WHAT’S ON
Lean in a little closer to the page because I’m going to confess something to you. Everyone has small, satisfying tasks that we pretend we don’t do or don’t confess to feeling joy about them. Relate?
My top three:
■ Making a ‘to do’ list but including tasks I have already done, just for the joy of crossing them off.
■ Pumping the exact amount of fuel to a round dollar.
■ Weeding out a Nora Roberts book (or any prolific author’s book if I am honest) for its condition. Gasp!
The satisfaction of finding a well-read book, opening it to find water damage or even worse a missing page, and removing it from our shelf runs deep and pure. To be fair to Nora, I am a big fan, and this isn’t a reflection on her or her writing so much as that there is only so much space.
Unless a library exists to archive and preserve materials for the ages, we have to weed.
As most public libraries do, we weed on three parameters: relevancy of the materials (especially important in nonfiction), most recent circulation, and condition. Nora Roberts is always relevant, and her books are always popular, but we have to be diligent about condition.
Weeding is a solitary time for librarians to put our hands
Friday Concert:
Te Takeretanga o Kura-hau-po¯ 12pm
Family Time in the Youth Space:
Giant board games, craft activities and family fun in the Youth Space every Sunday from 1pm to 4pm. Come on in with the wha¯ nau!
Raukawa Whanau Ora playgroup:
Te Takeretanga o Kura-hau-po¯ 9.30am-12pm Te Takeretanga o Kura-hau-po¯ —
Toddler Time:
on the collection, to better understand the gaps in what we offer, the surprising things that circulate, and the books that don’t go out, but maybe need to. We can’t all claim to be the world’s best weeders, I’m sure. We love books as much as anyone else, and sometimes hard decisions have to be made.
Weeding gives us a chance to do more with the books we have. It’s a bit like not seeing the wood for the trees! It helps give us ideas for displays promoting the wonderful collection of materials we have.
Noticing that we only have one particular book on a subject on the shelf is a reason to dig into what is circulating to see if we need to buy more.
The awesome thing for our libraries is that The Friends of Horowhenua Libraries and our
Children’s Library, every Monday, 2pm
Te Awahou Nieuwe Stroom — Children’s Library, every Monday 2.15pm
Raukawa Whanau Ora playgroup:
Te Takeretanga o Kura-hau-po¯ 9.30am-12pm JP Service: Te Takeretanga o Kura-hau-po¯ 11.30am-1.30pm
Toddler Time:
Library, 2pm
Social crochet and coffee club:
Te Takeretanga o Kurahau-po¯ 10.30am Te Takeretanga
Quiz Night:
Shannon librarians spend time going through our weeded books, sorting them for sale and in the process raise funds for library projects and activities.
Which also means, we know our books will be safe on someone else’s shelf to be enjoyed for some extra time. Books make their way to holiday baches, little free libraries and local rest homes. Families can stockpile children’s books with the added bonus that they needn’t worry about expensive books being damaged.
So it’s a win-win for everyone. I’m sure Nora Roberts will understand and forgive me but best keep it our wee secret — just in case!
■ Monday, July 6 to Friday, July 10: Annual Winter Used Book Sale: Te Takeretanga o Kura-hau-po¯ , 9am to 5.30pm.
Free entry, books $1 or less. o Kura-hau-po¯ 7pm $5
Tea & Tales:
Te Takeretanga o Kura-hau-po¯ 10.30am
Te Takeretanga o Kura-hau-po¯ 3.30pm-4.30pm
Lego Fun Hour: Local Music Showcase (Friday Concert):
Te Takeretanga o Kura-hau-po¯ 12pm
SeniorNet:
Get help with tablets, phones and laptops Te Awahou Nieuwe Stroom 10am-12pm
Te Takeretanga o Kura-haupo¯ 2pm-4pm