Month: February 2022

eBooks and eAudiobooks

Just a little reminder of the wonderful digital resources we have with our eBook and eAudiobook libraries.

BorrowBox and Libby are our two online libraries that are free to use with your Palmerston North Library card. You can find more information on them here.

The benefits of using eBooks include: you can change the size of the font, there is a dyslexia friendly format, and they don’t take up much space in your suitcase when you go on holiday!

Some of the benefits of eAudio books include selecting books by the narrator and the option to change the speed. Plus they are really good to make you walk a wee bit further if you listen to them on your daily walks… why wouldn’t you want to walk a bit further if you want to find out what happens?!

Library Hack: Keyboard shortcuts

The wonderful team at the Tauranga Libraries shared with us this really helpful sheet on common shortcuts for the keyboard. We updated it and added some more – it doesn’t have everything but does have some common useful shortcuts.

WARNING! Geek Level = High

@libraryhacks are a new series of technology and library related tips to help make your life easier – look out for them.

CTRL + CCopy the highlighted text, picture or file
CTRL + XCut the highlighted text, picture or file
CTRL + VPaste the copied or cut text, picture or file
CTRL + ZUndo any action
CTRL + SHIFT + ZRedo last action
CTRL + SSave file or document
ALT + TABSwitch between open windows
CTRL + TABSwitch between open tabs in web browser
CTRL + SHIFT + TReopen a closed tab in web browser
CTRL + FSearch for a specific word or phrase in any document or web page
SHIFT + ARROW KEYSHighlight text
CTRL + ALT + DELAdvanced options like Task Manager, Shutdown and Restart
WINDOWS + LLock the computer screen
WINDOWS + DDesktop toggle
WINDOWS + .Emoji extravaganza 😎

Click the keyboard image below to enlarge it

Summer Reading Programme 2021/2022

We have just completed the Summer Reading Programme for 2021/2022.

The Summer Reading Programme is an annual reading programme for children aged 4-10 years, with young teenagers in the 11-13 year age bracket taking part in the iRead programme. Plus there is even a Te Reo Māori and multilingual option.

This year we moved the programmes online due to COVID-19. The format remained the same with kids reading books and getting incentives, only the delivery was different. For the Summer Reading programme there was still the required 4 ‘book chats’ which kids can log online, but there were also extra challenges to take part in, like Read somewhere unique or unusual and Make, hide or hind a Summer Reading space rock.

Although there may have been some initial challenges with the programme such as learning how to log in and log reading, the overall feedback was positive. And we still enjoyed interacting with the kids as they came in to get their books.

It was great to see that although we had a different format some things remained the same. Like the Diary of a Wimpy kid and Harry Potter books, and the popular authors like David Walliams, Enid Blyton and Rick Riordan continue to be a popular choices.

And now preparations are underway for our next reading programme – see you there!

Library Hack: Free ebooks!

“Free and liberated ebooks, carefully produced for the true book lover.”

Read the classics for free online or download to your own device as professionally-formatted ebooks.

Standard Ebooks are a volunteer based platform who source digitally transcribed books, proofread and professionally design and typeset them for your reading pleasure.

From Winnie-the-Pooh to Sherlock Holmes, they have it all. Or something a little more epic like Tolstoy or Shakespeare, then look no further!

@libraryhacks are a new series of technology and library related tips to help make your life easier – look out for them.

Reading in your own language

Palmerston North is a very global city with our communities coming from all over the world. To celebrate this diversity we have an amazing range of books in many different languages here at the City Library.

These include Chinese, Farsi, Urdu, Arabic, and more! See the list below for a full list of the languages. There are books for adults and children, in fiction and nonfiction, and even graphic novels. The collection also includes books to help adults learn English.

Come and see the Intercultural Services Officer if you wish to have anything added to our collection. 

Language
Afrikaans
Arabic
Bengali
Chinese
Dari
Dutch
Farsi/Persian
French
German
Gujarati
Hindi
Bahasa Indonesian
Italian
Japanese
Khmer
Korean
Nepali
Panjabi
Pilipino/Tagalog
Portuguese
Russian
Samoan
Sinhala
Spanish
Tamil
Thai
Tongan
Urdu
Vietnamese

Lunar New Year

Every year millions of people around the world celebrate the Lunar New Year. This year, the Chinese, Korean and Vietnamese communities shared some ideas of how they celebrate so you can join in with this. Check out their posters to get some ideas.

