Our Collections

The Waitomo District Library holds a diverse collection of books and audio visual material to meet your recreational and information needs.

Audio Visual Material

Audio Visual collections are very popular at Waitomo District Library with a great selection of music, movies and games available for loan. This material has a delicate format and we encourage care when using.

DVD Material

The Adult Collection contains:

Documentaries
Instructional DVD's
Popular feature films with literary content
Popular New Zealand films with a New Zealand connection
Art House and Classic films
Music

The Children’s Collection contains:

Popular or classic children’s feature films
Popular television shows for children

Any DVD's purchased by the Library will be utilised in accordance with New Zealand Censorship legislation. All DVD's may be loaned for 1 week and incur a rental fee.

Musical Recordings

This collection caters to all musical tastes, with an emphasis on popular music. This collection contains popular:

Rock
Opera
Country
R&B
Classical
New Zealand music
Easy Listening
Audio Books

All CD's may be loaned for 1 week and incur a rental fee.

Talking Books

Waitomo District Library currently hold two separate talking book collections.

The National Library Print Disability Loan Collection is supplied by the National Library of New Zealand - Print Disability Service and may be utilised by customers who are identified as having a physical disability and are unable to use the general book collection.

The Rental Talking Book Collection includes material in both Adults and Children’s collections. The collection includes popular stories read aloud in both CD and cassette.

Rental Talking Books may be issued for 3 weeks. The Rental Talking Book Collection incurs a rental fee.

The National Library Print Disability Talking Books may be issued for 3 weeks and are free for customers who meet the criteria.

Magazines

This collection includes a range of general and popular interest magazines. All magazines may be borrowed for 1 week and incur a rental fee.

Newspapers

Waitomo District Library subscribes to a very limited number of newspapers. At present the Library subscribes to the:

New Zealand Herald
Waikato Times

The Library also holds copies of the Waitomo News, a free local paper.

Children’s and Teenage Collections

These collections are aimed at children aged 0 to 16. They contain a wide variety of material with an emphasis on New Zealand material suitable for this age group. Material in these collections is generally free of charge, however some Children’s Audio-Visual material incurs a rental fee.

Childrens

Picture Books - This collection has a diverse range of titles, allowing children to be introduced to wide range of experiences, feelings, characters, art and language. This collection is intended as the first step towards establishing a love of reading. Picture books are suitable for preschoolers, new entrants, reading aloud to groups and sharing on a one to one basis.
Easy Readers / First readers - This collection provides very short first chapter books. Books in this collection are typically well illustrated. Books in this collection are suitable for children who are beginner readers, for parents and children to share together and for reluctant readers.
Fiction - This collection is primarily made up of chapter books and is aimed at children who can read independently. Some sophisticated picture books are included in the fiction collection.
Audio Visual Materials - A selection of DVD’s, CD’s and Talking Books are included in the Children’s collection.
Non-Fiction - This collection aims to support the individual child’s curiosity. The collection aims to loosely supplement school curriculum needs. However, it is foremost the role and responsibility of the child’s school library and National Library to meet classroom needs.

Young Adult Collections

Fiction - This collection includes titles that will interest and appeal to a wide range of Teen readers, including Graphic Novels. The collection includes popular, formulaic cult fiction, as well as, medal winners, classics and better quality writing. Some of the material contained in the Teenage Fiction Collection may not be suitable for younger children.
Non-Fiction - This collection includes only titles that are of particular interest to teens, such as titles on life skills, personal and social issues. Some of these titles may not be suitable for younger children.

Adult Collections

These collections are aimed at borrowers aged 16+.

