Libraries' Multicultural and Migrant Services

Talofa Lava, Fakalofa Lahi atu, Malo e lelei, Kia Orana, Ni Sa Bula, Halo olaketa, Namaste, Ni Hao, Insa, Dobro Dosli, Welkom.

Multicultural and migrant services are provided to enable those who are newly arrived in New Zealand, or are non-English speaking members of the community to gain access to the library and to library services and facilities. In addition migrant services exist to provide information, or access to information to assist new migrants to effectively settle in Waitakere.

Waitakere Libraries provide our multi-ethnic population with books and information related to their specific needs.

We can provide special assistance to those for whom English is not a first language. Many of our staff are multilingual and come from a wide range of cultural backgrounds. Information about Waitakere Library & Information Services is also available in a number of languages.

What's New

Translated Brochures

Translated brochures poster (Size 124K) Click to enlarge.

In addition to books in over 40 languages, brochures explaining Waitakere Libraries’ Multicultural & Migrant Services are now available in the following ten languages: Samoan, Chinese, Hindi, Tongan, French, Japanese, Korean, Arabic, Kurdish and Burmese. All of these brochures can be downloaded below.

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Multicultural & migrant services brochure available below in the following languages:

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Diwali - Festival of Lights 2009

Get ready to celebrate Diwali - the festival of Lights during your school holidays. During the upcoming school holidays, New Lynn War Memorial Library will hold a special programme from 5 to 8 October for children. There will be plenty of activities, workshops, performance by an Indian classical dancer plus Bollyhop - the fusion of Bollywood dance with Hip Hop, special Storytimes in Hindi, authors talks and hips more.

If you want to attend the workshop email Shivangi.Pradhan@waitakere.govt.nz.

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 Diwali Programme for 2009 (Size 160K)

Tala Pasifika, Pasifika Storytimes

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Do you want to know more about the traditions and languages of Polynesia? On 14 October 2009, there will be a special launch of 'Tala Pasifika' a joint programme offered by Waitakere Libraries and Auckland Museum at Ranui library. The programme offers a special Storytimes in Pacific languages as well activities such as Tapa rubbing, drills, etc for children . The activity resources are specially offered by the Auckland Museum.

This programme will be offered fortnightly on every Wednesday at 10.30 to 11.00 at Ranui library during every school term.

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Tala Pasifika, Pasifika Storytimes (Size 365K)

National and Culturally Significant Days for October

Five Pacific Island states celebrate their national days this month and Waitakere has already hosted major events to celebrate the Moon festival and Diwali Festival. Labour Day on Monday, 26 October is a public holiday in New Zealand.  To view the full list of dates click here:

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National and Culturally Significant Days (Size 21K)

New Titles for the Multicultural Collection

In response to the growing ethnic mix of the city, Waitakere Library & Information Services provide a Multicultural Collection that comprises a range of materials in foreign languages. Our aim is to provide recreational and leisure reading materials for all age groups. Waitakere Libraries also support people to maintain their mother language and help to bridge linguistic and cultural divides within Waitakere city.

The Multicultural Collection consists of approximately 5000 items in over 40 languages. The level of collections of each of these languages varies from small core collections to large collections, with a wide variety of subjects. It contains adult fiction, non-fiction, junior fiction, non-fiction, music CDs, foreign language magazines and newspapers.

Each month our Collection Managers bring you a list of new titles that we purchase for the Multicultural Collection. View the latest list.

Latest news from the Migrant Action Trust

The August edition of the MAT newsletter has a special feature about the Multi-Educational & Support Services Trust, providing before and after school care programmes that are empowering children and parents alike.  The newsletter also covers a unique Punjabi language school and Fadumo Ahmad from Somali describes overcoming cultural barriers in New Zealand. 

To read the full newsletter see below.

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Migrant Action Trust August 2009 (Size 522K)

Book of the Month: The New Oxford History of New Zealand

Representing the combined efforts of a generation of leading historians who have been exploring alternative ways of understanding New Zealand's complex and dynamic history, this book showcases new research exploring transnational, comparative and regional contexts. 

It presents a fresh challenge to the idea that New Zealand history can be explained as a quest for 'national identity'.  The book proposes instead that history and identity have been shaped by culture, community, class, region and gender and that these have been (and remain) more important than ideas of evolving or emergent nationhood.

Copies are available at your local library.  Find the book in the library catalogue.

Learning Centres and Employment Support for Migrants

Did you know that you can use your local library's Learning Centre in your search for a job? Whether it's preparing your CV, searching for jobs online or emailing applications there is so much available and your Learning Centre Coordinator can provide assistance if you are new to using computers. Waitakere Libraries' Migrant Information Coordinator can also provide assistance in this area.

The Migrant Action Trust organises free Employment Support Groups for migrants and refugees in Waitakere. To find out more contact Olga Bernstein on 021 854 858 or email her at olgab@ihug.co.nz.

CAB Language Link

CAB Language Link is a free, confidential telephone interpreter service that provides information, advice and referrals in 26 languages.

CAB Language Link (previously known as the Multilingual Information Service) is available Monday to Friday on (09) 624 2550.

More information

Mandarin Story Times at Waitakere Libraries

Suzhen Zhang (centre, in red) of Waitakere Libraries with a captive audience during Mandarin Story Times.

