Top 5 for Friday - Celebrating Auckland

It's Anniversary weekend. Auckland and Northland celebrate with a Public holiday which has been around since 1842 when Lieutenant-Governor William Hobson gave us all the day off. This stems from a decision in 1841 when the government designated the 29th of January as Auckland’s official anniversary day and coincided with the date of his arrival in the Bay of Islands in 1840. And that's your history lesson for today (although if you want to know more, I got this information from a Yellow Pages website)

On to our Top 5. There is plenty to choose from when you consider the volumes of books and other resources on our shelves of Auckland and Aucklanders from the land, the air, the sea, at work and at play, yesterday, today and even into the future. In no particular order, here are five of my favourites.

1. Tamaki-Makaurau : myths and legends of Auckland landmarks / Edith Phillips-Gibson ; illustrated by Loc Keokatavong. The Auckland area has many wondrous landmarks, passageways, caves and pa sites. Accompanying these formations are equally wondrous tales of how they were formed, whether it be by natural forces or by the ancient Maori people who lived in the area. The myths and legends in this collection are retold here as they might have been in earlier times. There are stories of enemies sworn, of taniwha roaring, of lovers forlorn, of courageous people and of landmarks that are today explored by many visitors and residents of New Zealand's largest city. I love the connection between the oral tales of yesterday with the places of today that myths give us. Despite, at times, New Zealand being quite a young country, we have a wealth of these tales if we just take the time to listen to them (or read them).
2. Edible Auckland : foodie adventures from Pokeno to Mangawhai / Jennifer Yee. A glovebox-sized guide to the Auckland region's best foodie outlets. Each entry includes full contact details, range of products and trading hours and is listed in alphabetical order and can be found within its relevant chapter, i.e. central, north, east, west or south Auckland... Plan a gourmet weekend escape, day trip or just a few hours tasting your way around specialty food and cooks stores. With Edible Auckland in the glovebox you'll never be lost for where to shop for good food and produce - and you'll never have an excuse to go hungry! I can personally vouch for several of the entries in this book (and would like to have the time and opportunity to sample many more). I can't think of many better ways to get set about a tour of Auckland (unless it involved books or libraries).
3. The life and times of Auckland : the colourful story of a city / Gordon McLauchlan. Since pre-European times, Auckland has been culturally different from the rest of the country. Today, it is culturally and ethnically diverging further. Its city life is a rowdy coming together of diverse people, implicit with opportunity and excitement. As Gordon McLauchlan describes in this book, Auckland's past is no different from its present. This lively people's history, packed with colourful stories about the place and its people, tells how it got to be where everybody seems to want to live. We are spoilt for choice when it comes to histories of the city. This is one of the 21st Century examples of a very readable non-fiction book. An honourable mention in the history category would go to From Tamaki-makau-rau to Auckland / R.C.J. Stone which covers the pre-European history of the region.
4. City of volcanoes : a geology of Auckland / E.J. Searle ; edited and with geographic notes by R.D. Mayhill. Readable account of the development of Auckland's landscape and its remarkable collection of tiny volcanic sites. To this edition has been added material discussing the realtionships of landforms with other natural features and people. I find the idea that Auckland is built on a field of volcanoes fascinating and just a little disturbing. This book is adult non-fiction, but if you are looking for something a little lighter or for children, try Maria Gill's Rangitoto : te toka tū moana : the rock standing in the ocean.
5. Hidden gems of Northland / Martin Robinson Whether you prefer a leisurely ramble through local museums, glow-worm caves or country churches, or if you'd rather hit the bike trail, scuba dive or lounge with the locals in the cosiest pubs, "Hidden gems of Northland" opens up a treasure chest of curiosities and activities to be discovered North of Aucland. Being an 'Aucklander' is quite a new thing to me. I started out as a North Aucklander and (just quietly) will probably still cheer for the Taniwha's of Northland over the North Harbour or Auckland rugby teams. So in this Top 5, I am not prepared to forget that it is also Northland's Anniversary Day. I can definitely recommend visits to lots of different parts of Northland, from the Kaipara Harbour where I grew up, to Ahipara up near the top of the country and back down to the East Coast to events such as the annual Jazz & Blues Festival in the Bay of Islands, stopping for chocolate at Makana on the way past. Unfortunately the weather forecast means this might not be the weekend to take a trip away, but raincheck it for later in the year.

If you want to find out about walks, museums, wine, golf courses, history, etc of Auckland or Northland, the easiest way is to do a keyword search in our new catalogue and use that as your starting point.

Have an awesome, safe (and dry) weekend everyone. Ka kite.

