Books are bringing the community together in Whakamarama, with the local hall library turning the page on its first year of operation.

Whakamarama Hall booking officer Sylvia Birkett and Debbie Allen are the bookworms who brought the paperbacks back to the facility one year ago – and their keen to lift membership even further in 2016.

Whakamarama Hall booking officers Sylvia Birkett (red top) and Debbie Allen (glasses) with children David Allen and Torin Birkett. Photo: Chris Callinan

'We just decided to get the ball rolling and put some energy into it and start a library for our community one year ago [in February 2015] this month,” says Sylvia.

'We sent some emails around and the response to creating a community library was just huge.”

'We had people donating book cupboards, shelving, and we now have more than 2000 books – and it's all donated by the community.”

And along with the furniture, children's books, cooking books, craft books, teen novels, adult fiction and so on came flooding in.

'And because everybody has different interests we've got a whole variety of different books – so it's really, really neat,” says Sylvia.

So far, five volunteers give their time to open the library to the community and membership is a one-off $10 fee to cover setup costs. Lending is via the old-fashioned card-in-envelope at the back of each book.

'At the moment we have 25 members and we hope to increase membership, by promoting on our Thank Whaka Its Friday nights.

'Recently, we have renovated the hall – we got a new ceiling in, new lights, gave it a paint inside and it looks great. So this work has spruced up the library too.”

Sylvia says what a library brings to the community is 'it brings the community together”.

'And I think it's very important to read books – there's too many computers around these days – and I much prefer to sit down with a book.”

Sylvia says library visitors too would rather have the paperback in their hands than scan the computer screen. 'And we have got old and young people coming in because of this.”

'And the other thing people say is it's closer; they don't have to go to town to borrow books.”

The Whaka Hall Library is open Thursdays 9am-12noon and every first and third Friday of the month from 6.30pm-8pm. But Sylvia is looking to expand opening hours.

For more information, see http://www.zingarideb.wix.com/whakalibrary

To volunteer at the library, contact Sylvia on 07 578 7015.