Palmerston North City Library offers free poems at the press of a red button

"Weather has nothing to do with what our day brings, it is our attitude, and the song our heart sings." This is a line from Belinda M. Law's poem Another Grey Day, printed by the Poetry Machine. Photo / Judith Lacy

Happy New Year from the City Library team.

As the weather gets hotter and the sun blasts down upon the leafy promenades of Palmerston North, it’s medically proven that you’re safer to stay inside with a book. Stock up now at your local library!

For tamariki and rangatahi, the Summer Reading programme proceeds apace. Every year, hundreds of readers put in the mahi and get a few treats along the way, with a party at the end. As an adult, you can also join in the fun by reading whatever you like over the summer and then choosing your reward. Go on, you deserve it.

In December, Ashhurst Library celebrated 30 years in the old post office building. Beginning as a volunteer-driven initiative, the library is now well-established as a vital community space. It’s worth popping in to chat with the friendly staff, grab some great books, and have a look inside the old safe. You never know, we hear rumours that they often have some wonderful baked treats out there, depending on when you visit.

The library app is currently unavailable and, as W.B. Yeats once said, “mere anarchy is loosed upon the world”. This particular app is used by many libraries worldwide, so the pressure is on to get a replacement, but sadly it may take some time. While you can always renew or reserve items online at citylibrary.pncc.govt.nz, by ringing 06 351 4100 or in person at any library, we acknowledge the app was well used and is sorely missed by many people. Our apologies for this inconvenience. We wish we could do something about it, but our hands are tied.

You know the feeling you get when you’re walking around, and are struck by the yearning for a quick poem? Well, the library has got you covered. For a quick poetry fix, come and try the Poetry Machine – just hit the big red button and you’ll get a poem printed out at random from the many submissions received.

The Poetry Machine is currently at the registration desk on level 1 of Central Library. It will be meandering around various library locations, so keep an eye on the Palmerston North City Library Facebook page for updates.

And as for that other feeling you get, the one where you can’t decide what to read? Grab a biography. As a customer once said, biographies are great because even if you don’t know the person in question, you can almost guarantee it’ll be a good read. After all, if the person’s life story wasn’t very interesting they probably wouldn’t have a book written about them. Covering everything from movie stars to racing cars, biographies can either be a source of shared life experiences or a window into how the other half lives.

If you haven’t taken our brief survey yet, we’d really appreciate it if you did. You can find it on the library blog at citylibrary.pncc.govt.nz. This helps us focus our efforts across all our locations: Community Libraries, Youth Space, Blueprint Makerspace, the Mobile Library, and the Central Library. Whether you currently use the library or not, your feedback is invaluable.