Palmerston North City Library staff to share their genealogy superpowers

As part of Family History Month, on August 28 Linley Robinson will talk about how to use DNA results for genealogical research. Photo / NZME

Greetings, fans of the written, spoken, sung, and acted word.

August is Family History Month, and the programme is packed with great sessions that will help you learn how to trace your lineage.

Library staff, in association with the New Zealand Society of Genealogists, will share their genealogy superpowers, tips and tricks, as they show you the best resources to use.

There is a talk about DNA tests, a movie showing, and a session where you’re invited to bring in a taonga that relates to your family history.

The full schedule is at citylibrary.pncc.govt.nz.

The City Library’s Poetry Machine is going on tour.

The machine is packing its bags for Christchurch, where it will take part in the fabulous Word Festival. If you haven’t seen it, the poetry machine is housed in an old portable turntable chassis.

Push a button, and it prints out a poem, randomly selected from its collection of verse submitted by local writers. We’re hoping it will come back with submissions from Christchurch, in the form of a North-South poetry exchange.

He Taonga te Pūmahara Memory Matters is a new collection targeted at people with dementia and memory loss, as well as their whānau and caregivers.

Memory Matters was developed in consultation with groups across New Zealand, as well as local organisations like Alzheimers Manawatū.

Along with books, the collection includes games, puzzles, jigsaws, activity boards and tactile fidget widgets.

One item that is sure to be popular is the Simple Music Players – preloaded with hundreds of songs and themed to suit the listener eg. classical, popular hits through the decades, and New Zeland music.

Memory Matters debuted at Roslyn Library in July, and will appear at Central Library during August, in the fiction zone on the first floor.

The City Library, Palmy Play and Wooly Riot are working with the community to bring you the George Street Reef - a vibrant, colourful art installation and play space for everyone to enjoy.

You can craft sea creatures and coral from home or join us at a weekly Unwind session - Sundays at the Central Library from 12.30pm-3pm.

The purr-fect poetry of the Meow Gurrrls features on National Poetry Day, Friday, August 23 at 5.30pm. They will run a workshop on Saturday, August 24 at 10.30am. Both sessions are at Central Library. A collective from Wellington and the Kāpiti Coast, the Meow Gurrrls are named after their regular meeting place, Meow Cafe in Wellington.

Aligning with the maramataka Māori (lunar calendar), Mahuru Māori runs from September 3 to October 3. This is an opportunity to challenge yourself to learn and speak te reo Māori.

During Mahuru we also celebrate Te Wiki o te Reo Māori from September 14-21.

On September 14, 1972, a call for the recognition and revitalisation of te reo Māori was presented to Parliament by representatives of Ngā Tamatoa, Victoria University of Wellington’s te reo Māori society, and the New Zealand Māori Students Association in the form of a petition with more than 30,000 signatures.

What started as Māori Language Day in 1972 was extended to Māori Language Week in 1975.

The library has plenty of resources to help on your reo journey, as well as the weekly Manu Hāpai waiata group and Kōrero Kawhe sessions – everyone welcome, no matter what your level.

Until next time, mā te wā.