Top 10 Romances for Valentines Day

Valentine’s Day is coming up in a few days time, so we scanned the shelves for our most popular romantic fiction books to share with you. Because even if you think that Valentine’s Day is over-commercialised, the borrowing numbers don’t lie and our borrowers love luuurve.

And even if these books are some of our most-loved books, it doesn’t mean you can’t get your hands on them. If the book you want is on loan, you can still place a reserve for your desired book. Here’s our guide on how to place a reserve for collection at your preferred library location.

10. The One Plus One, by Jojo Moyes.

Suppose your life sucks. A lot. Your husband has done a vanishing act, your teenage stepson is being bullied, and your math whiz daughter has a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity that you can’t afford to pay for. That’s Jess’s life in a nutshell-until an unexpected knight in shining armor offers to rescue them. Only Jess’s knight turns out to be Geeky Ed, the obnoxious tech millionaire whose vacation home she happens to clean. But Ed has big problems of his own, and driving the dysfunctional family to the Math Olympiad feels like his first unselfish act in ages. Maybe ever.

Available in physical copy, eBook, eAudiobook and Audio disc. Find it here.

9. Legacy, by Nora Roberts.

Adrian Rizzo is a beautiful young woman with a successful business and a wonderful family and friends. She’s worked hard to build a happy life for herself. When she receives a death threat in the post, she puts it down to jealousy and tries to forget about it. But Adrian doesn’t realise that it’s more than just spite. Someone is very unhappy about her happy life and will stop at nothing to bring it all crashing down.

Available in physical copy. Find it here.

8. Still Me, by Jojo Moyes.

Lou Clark knows how many miles lie between her new home in New York and her new boyfriend Sam in London. She knows her employer is a good man and she knows his wife is keeping a secret from him. But what Lou doesn’t know is she’s about to meet someone who’s going to turn her whole life upside down. Because Josh will remind her so much of a man she used to know that it’ll hurt.

Available in physical copy (including large print), eBook and eAudiobook. Find it here.

Still Me is the final book of the Me Before You trilogy. Check out the first book; Me Before You, and the second; After You.

7. Other Women, by Cathy Kelly.

Three women. Three secrets. Three tangled lives.

Sid wears her independence like armour. So when she strikes up a rare connection with unlucky-in-love Finn, they are both determined to prove that men and women can just be friends. Can’t they? Marin has the perfect home, attentive husband, two beloved children – and a secret addiction to designer clothes. She knows she has it all, so why can’t she stop comparing herself to other women? Bea believes that we all have one love story – and she’s had hers. Now her life centres around her son, Luke, and her support group of fierce single women. But there’s something that she can’t tell anyone.

Available in physical copy (including large print). Find it here.

6. The Affair, by Danielle Steel.

Nadia considered her life perfect, married to bestselling novelist, Nicolas Bateau, who adored her and their two daughters. Until the tabloid press leak a story of Nicolas’s affair with dazzling young actress Pascale Solon. Heartbroken and publicly humiliated, Nadia looks to her family for comfort, support and help to try to put her life back on course. As mother and daughters spend more time together, they come to realize what matters most in life.

Available in physical copy (including large print), and in eBook format. Find it here.


5. All the colours of night, by Jayne Ann Krentz.

North Chastain possesses a paranormal talent that gives him the ability to track down the most dangerous psychic criminals. When his father suddenly falls into a coma-like state, North is convinced it was caused by a deadly artifact that traces back to the days of a secret government program known only as the Bluestone Project. North knows his only hope of saving his father is to find the artifact. He is good when it comes to tracking down killers, but to locate the relic he’s going to need help from a psychic who knows the shadowy world of obsessive collectors, deceptive dealers and ruthless raiders….

Available in physical copy and eAudiobook. Find it here.

