Te Kete Aronui (Rototuna Library)

Kia Ora! This post will be all about Te Kete Aronui also known as the Rototuna Library. This is our closest branch of the Hamilton Libraries and is only about a 5 minute drive, so that is convenient for us. It's a fairly new building, I believe the newest library in town. We really like it. Brynn loves it. She would go every day if she could!

It has two large areas set aside for making and creating things. You can come and use a sewing machine or a serger or even an embroidery machine. There's also a 3D printer, VR headset, 3D pens, and Arduino kits. Another branch of the library also offers vacuum formers, heat press machines, large format vinyl printer/cutters and more. I really want to go check some of those things out, but haven't made it to the downtown library, yet. I do want to go use the serger, but that has been put on hold while I spend all my spare time trying to find a new house.

While the library is nice and spacious, it does not have nearly the amount of books and items we are accustomed to back in Nampa or when we lived in Virginia. But, thankfully it has enough to keep us all reading! You can put holds on items that are carried in the other branches, but unless it's a juvenile or young adult book it costs $1.50 per item to transfer it to our library and I am just too cheap for that. (another reason I want to visit the other branches). They also have board games that you can check out for $5/week. Which also seems a bit steep, but I might be willing to try one of them sometime. 

One thing I love about this library is the cafe inside it! It's a bit pricier than the local bakeries, but it's also higher quality food. Brynn and I have been known to enjoy a little treat together on occasion! It feels so wrong to have food in the library, but I'm all for it! I realize I should have taken some pictures of the outside, maybe I'll get that done next time we go. For now, enjoy the pictures I did take of the interior!








A close up of the cabinet food they offer.

Brynn and I got a jalapeno cheese scone to share. It was so good. And they gave us a lot of butter. It killed me to not take the leftover butter home, knowing how expensive everything is here!


And there you have it, the Rototuna branch of the Hamilton Libraries!

With Love from New Zealand,
Lyndsay

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