G'day - Namaste

This week is a real United Nations one. Yesterday we were up in the northern hemisphere with the Scots. Today we head west to a celebrations with a couple of other countries.

They are our nearest neighbours, many of us have spent time there and we LOVE to beat them at whatever sport is going. Today the Australians break our the barbies and head to the beaches to celebrate Australia Day. They have had a hard time of it lately (and that is not just the loss of the Ashes to England), so a little bit of lightness will go down well across the ditch.

There are more different subject headings than the computer can cope with when I type Australia into our catalogue for a subject search. Some are quite curious (Australian bottles or Australian eccentrics) but others speak for themselves (Australia Discovery and Exploration). Australian fiction, especially the books set in the outback are also very popular. Authors such as Peter Watt, Tamara McKinley, James Roy and Bryce Courtenay are just the tip of the iceberg and some of my favourites are the childrens and young adult authors such as Mem Fox and John Marsden.

Meanwhile, further west, India is celebrating Republic Day which some websites call the "culmination of Ghandi's dream". It is a vast and colourful land, which I have not visited but friends who have come home with telling of a vast tapestry of people and cultures all interwoven into the largest democracy in the world.

Just as with Australia, a subject search in our catalogue for India brings up a wide variety of resources from fiction and non-fiction to books, music and DVD's. Read the book Q & A by Vikas Swarup and then watch the movie that was made from it Slumdog Millionare. Visit and view Bollywood through the library and check out our multicultural resources to see if we have reading in your first language. We have 27 different languages in our collection so check out this link to our website to see if yours is included.

Wherever you are in New Zealand or the world, have an awesome day everyone.

Anniversary and Waitangi Weekend Hours

With the exception of Botany Library, all Auckland Libraries branches will be closed on Auckland Anniversary Day and Waitangi Day.

Auckland Libraries branches (that includes all former Rodney Libraries)
Monday 31 January - Closed
Sunday 6 February - Closed

Botany Library
Monday 31 January - 10:00am - 5:30pm
Sunday 6 February - 10:00am - 5:30pm

Mobile Library
Monday 31 January - Will not run
Sunday 6 February - Will not run

Och - laddies and lassies

'Tis the day when we celebrate all things Scottish. The 25th of January is the birthday of Robert Burns, famous Scottish poet and Auckland Libraries are celebrating with Burns Night events in some of our city libraries. Here's the news from our website.

Auckland Libraries invites you to celebrate Burns Night, the anniversary of the birthday of Scotland’s national poet Robert Burns, born on 25 January 1759 in Alloway, Ayrshire, Scotland.

View a display of Scottish national costume, as well as a selection of resources on Scotland and Robert Burns, at the Waitakere Central Library and the New Lynn War Memorial Library

Find out more about Robert Burns and Scottish history
Who was Robert Burns?
History of Scottish settlers in New Zealand
Early Scottish settlers in West Auckland
St Andrews Society of New Lynn
Scottish place names in West Auckland
Websites on Scottish genealogy

Discover more about Robert Burns and Scottish history and genealogy with our booklist of suggested titles

Sign up now for our NextReads Historical Fiction monthly eNewsletter - January's eNewsletter features a selection of recent and recommended titles set in Scotland.

If the links don't work from this Blog post then head on over to this News Item from our Auckland Libraries website and link through from that page. You might want to bookmark the home page for future reference.

Cometh the hour. Cometh the Man

It's not an original quote (in fact there is quite some discussion about who can be credited with the original words - but that's a whole other subject for another day).

The political year kicks off formally today with the visit by all the big-hitters to the home of Ratana. And when I heard all the broadcasters contemplating this annual pilgrimage, it got me wondering just what I did know about the man who founded both the Church and the political movement.

Throughout history, certain individuals with a rare passion for justice and a gift of insight have been able to rally and motivate people through periods of great social change, sometimes defying all odds and being greatly misunderstood in the process. Tahupotiki Wiremu Ratana was such a man, called to prominence at a pivotal time, with a message for the Maori people and for the wider world. After a profound vision he became a healer of people's physical ailments and a lifter of ancient curses; and he was also a leader in healing the 'land sickness' of the Maori, after decades of land confiscation by the Government and the Crown. As founder of the Ratana Church and the Ratana movement, he led his followers in the quest to unite all Maori under one God, and to restore the Treaty of Waitangi as the founding document of the nation, giving Maori equal rights to British citizens. This is part of the publishers description for the book Ratana The Prophet by Keith Newman. But it is just one of the resources we have on botht he man himself and religion that has grown based on his teachings. A Keyword search for Ratana produces several more, although some of these are valuable editions and can only be accessed in the special collections in the library.

You can also access a wide range of resources through either the Libraries Digital resources or from websites such as NZ History online.