue of Fifth Avenue by Joanna Shupe
Stone Cold Heart by Caz Frear
The Woman who Kept Everything by Jane Gilley
The Woman in the White Kimono by Ana Johns
The Spider Dance by Nick Setchfield
All the Beautiful Strangers by Elizabeth Klehfoth
Discretion by Karina Halle
A Boy and his Dog at the End of the World by C.A. Fletcher
Everything you Ever Wanted by Luiza Sauma
The Burnt Country by Joy Rhoades
Pam Coleman- Community Engagement Librarian
‘Teamwork makes the dream work”
While this is generally a sport free column, it’s pretty hard not to comment on last month’s rugby world cup action, and I have to admit I’ve been impressed. Some might be sick and tired of the exhaustive sports metaphors used to describe and advocate teamwork, but they do ring true.
So in the spirit of teamwork, in order to ‘try’ and help a colleague this week, I volunteered to do some graphic design. How hard could it be to make a poster? Very hard! I failed hilariously. I submitted it with a spell-checked, grammatically correct and suitably whimsical note on the back, saying how talented said colleague was. (He then made me sign and date it!) Our wise boss then pointed out that an effective team assembles a diverse set of experiences, skills, and perspectives. The All Blacks don’t form a team with clones! We took a superhero stand and went back to work.
You may be thinking that while this is mildly entertaining, what has this to do with the library?
With the end of term and summer holidays fast approaching, our Children’s Team have donned their capes, masks and tights and are working hard to prepare for our annual Summer Reading programme. In fact our children’s librarians actually work hard all year round with teachers, parents and whānau to help children cultivate a love of reading. So it’s an apt time to talk about teamwork.
We will talk at some point about how, as a team, they do it, but an important question to ask is why do they do it?
Some might say that if we don’t encourage a love of reading and learning, our children and our grandchildren may be less literate and less numerate than we are; be less employable; they’ll be less able to navigate the world, to understand it, to solve problems; they may be more easily lied to and misled.
But let’s think differently! As a ‘team’ we have an obligation to let our children imagine. It’s easy to pretend that nobody can change anything; that we are in a world in which society is huge and the individual is less than nothing. Through books though we can read about history, culture, sports and fairy tales. The characters might fail but they pick themselves up and try again. We can see that individuals change their world over and over, individuals make the future, and they do it by imagining that things can be different. And with that they can become anything they want – a writer or a graphic designer, or an All Black and superhero!
What’s On
Exhibitions:
There be Dragons and other Creatures by local artist Vicky Millman: Friday 1 November to Saturday 30 November Te Takeretanga o Kura-hau-pō
Anne Frank ‘Let me be myself ‘Exhibition: Friday 1 November to Monday 2 March 2020 Te Awahou Nieuwe Stroom
Heritage room:
The Heritage rooms at Te Takeretanga o Kura-hau-pō are manned by volunteers 10am-12.30 pm Monday to Saturday and Wednesday and Thursday afternoons 1.00pm – 3.00pm.
Wednesday November 6:
Quiz Night: Te Takeretanga o Kura-hau-pō $5
Thursday November 7:
Raukawa Whanau Ora playgroup: Te Takeretanga o Kura-hau-pō 9.30am-12.00pm
Lego Hour: Te Awahou Nieuwe Stroom 3.30pm-4.30pm
Friday November 8:
Friday Concert: Te Takeretanga o Kura-hau-pō 12pm
SeniorNet: Get help with your tablets, phones and laptops
-Te Awahou Nieuwe Stroom 10am-12pm
-Te Takeretanga o Kura-hau-pō 2pm -4pm
Monday November 11:
Tai Chi Te Takeretanga o Kura-hau-pō Main Space 10am
Tuesday November 12:
Raukawa Whanau Ora playgroup: Te Takeretanga o Kura-hau-pō 9.30am-12.00pm
JP Service: Te Takeretanga o Kura-hau-pō 11.30am-1.30pm
Wednesday November 13:
Social crochet and coffee club: Te Takeretanga o Kura-hau-pō 10.30am
Quiz Night- 7pm Te Takeretanga o Kura-hau-pō $5