March is New Zealand Book Month, a nationwide celebration of books written by New Zealanders and about New Zealand. Ordinarily NZBM is held towards the end of the year but a decision was made not to hold it last year, and instead hold it early this year to avoid any clash with the Rugby World Cup. Along with publishers, booksellers, and other libraries, Masterton Library will be joining in with this very worthwhile initiative and we hope you will join us in taking part.
The aim of New Zealand Book Month is to promote New Zealand books and to get more of the books we read to be local ones. The theme of this year’s programme is ‘Books change lives’ and there is no doubting the positive impact books can have on our lives. Reading New Zealand books helps us learn more about our country and our fellow New Zealanders, and helps foster a greater sense of our identity.
As part of our celebration of New Zealand Book Month we will be running several competitions designed to promote New Zealand books. The first of these is a crossword puzzle based on New Zealand books, and every completed entry will go in the draw to win a great New Zealand book, generously donated by Hedleys Bookshop. Don’t forget that if you need any help with the puzzle ask a member of library staff or use the library catalogue to find the answers.
The second competition, again offered in conjunction with Hedleys Bookshop, is a word-find puzzle aimed at our younger borrowers. The words to find in this puzzle are all well known New Zealand children’s books and authors. Once again every correctly completed puzzle will go in the draw to win a great prize donated by Hedleys.
Our third competition requires participants to try and match members of library staff with their favourite New Zealand books. In the past this has been a very interesting exercise and a great way to get to know your library staff. It has even caused a great deal of discussion and intrigue amongst library staff as we try to guess or colleagues reading habits. A prize will be given to anyone who manages to get them all right and if no one does then all completed entries will be put in a prize draw.
We will be highlighting New Zealand Books in our regular displays and have created a set of bookmarks showcasing bestselling New Zealand books from last year, and some old favourites from the past. During New Zealand Book Month the children’s department will be making a special effort to read New Zealand books during the Rainbow Kids preschool sessions. There are many fantastic and hugely popular New Zealand children’s books available and a certain scraggly dog from Donaldson’s Dairy is sure to feature at some point.
New Zealand has a strong literary tradition with names like Katherine Mansfield, Janet Frame and more recently Lloyd Jones being highly regarded locally and internationally. Here at the Masterton library we have thousands of books about our country and by New Zealanders and we consider the promotion of New Zealand books to be an important part of our role. New Zealand Book Month showcases the great value and variety of New Zealand books and is an opportunity for us to promote the many wonderful titles we have available here at the library. We hope you will join us in this celebration of the rich and ever-growing treasury of New Zealand books.
The competition forms are available here, at the library or from Hedley's Bookshop.
Jon Adams
Community Outreach Librarian
Masterton District Librar
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