Starring role for library's tale

The Rotorua District Library has been immortalised into a documentary.

The 125-year history of the Rotorua District Library has been immortalised into a documentary by local film-maker Kerry Fowler.

The film, titled A Passion For Books, was partially screened on Friday afternoon in the library in front of an invited audience.

There was also an awards ceremony for the photo competition Then and Now, the Rotorua Kete Photo Hunt, which ran during February.

Mr Fowler, who did a lot of work with late local historian Don Stafford, said the 75-minute documentary had a lot of interesting information for everyone.

"I am pretty happy with the documentary, it is not just about the library but also gets into the history of the area, as the library is part of the history of the area.

"Talking to some of the people who are Friends of the Library was interesting because they are all book lovers. It was really interesting talking to them about how the whole movement got going. Also I wanted to make it as interesting as possible to most people."

Photo competition winner Eric Smith submitted five entries. He took the winning picture in 1966 or 1967 he thought. It showed Rotorua's streets without a City Focus.

Mr Smith took home an iPad mini.

"It wasn't my intention to win. It was a toss up, because you think these photos aren't that old, and they don't depict anything that interesting."

Library programmes co-ordinator Karisma Vala said the photo had won because "it showed an area of town and an era in Rotorua's history that is not well documented."