Young authors impress with creative ideas

Librarians dressed as goblins, a living tree to sit and read in, and events where children dress as favourite book characters meant the district’s tamariki had plenty of fantastic ideas to share as part of the Taupō District’s Best Day at the Library story-writing competition.

Choosing the best was a hard task, but winners Poppy Harding and Elsie Plummer, and runners-up Lucas Marshall and Emma Giddy impressed the judges with their creativity and ability to paint a picture with words.

“We were delighted by the number and quality of the entries. We have some talented kids in our district,” said engagement and outreach co-ordinator Hayley Nicholson.

The competition was part of a larger ongoing community engagement project the libraries are working on to find out what services, programmes and events the community would like to see the libraries offer in the future.

“We didn’t think kids would want to fill out a survey, so we decided to offer them a way to share their ideas via storytelling. With the generous support of local businesses Paper Plus, Tech Central and AC Baths, we were able to do this competition-style, giving away over $750 in prizes,” Hayley said.

The libraries will work through the ideas and decide what they might put in place from next year, she said.