Project Manaaki

Project Manaaki – transforming the Living Room of the City

In 1996 the Central Library was moved to our new home, the Living Room of the City.  In 2011 the Living Room will again transform itself. We are calling this transformation Project Manaaki. 

Are you ready for a surprise? 

Between May and July this year Project Manaaki will bring you a whole new library café and welcome service on the Mezzanine floor and a new integrated service point on the first floor.  We’ll be meeting you wherever you are and providing proactive customer service.  There will be some disruption to normal service during this period, but we guarantee it will be worth it.  So prepare to be surprised and delighted.

What is Project Manaaki?

The principle of Manaaki embodies uplifting, care, regard and respect for others.  It is a core value of Tikanga Maori.  The changes we are making are to improve people’s experience of the Living Room of the City.  Therefore, it seems fitting to base our metamorphosis on Manaaki.

A new welcome service

The Mezzanine Floor will become fully open-plan.  Along with the existing newspaper reading lounge and computers, the Mezzanine Floor will house three community meeting rooms and a community space called the Village Green.  We will also be introducing a new welcome service – this will allow us to welcome and invite visitors to the Living Room of the City.

A new service point on the First Floor

We are moving our main service point to the First Floor.  This will become a centralised service point for borrowing, library membership, collecting reserved items and all other enquiries.

Proactive customer service

From this new desk on the First Floor, along with smaller desks in the Fiction and Non Fiction Zones, proactive customer service will be co-ordinated to assist customers anywhere in the Living Room.  We’ll be meeting our your needs wherever they are.

Will there be disruptions?

All efforts will be made to reduce disruptions during this time.  However, there may be occasions during the renovation process where access to some areas of the library is limited.  Updates on the building process will be regularly posted on our website.