Kiosk gives Rotorua community access to the online Cenotaph

Heritage & Research team lead Ani Sharland tries out He Pou Aroha Community Cenotaph. Photo / Supplied

Coinciding with Armistice Day commemorations is the installation of a digitisation kiosk at the Rotorua Library.

The kiosk gives the local community access to the online Cenotaph and allows people to scan and add their family's war-related memorabilia to the site.

An initiative of the Auckland War Museum, the kiosk has visited libraries, community centres and museums across the North Island. It arrived in Rotorua on October 19 and will be here until November 23.

Heritage and research team lead Ani Sharland said the arrival of the kiosk was timely and coincided with commemorating Armistice Day and 100 years since the end of World War I.

"It's an opportunity for the community to read and contribute material about family members and loved ones who served for Aotearoa New Zealand," Sharland said.

There are more than 127,000 records relating to those who served New Zealand on the online Cenotaph, including biographical information and photographs of those who served as well as images of their medals.

Searching for records of family members, reading information already on the database, and laying a virtual poppy, people can help enhance these records further by sharing their stories and information.

Sharland is encouraging members of the community to bring items such as photographs, letters, diaries and medals into the library to scan and upload by using the kiosk.

"At a time we are remembering those who served in the World War I conflict and all of the other conflicts that Aotearoa New Zealand as a country has been involved in, we ask you to dig out the photographs and objects that belong to your family and friends who served and help create a lasting legacy."

He Pou Aroha Community Cenotaph is easy to navigate and library staff are available to help people using the kiosk from Monday to Saturday.

There is no cost and no need to book. For further information visit the library website www.rotorualibrary.govt.nz.