Tauriko School Library Launch...

Our newly refurbished library was officially launched today.

It has been a real team effort to get the library to where it is today starting with the huge support and effort of the 2015-2017 PTA who worked tirelessly to fundraise the $28,500 that was tagged as Library money through to the parent support in bringing the library back together again.  

The library itself had been used as a classroom for 2 years so there were temporary quarters set up in a spare classroom initially, followed by an allocated area in the PAC, and then finally with no space available the library was relegated to storage with travelling book boxes that moved around the teams.

2017 saw the library space return to it’s core purpose. Over the last 4 months much time, energy and thought has gone into the design layout, paint colours, shelving, furniture, and general ambience using ideas from the National Library online resource and taking into consideration the wants and needs of our own School Librarians as representatives of our wider student community.

It is incredibly exciting to see the library as it stands today. It is evident that it is a central hub for our learners, young and old by the way families are already popping in and out before and after school. The potential for this to be developed further is also exciting. I can foresee a coffee machine in the cooking room once we get a school carpark sorted for our community so they can really stop and hang out.

Next steps for us also include: e-books and regular book events run by our school librarians.

There are several people that need to be thanked for their contributions to making this project come together:

• Fay Burke - Fay has always been involved with our library (for as long as I can remember and Bella is now at university!) - whether assisting with stock take, packing up or unpacking books. Fay has also had a major role in the design and purchase process and I have really appreciated and valued her wisdom and wise cracks. Thank you Fay.
• Our amazing PTA - what an awesome project to fundraise for! Again I would like to acknowledge that for this project it was the hard work and dedication of the 2015-2017 PTA.There is a special plaque inside the lbrary on the wall that acknowledges the PTA for this project.
• Thanks also to Emma Cumming who has been the PTA representative for the design and purchase process. It has been fun working with you Emma.
• Thank you to Rutherford Signs for making and donating the labels for the Fiction and Non-Fiction book ends. Thanks also to Jules Rutherford who spent a few hours sticking all the vinyl letters onto the newly painted book ends.
• Thanks also to the many parents who have supported along the way - this has happened in many shapes and forms, from packing and unpacking the library as it moved from venue to venue, or volunteering as a parent helper for a class group or during a lunchtime so our library can be open for all students during breaks.
• Chris from Hydestor Shelving and Todd from Furnware - both great to work with, thank you for your time and expertise.
• A really special thank you must go to our resident librarian. Cathy Ball constantly works beyond and above her job description, always going that extra mile with thought and dedication second to none. I certainly don’t know what we would do without her! Cathy, can you please come up so we can acknowledge you.

Thanks again to all involved, we are incredibly proud of the outcome.

Lisa Rose