Our History

Searching for inspiration for today's post, I thought back to what I did on Sunday. Which was sit under some trees in the Auckland Domain with a bunch of librarians from around the region (no prizes for the best plural for a group of librarians, but we would be interested in what you came up with). There was good food, good coffee (the beverage of choice for librarians) and good music from the Jazz band warming up in the Band Rotunda (which meant Sean's banjo was unfortunately superfluos to requirements).

This was followed by a visit to the wonderful Auckland War Memorial Museum (which included a special Waitangi Day presentation by the Museum cultural group which had us in awe at their skill and laughing at their antics). It's been more years than I care to think about since I was at the Museum so I was really looking forward to this part of the day. Starting at the top and working down was a bit sobering, as it covers New Zealand (and the world) at war. Looking at our history in terms of warfare, I made the comment to a colleague that it seems we are defined by war. She pointed out that we weren't that different from most other countries in this.

I avoided the Avondale spiders in the Weird and Wonderful exhibit, jumped when the floor did in the Volcano house (even though I knew it was coming) and marvelled at the carving and weaving in the Maori Exhibition Hall. The special exhibition on Rudall Hayward (called the father of New Zealand film) was fascinating with clips from his movies. And I really only got around half the museum at best.

As usual, lots of what I observed will be followed up by some reading in the library over the next few weeks. That's the relationship between all the facilities around Auckland and the libraries. You can always come back to us at your leisure and find out more information. We even have books on the Museum itself. It was a great way to spend a sunny summer afternoon (and not just because the Museum was airconditioned).

And just like the Libraries, for Auckland residents and ratepayers, the Museum is free to visit. So put us both on your To Do list for 2011.

(image from the Auckland Museum website)