The Moutere Hills RSA memorial library (Māpua Community Library) is a community-based library run by volunteers, for the community. Māpua Community Library is reliant on grants, donations, and fund raising for maintaining an up-to-date book collection as well as covering administration costs.
Māpua Community Library – A History
The library was started in 1943 by Mary Robb who had a vision of books being locally available for borrowing.
In the beginning, and sanctioned by the National Library, a regular loan of fifty books from the mobile library service enabled the opening of the “Māpua Library” in the porch of a private house in Toru Street every Saturday for an hour. Then, in 1980 when a larger space was needed, the Māpua Hall made space available for the library. In 1987 when the mobile library service ceased operating, an arrangement was made with the Richmond Library to supplement Māpua library stock.
Around 2000, the Moutere Hills RSA very generously offered to share the site on the corner of Toru Street and Aranui Road. Significant fund raising ensued and with financial help from the New Zealand Lottery Board and Canterbury Charitable Trust, the construction of a permanent, purpose-built shared facility was launched. In 2002, with much excitement and ceremony, the doors were opened by “National Treasure” Margaret Mahy. Subsequently, the Moutere Hills RSA memorial library (Māpua Community Library), a community-based library run by volunteers for the community, was born.
Our People
All staff are volunteers as are the members of the committee. We are very lucky to have the calibre of volunteers which we do, and we suspect we are one of the very few organisations that has a volunteer waiting list. Volunteers generally sign up for a specific role, but all contribute to the fundraising and running of the library. For more information, pop into the library and request a form and chat to a volunteer on duty.
Judy Vaughan, a Māpua Library Volunteer for five years. As well as serving as a librarian, Judy leads the Adult Tutoring Initiative help at the library and at Motueka’s Community House. Judy is a former teacher and a trained ESOL (English for Speakers of Other Languages) tutor and is passionate about adult learning.
Our Supporters
The library is very appreciative of all of its supporters – big and small. We are the lucky recipients of grants from Rātā Foundation, Top of the South Community Foundation, Tasman District Council, Network Tasman Trust, One Forty One and the Harcourts Foundation. The Māpua/Ruby Bay and District Community Trust and Motueka Community Store have helped with purchases as well.
Grants: we recently received a very generous $1,000 from the Māpua/Ruby Bay & District Community Trust; thank you so much for this grant which will be spent on books for the children’s section in the library. We also received an annual grant for books from the Tasman District Council of $1,000.
Book donations are another wonderful means of support. If we are unable to use donated books on our shelves, they are sold at one of our Book Sales.
