A Roadtrip Out West

Today we took our first roadtrip out of the city. We had two tour stops at Paekākāriki Library and Ōtaki Library; and we also stopped at Paraparaumu in between so that Shane could do some IT troubleshooting.

Paekākāriki Library

Paekakariki Library

Paekākāriki Library  is a community library about 30 minutes drive from Lower Hutt. The library is located in the local tennis club room which also serves as a bookable meeting space.

So how do you operate a library, tennis club and community space in one room? Check out the two photos below.

Now you see them

Now you don't

Guy Stapleton from Hutt City Libraries delivered the sessions today and although we had more staff members than customers at this session, it didn’t make it any less valuable. One customer had attempted to download an ebook several times with differing results and he wanted to know why. I think we narrowed it down to the fact that perhaps he had downloaded the ebook and this was saved into a folder other than the Adobe Digital Editions folder. Thankfully he’s going to go home and try again.

Testing the ereaders

Another customer arrived just as we were packing up. She just had one question – why can’t I read the library’s ebooks on my Kindle? She had brought along her Kindle in the hope we could help her out. And unfortunately as we, as librarians, know; the Kindle is not compatible with the library’s ebook collection.

Wendy's!!!

We had a couple of hours to spare before the next session at Ōtaki Library and so what else could we do except go to the newly opened Wendy’s to experience their old fashioned hamburgers. This was the first Wendy’s to open in the Lower North Island so Guy and Shane were on a mission!

Paraparaumu Library

Shane needed to do some IT troubleshooting at Paraparaumu before heading out to Ōtaki so while I was waiting I chatted with Carol Fifield the Children’s and Teens Librarian. Two aspects that captured my attention were the Summer Reading Programme banner and the Customer Recommendations folder.

Customers recommend books

Book recommendation

Summer Reading Programme

Otaki Library

Rather than setup the powerpoint for 5 people, Guy and I decided to try a more informal approach at Ōtaki. It worked really well for the audience, but not so well at keeping everyone unified as a group and following the handout at the same speed. 🙂

Ōtaki

But once again, those who attended found it extremely valuable. One couple were looking for an ereader with extra-large fonts and still be readable. They found the font size of the Sony PRS-T1 to be the easiest to read, but the font is so large that words are split across lines, making the reading experience less than ideal. They were however very appreciative of the helpful advice they received from Guy.

A big thank-you also goes to Kaye Foran, Acting Library Manager of Kapiti Coast Libraries who helped answer questions and demonstrate ereaders at both sessions.

Tomorrow Shane, Guy and I are taking another roadtrip out of the city but this time we’re hitting the Eastern side of the Lower North Island. See you tomorrow.