| About us |
Our Collections
We have over 400,000 items in our collections. Of course, many of these are books, but did you know about some of our other collections
Magazines
Our magazine collections cover a wide range of titles, from Apollo and Car, to Your home and garden. Most of the collections are free to borrow and back copies of Pay Magazines become free after four months' use. On Level 3 of the Central Library you will find a range for browsing in the library.
Ask about our electronic magazines which are available in the Libraries and from your home computer.
DVDs & music CDs
The Adult DVD collection ranges from popular blockbuster films, music, art house, TV series, through to practical health, hobby and travel guides.
The CD music collection contains popular genres from rock and jazz to country and easy listening. There is also a large serious music component to meet educational and recreational needs of classical enthusiasts in opera, orchestral and choral performances.
World Languages
Our World Languages Collection contains over 3000 books for adults, and hundreds of children's books, in 30+ different languages. The largest collections are Chinese and Korean, with Japanese third. We have eleven magazines in Chinese, Hindi, Tamil and Korean. You can find the World Language section on Level 2 of the Garden Place Library, and in all our community libraries.
Talking books
Keen on listening to a thrilling novel on your way to the dentist? Or keen for an adventure, while lying in bed? We offer a broad talking book collection primarily for fiction and recreational users, including the elderly, homebound, youth, commuters, travellers and workers. Also those unable to use books because of sight impairment or other physical limitations. We have a substantial range of books on CD and a small number of Playaway audiobooks. These are ready-to-listen digital audiobooks.
Heritage
Our heritage collections include archives, oral histories, manuscripts, over 15,000 historic photographs, ephemera and a wide range of books and magazines. The collections focus on Hamilton and the Waikato, but also include New Zealand and a limited amount of international material.
Newspapers
Located on Level 3 of the Garden Place Library, the newspaper collection holds the latest editions of over 70 different national newspapers. This includes a good selection of Asian language newspapers in Cantonese, Chinese and Japanese. You can also view a huge range of national and international newspapers through PressDisplay, which can be accessed at any of our libraries, or, if you are a library member and have broadband access, from home.
eBooks
We have a growing collection of thousands of free eBooks. 24/7 access - borrow online, anytime, anywhere - through Wheelers ePlatform.
