Te Ranga School pupils, from left, Charlee, Laytham, Summer, Ever, Emilio and Olivia read books in the school's new library.
Pupils at Te Ranga School no longer have a trek to get to their school library.
Previously housed in a small room at Te Ranga Hall next door, the library is now in a former classroom in the main school building.
“It was a bit of a hike, especially in the rain,” says principal Aimee Kennedy.
Two new roll-growth classrooms added to the school last year freed up space for the library.
“This [new library] makes it a lot more accessible for the teachers and the kids to get in here a lot more often.”
There has been a lot of community support for the project, which was led by the Friends of Te Ranga School.
“We did a pie fundraiser, an Easter fundraiser, raffles and we had some money from our fun run the previous year that we used for it.”
The Lion Foundation, Four Winds Foundation, Western Bay of Plenty District Council’s community matching fund and local businesses also helped out.
About $30,000 was spent on new shelving and books.
“We also did a book character day where kids dress as book characters and they brought books from home to donate to it as well and we actually got a few hundred books from that.”
The library management system was upgraded for ease of use and to allow senior students to run the library, adding another learning opportunity.
“The goal was to emphasise the pleasure of reading and enjoying it and just doing it because it’s something you want to do and not school work that you have to do,” says Aimee.
“Even with digital technology and computers and things like that, and kids reading books being online or on Kindle, I still think there is a lot of value in picking up up a book and physically moving the pages and looking at the pictures.
“And for parents, because the kids take the books our and they do home, actually sitting down with your kid with a book in front of you, because we don’t get a lot of quality time with our kids now, having 10 to 20 minutes a night to sit there and go through a book with your kids is actually something really special.”
The space is also used for games at lunchtimes.
“It’s a nice useable space now and the kids love it.”
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