'Miss, Miss, can we read?" asked the boys at Tupu Youth Library in Clover Park, south of Otara, on a recent Saturday. "There's no more rubbish . . . I wanna read." Kids begging librarians to let them read? What is this perverse magic?
The friendly security guard fills me in: if the kids pick up rubbish from the park outside, they can join in the ping-pong tournament in the middle of the library. If younger children read a set amount, they can hit the paddles too. And presumably, if there's a lack of rubbish, it's reading all round for ping-pong eligibility. Oh happy rubbish-free reading day.
It's true that playing ping-pong is not reading books but innovative Tupu ("new growth") is more like an informal youth community centre that includes books and computers than a strait-laced information-only library.
Local schools - teachers and students - were asked what they wanted during the design process. In a financially-poor suburb, where half the residents are under 30 and a quarter are under 15 and houses are full (or more than full), teenagers asked not only for access to computers, graphic novels, DVDs and music but also for a quiet place to do their homework.
Sixteen years after its 2001 opening, the place looks great. It's a welcoming, comfortable curved rectangle of manageable size, offering an assortment of quiet and play zones decked out in funky furniture. The clear-glass walls presumably help discourage felt-marker vandalism, while letting the kids treat the park as the library's back yard.
