Aramoho next in line for library hub

Libraries manager Pete Gray with Hellen Puhipuhi, who runs the Born and Raised Pasifika childcare centre. Photo / Holly Hoddinott

Aramoho will be the next Whanganui suburb to get its own self-service library, when the dental clinic at the former Aramoho School in Mitchell St is converted in early April.

Hellen Puhipuhi, who runs the Born and Raised Pasifika childcare centre — owned by the Pasifika Vision Charitable Trust, which has been based at the Aramoho School site for the past 18 years - says it's marvellous to be getting a new injection of life on the premises after the school was closed in 2016.

Hellen Puhipuhi says the library will give Aramoho an opportunity to celebrate its uniqueness and appreciate the diversity in the community.

"This will be a great way to bring our community together. Rather than driving to town, locals will be able to walk here with their families, enjoy some books, have a cuppa and get to know each other."

She says a coffee cart selling espresso coffee will be situated outside the library but there will also be facilities inside so people can have a cheap instant coffee or cup of tea for a koha.

She says greater access to books will be hugely beneficial for Aramoho children.

"There's such an interesting range of books out there, giving children a chance to explore legends, history and stories that are meaningful to them.

"Books are wonderful for our young ones because it gives them that warm, fuzzy feeling when they are cuddled up with you reading."

She says the library will cater for all ages, from little ones to the elderly. It will be open four days a week — Tuesday to Friday, from 11am to 3pm — and volunteers, including three staff from Born and Raised Pasifika, will be on hand to help visitors.

Library performance manager, Sonny Tamihana, is organising the design and fit-out of the new library. He expects the fit-out will be completed by late March, with a library opening expected to be held in April.

He says the library will be stocked with 1200 adult and children's fiction and non-fiction books, with a focus on the most popular titles. The collection will be regularly refreshed by the new mobile library vans.

There will be free Wi-Fi internet access and two desktop PCs with the library's free Internet on Demand service.

A self-service machine will be in place for issuing and returning books and paying overdue charges by eftpos. A touchscreen PC will let visitors log into accounts and search for books and reserve them.

Libraries manager Pete Gray, says, "As far as we know, installing self-service libraries in suburbs is a first for New Zealand and the world.

"With a bit of lateral thinking we've come up with a way to make books much more accessible to our community."

He says Aramoho is the third Whanganui suburb to get its own self-service library, after Whanganui East and Castlecliff.

Hellen Puhipuhi says she's "humbled and blessed to have had Pete and Sonny from the library come in with practical support to make our dream of a local library a reality".

She says it's all action at the old Aramoho School site, with arrangements recently made for the main school building to be leased for a Pasifika Innovation Hub as well.