Fiction - Typically a Library’s Fiction Collections are the most popular collections. They provide users with an excellent source of recreation and pleasure as well as a literary experience. The Waitomo District Library Team will actively seek and encourage user recommendations to help develop these collections. New Zealand and contemporary novels are a priority during the selection process.
Rental Fiction - This collection includes new material which is less than four years old. The collection is intended to be a vibrant and high use collection.
Free Fiction - This collection includes all Fiction items held by the Library for longer than four years.
Bestseller - This collection includes high demand items across all print collections. These items can be indentified by a Bestseller label and are issued with a restricted loan period with no provision for renewal. When demand for an item ceases, it will be moved to another collection.
Large Print - The Library provides large print versions of both Fiction and Non-Fiction titles for customers who have difficulty reading ordinary print. The limited number of publishers, range of material and relatively high cost, largely dictate the composition of these collections.
Non-fiction - The Non-Fiction Collection contains a broad range of information to support individual and community interests. In the main, popular and general interests are catered for. Some specialised or academic material is acquired depending on demand. The material offer a broad range of opinions and viewpoints.
Local History - Waitomo District Library is committed to collecting a range of materials that reflect the history of the Waitomo District. These items are kept in perpetuity to ensure that they are always available to the community in the future. This collection includes: Books, Pamphlets, Ephemera and Historic photographs.
Reference - The Reference Collection provides current and accurate information covering all subject areas, and is designed to be available for all customers to use. Reference works are generally Encyclopedias, Dictionaries, Almanacs, Atlases, Indexes, Databases and Bibliographies. Reference titles are not available for borrowing or interloan between Libraries.

For easy access to indepth reference material Explore the EPIC databses

Stack and Archive Collections - Titles that have long term value and have either ceased issuing regularly or are in poor condition are candidates for the stack. This includes valuable New Zealand titles, classics and still popular series or sets.

If the Library does not hold a copy of a book you would like, it may be possible to request it for you from another Library for a small interloan fee. Click here for more information on Interloan Services. Please be aware that we are unable to interloan Reference, Audio Visual material or Car Manuals.

Collection Loan Periods

Rental Fiction 21 Days
Free Fiction (includes Children's and Teen Fiction and Picture Books) 21 Days
Non-Fiction (includes Children's and Teen Non-Fiction) 21 Days
Bestsellers 14 Days
Rental Talking Book 21 Days
DVD's 7 Days
CD's 7 days
Console Game 7 Days
Magazines 7 Days
Rental Talking Books (includes children's) 21 Days
Talking Books (visually impaired) 21 Days

Reserves

There is a .50 cent reserve fee on all items. This is payable when you collect your reserve.

Collecting a Reserve - A member of the Waitomo District Library Team will contact you when your request is ready to collect. You will have 7 days to collect these items. If Waitomo District Library does not hold the item you want it can be interloaned from another Library.

Suggestions to add to Catalogue

If the Waitomo District Library does not hold a book which you believe would be of interest and value to Waitomo residents, please email the item details to library team for consideration. Please be aware that not all suggestions will be purchased.

Organisation of Items

Books and other resources are divided into two main sections - Fiction and Non- Fiction.

Non-Fiction
Waitomo District Library use the Dewey Decimal System to organise Non-Fiction items. This system assigns each item a number according to its subject. The number assigned to an item is placed on its spine. This is used to determine the items location on the shelf.

The main sections of the Dewey Decimal System are:

000-99 General Reference - Atlases, Dictionaries, Encyclopaedias, Computers
100-199 Philosophy - How people think and feel
200-299 Religion - Peoples' faiths and beliefs
300-399 Social Sciences - How people of the world live, learn and work; their customs and legends
400-499 Language - Languages of the world
500-599 Science - Earth's Animals, Oceans and Sky; our Planet; the Universe; Mathematics, Chemistry, Physics, Plants
600-699 Technology - How people, animals and machines move, work and help us. Includes; pets, horticulture, gardening, health and parenting
700-799 Arts and Recreation - Arts and crafts, painting, music, dancing, photography, hobbies, games, sports and landscaping
800-899 Literature Stories - Poems and plays
900-999 History and Geography - History, biographies and travel

Fiction
Fiction items are organised by the first three letters of the Author's last name. The letters can be found on the books spine. This is used to determine its location on the shelf.

For example, books by Fiona Kidman will be shelved in the 'K' section, alphabetically for 'KID'.