4. The Return, by Nicholas Sparks.

Trevor Benson never intended to move back to New Bern, North Carolina. But when a mortar blast outside the hospital where he worked as an orthopedic surgeon sent him home from Afghanistan with devastating injuries, the dilapidated cabin he’d inherited from his grandfather seemed as good a place to regroup as any. Tending to his grandfather’s beloved bee hives while preparing for a second stint in medical school, Trevor isn’t prepared to fall in love with a local…

Available in physical copy (including large print). Find it here.

3. Hideaway, by Nora Roberts.

Caitlyn Sullivan had come from a long line of Hollywood royalty, stretching back to her Irish immigrant great-grandfather. At nine, she was already a star – yet still an innocent child who loved to play hide and seek with her cousins at the family home in Big Sur. It was during one of those games that she disappeared. Some may have considered her a pampered princess, but Cate was in fact a smart, scrappy fighter, and she managed to escape her abductors. Dillon Cooper was shocked to find the bloodied, exhausted girl huddled in his house – but when the teenager and his family heard her story they provided refuge, reuniting her with her loved ones. Cate’s ordeal, though, was far from over.

Available in physical copy (including large print). Find it here.

2. The Giver of Stars, by Jojo Moyes.

Alice Wright marries handsome American Bennett Van Cleve hoping to escape her stifling life in England. But small-town Kentucky proves equally claustrophobic, especially living alongside her overbearing father-in-law. When a call goes out for a team of women to deliver books as part of Eleanor Roosevelt’s new traveling library, Alice signs on. Though they face all kinds of dangers, they’re committed to their job– bringing books to people who have never had any, sharing the gift of learning that will change their lives.

Available in physical copy (including large print), eBook and eAudiobook. Find it here.

1. The Duke and I, by Julia Quinn.

In the ballrooms and drawing rooms of Regency London, rules abound. From their earliest days, children of aristocrats learn how to address an earl and curtsey before a prince – while other dictates are unspoken yet universally understood. A proper duke should be imperious and aloof. A young, marriageable lady should be amiable…but not too amiable. Daphne Bridgerton has always failed at the latter.

Now a series created by Shonda Rhimes for Netflix.

Available in physical copy (including large print), eBook and eAudiobook. Find it here.

Click and Collect

The City Library now has the option for you to ‘Click and Collect’ items to borrow.

How Click & Collect works at Central Library:

  • Reserve your books using the app, Library Catalogue or by phoning. Be sure to select “Central Click and Collect” as your pickup location.
  • You will be notified by email, text or phone call when your items are ready.
  • Once you’ve received notification that your items are ready to collect, bring your library card to the window to the right of the Central Library’s main entrance during opening hours (up the ramp from Te Marae o Hine / The Square, or up the stairs from George Street).
  • Please wear a mask when approaching the window.
  • Library staff will retrieve your items and check them out for you.

How Click & Collect works at Community Libraries:

  • Reserve your books using the app, library Catalogue or by phoning. Select your location for pick-up.
  • You will be notified by email, text or phone call when your items are ready.
  • Once you’ve received notification that your items are ready to collect, bring your library card to the Library. Click & Collect pick-up locations will be outside the Library, and will happen in a contactless manner, but specifics will vary by location.
  • Please wear a mask when picking up Click & Collect items.
  • Library staff will retrieve your items, check them out for you and bring them out to you.

Good things to know:

  • Placing a hold/reserve is free, whether it’s contactless or not.
  • Vaccine Passes are not required for Click & Collect
  • If you didn’t choose “Click and Collect”, your reserve will be available building as per usual. If you change your mind after placing reserve, see this How To Place a Hold Guide to change pickup location or give us a call and we can sort it for you.
  • The normal pickup time applies – you have 10 days from time of notification.
  • Normal issue periods apply and you can renew if no one else has a hold.
  • If you’re picking up items for a family member or a friend, just bring their card with you.

To get you started, here’s a refresher on How to place a hold on our website or our app (available for iOS and Android):

If you want to edit your hold using the website, here are the instructions:

New Heritage Display in Time for Waitangi Day

Image depicts manual labourer with apron tied around waist, arms raised as they lift a tied bundle of long flax leaves.

To commemorate Waitangi Day, the library’s Kaitaurima Māori intern, Harmony Governor, has put together an exhibition exploring early forms of partnership between Māori and Pākehā.  On view on the First Floor of the City Library, this display focuses on trade, exchange and natural resources.