New high-tech Aramoho library set to open on old school grounds in June

Hiwaiterangi Poutini-Manley Green (front) checking out the new Aramoho library with teacher Fiapaipai Casserley and friends. Photo / Supplied

A third Whanganui suburb is in line for a new self-service library.

Aramoho is the lucky suburb, and Whanganui District Council has scheduled the opening of the library for June 11. Aramoho will join Castlecliff and Whanganui East as suburbs with their own community library.

The library will be located at 2 Mitchell St, the site of the former Aramoho School, and is a partnership with Pasifika Vision Forum Trust, which runs the Born & Raised Pasifika early learning centre on the site.

Library performance manager Sonny Tamihana is overseeing the design and fit-out of the building, which some will recognise as the former Aramoho School dental clinic.

The area is being redesigned into a welcoming environment for people of all ages, with the addition of bookcases, seating and a fresh new paint job.

The library will be predominantly self-service, with library users able to issue and return books and pay overdue charges through a self-service machine. A touchscreen PC will also be in place for searching for books and reserving them.

As well as the state-of-the-art technology, volunteers – including three staff members from Born & Raised Pasifika – will be on hand to help patrons if required.

As well as a regularly refreshed book collection, the library will have free wifi internet access and two desktop PCs with the library's free internet service.

There is also a tea and coffee facility, allowing library users to make a hot cuppa for a koha.

District Library manager Pete Gray said the benefit for the Aramoho community of having their own library was significant.

"As well as promoting literacy, imagination and exploration, libraries are great community hubs," Gray said.

"We are very excited about the benefits this library will bring to the Aramoho community."