![\"Mystery](\"http:\/\/www.charmedlife.co.nz\/cowboybootsandbrokenfingers\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/Library-2016-02-02-115.jpg\")
<\/a>What, you thought I\u00a0was going to say the Mitre 10 store?<\/p><\/div>\n
It’s the public library.\u00a0I joined up on our\u00a0very first day here, only hours\u00a0after taking possession of the farmlet. Once upon a time I used to be a librarian, and one of the things on my list of essentials for a place to buy land was easy access to a decent size\u00a0library system.<\/p>\n
<\/a>Libraries: Borrow the books, keep the ideas.<\/p><\/div>\n
Although nowhere near as\u00a0large as those in Auckland or Wellington, this is positively vast compared to\u00a0many of Northland’s\u00a0rural libraries<\/a>. As a bonus\u00a0I find it\u00a0architecturally rather lovely with its glass frontage and the keyhole staircases at each end of the building.<\/p>\n Whangarei Central Library\u00a0(2005,\u00a0Jasmax<\/a>).<\/p><\/div>\n They\u00a0remind me of the stairs up to the second level of Wellington Central Library<\/a> (1991, Athfield<\/a>). Both buildings are so much more appealing\u00a0than the central library in\u00a0Auckland<\/a>. I can’t find reference\u00a0to the\u00a0architect,\u00a0but\u00a0given Auckland’s\u00a0rather\u00a0unimaginative 1970’s aesthetic\u00a0I’m picking it\u00a0as a\u00a0design by\u00a0Bob from\u00a0the works department<\/a>*.<\/p>\n Wet autumn\u00a0weekends with\u00a0an Agatha Christie and endless cups of tea. So comforting.<\/p><\/div>\n Anyway, enough criticism. Auckland Libraries have far and away the best public library book collection in the country. When I’m there I’m fizzing with the excitement of all those ideas in one place rather than looking for architectural elegance. It’s been more years than I care to remember since library school, but I still find libraries the most delightful of places.<\/p>\n * Any similarities between\u00a0Bob\u00a0and persons\u00a0actually employed in the works department\u00a0at Auckland City Council during the 1970s are purely coincidental.<\/p>\n <\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" OK. I admit it. I’ve been holding out on you. I haven’t yet introduced you to one of my very favourite places in Whangarei. It’s the public library.\u00a0I joined up on our\u00a0very first day here, only hours\u00a0after taking possession of… Continue Reading <\/a><\/a>