Every Friday, at Waitakere Central and New Lynn Library traditional and contemporary stories are told in Mandarin.

Find out more about this fun time for the family below.

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Mandarin Story Times at Waitakere Central Library (Size 1049K)

Mandarin Story Times at New Lynn Library (Size 1247K)

The changing faces of Waitakere City

Statistics New Zealand has recently provided the following data from the 2006 Census about our communities and neighbourhoods.

Find out more about the increasing diversity of Waitakere City by viewing the Waitakere Ethnicity Summary below.

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Waitakere Ethnicity Summary 2006 (Size 499K)

Settlement Support services available in your area

It's not always easy to find the information you need about employment, education, health services and many other aspects of living in New Zealand. The biggest challenge is knowing where to find this information.

Settlement Support New Zealand provides easy access to information you'll need to know about when settling in Waitakere. This is a free service available to all newcomers. Find out more.

News Out West

New Out West is a network of government and non-government agencies and community groups concerned with migrant and refugee issues. News Out West is the monthly newsletter all about what's happening out West.

Read the latest edition of News Out West to keep informed about local matters of interest to new settlers in Waitakere.

Multicultural and Migrant Services Brochure

Multicultural and migrant services are provided to enable those who are newly arrived in New Zealand, or are non-English speaking members of the community to gain access to the library and to library services and facilities. 

View the list of services offered in the brochure below.

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Multicultural and Migrant Services Brochure (Size 159K)

Multicultural Services Advisor

In 1995, Waitakere Library & Information Services was the first public library in New Zealand to introduce foreign languages' Collection and Services for culturally and linguistically diverse residents of the City. The development of these Collections and Services is a continuous process and is aimed at providing appropriate materials and programmes that enrich the library experience of these customers. The Multicultural Services Advisor is responsible for the development of these services that cater to the information and learning needs of people from diverse backgrounds. The programmes provided by Waitakere Libraries includes Mandarin Storytimes, Tala Pasifika, Basic Computer Skills in Chinese and Repeat Read Aloud programme for Adults for practicing English.

Throughout the year various other programmes are organised, Moon Festival, Samoan Language Week , Oceania Festival of Arts and Culture, Earth People ( Race Relations Day), Diwali- festival of lights to name a few. These programmes intend to bring together people from diverse cultures. They provide opportunities for celebrating and showcasing the ethnic diversity of the city and build intercultural awareness among communities.

The Multicultural Services Advisor is available to meet with the community groups and individuals to listen to their suggestions as well as to inform them about the foreign language collections, ESOL resources and programmes that cater to their needs.

To contact Multicultural Services Advisor
Shivangi Pradhan
Shivangi.Pradhan@waitakere.govt.nz
Phone: (09) 836 8000 ext 7806

Migrant Information Co-ordinator

In addition to a Multicultural Services Librarian, Waitakere Library and Information Services employ a Migrant Information Coordinator. The Coordinator works closely with other Library staff and community-based organisations such as the Citizens Advice Bureau to ensure that the information requirements of new settlers are adequately provided for. Other collaborative initiatives the Coordinator is involved in include New Out West and Settlement Support Waitakere.

The Migrant Information Coordinator is an accessible point of contact for migrants and refugees within Waitakere City and is available to meet with groups and individuals to answer queries, respond to issues of concern and to provide appropriate referrals for specific information requests.

Promoting awareness of the library services is an essential component of the Coordinator's role. In some cases, new settlers may be hesitant to visit their libraries and may not be aware of the some of the exciting initiatives being introduced, such as Learning Centres. There are numerous reasons for this and introductory tours and presentations can be arranged by the Migrant Information Coordinator or the Multicultural Services Librarian.

Waitakere Libraries are committed to providing equitable services to all city residents and the Migrant Information Coordinator seeks to strengthen the Libraries' mutual relationships with the city's diverse communities. Through these relationships the Coordinator can work collaboratively to provide relevant information services that reflect the dynamic interests of current and future library users.

One successful example of Waitakere City Council's commitment to supporting settlement is the publication last year of the Waitakere New Settlers' Guide. This Guide provides essential information for new residents in an easy-to-read format and copies are available at each library and online.

Contact us by email at: multicultural@waitakere.govt.nz

About our Multicultural Collections

Each month our Collection Managers bring you a list of new titles that we purchase for the multicultural collection.

View the last 3 months of recent updates

CuCurrent Multicultural collections are available in the following specified languages-

We hold a special collection of resources for the learners of English language. These resources include New Readers Collection (graded readers - from easy reads to the advance level), videos, CDs, kitsets (cassettes/ CDs + Books), picture dictionaries, bilingual dictionaries and also practise materials for collection is co-located with the Multicultural Collection.

 There is no charge to borrow audio CDs/ videos or kitset if it is a part if the ESOL collection. Borrowers can also listen to cassettes/ CDs using special remote controlled headphones within the library. This facility is available only at the Waitakere Central Library and is free to members.

Waitakere ESOL Providers' Directory 2009- 10

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Archives of Multicultural & Migrant Articles

Samoan Language Week
World Refugee Day 
Public Libraries & Diversity Forum

Samoan Language Week

Alice Meredith (right) and Leonie Samu from the Auckland Museum with a captivated young audience at Ranui Library during Samoan Language Week.

World Refugee Day 2009 - Real People, Real Needs

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