Sarah Ell investigates the renaissance of Auckland's libraries and their transformation into community centres for the digital age.
One of the pleasures of summer is relaxing with a good book -- and children on holiday especially can enjoy a host of summer reading. Aucklanders have access to an astonishing 3.5 million books, DVDs, games and reference materials, across 55 libraries from Wellsford to Waiuku, a service where items can be borrowed and returned at any branch.
But libraries are more than just receptacles for books -- increasingly, they are becoming community centres, meeting places, internet access points and venues to meet for coffee and join in with activities and clubs, says Auckland Libraries manager Allison Dobbie.

 "We've seen with the new library at Waiheke the extent to which people are using it for public meetings, author talks -- things that were difficult to do before because of a lack of space. The community have really taken the place to their heart and are engaging with it and using it in all sorts of ways."

 This year new libraries have opened at Waiheke, Te Atatu and Ranui, following Wellsford's last year. New buildings will open next year at Devonport in January and Otahuhu in July.

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