Devonport Public Library

I live in South Auckland, and so if I wanted to go to a library, Devonport would not be where I’d go. The only reason I came in here was because I had stupidly left my wallet in the library toilets during a field trip to North Head for uni. It was actually handed in to a librarian there, so I had to make a trip to the library to retrieve it. Cool!
So I walk in and the library is just so cute and charming. It’s small, but that’s all part of it. The lady was all smiles as she handed back my wallet, and we had a bit of small talk regarding how lucky I am that it was handed in. She was really nice so I asked her if the library happened to have this hard to find book I was after… and they did! The second time I lucked out in Devonport. I ended up leaving the library with said book and all was well :)

Any excuse to take the ferry over to Devonport is a good excuse. After spending some time searching for a book in the Central Public Library (according to the computer it was shelved somewhere), I sought advice from the help desk. «If you can’t find it on the shelf that is too bad, but there is another copy in Devonport…». Trek all the way to Devonport for a book, why not?
The Devonport library is small, well organised, and even after a quick browse around I got the impression that they have a good mix of popular books as well as some very eccentric titles. I found the book I was looking for and the lady signed me up a membership despite me not having proof of address. Thanks lady!

Cute Devonport, cute. I love a good library and Devonport’s library is definitely a goodie. Everything in Devo is pretty cute and this is the ultimate. It is a really small library, but I have always left with the book I want every time I go in. Which is actually more than can be said for the majority of larger places I’ve been.
Situated in the heart of Devo right in the middle of a lovely little park, Devonport Library is every bit the readers paradise. Pick up a book and kick back under the shade of one of the many trees, or head across the road to a great café.
The ladies that work here are so lovely and they all feel like they could be your nana. I also feel like they are really impressed at me when I go in, like they lost hope in the younger generation, but me getting a book is restoring it… this might just be me.

Whilst I live in central Auckland, I regularly come across on the Ferry to come to the public library here. While it doesn’t look like anything special from the outside, it possesses a community vibe that I find really attractive in a library. Lately I’ve been to too many soulless corporate behemoth like libraries that while they do admittedly have a better selection of books, and fancy things like microfiche (has anyone ever used one of these things?), they really lack that certain ‘je me sas quais’ that you find here, and friendly librarians who would happily hang out and chat with you all day about book selections etc!
It definitely helps too that it has one of the best views of the waterfront from the picture windows at the back, in the Auckland area (for a library anyway)
So settle in, find a good book and lose yourself for a while.

This is a pretty old library that I’m fairly sure hasn’t changed since I was seven years old. They still even have the same patchwork quilt of Devonport houses in the entrance which I’m proud to say my mum did part of — I actually quite like that its still here! There’s a children’s area which could be bigger but is adequate and they have story-​telling and wriggle and rhyme activities. They’ve made a few attempts at getting with the times and have done a reasonable job with the space there but I’d say its in major need of an upgrade. Awesome location though — its directly across from Windsor Reserve on Devonport’s waterfront so its a good stop to tag onto a park outing for the kiddies.