History of Te Wananga o Aotearoa Library

   Te Pātaka Māramatanga, the library network of Te Wānanga o Aotearoa, was established in 2003 and is the world's largest indigenous academic library. It contains over 250,000 resources that are free for students to use.             

           Library services and resources at Te Wananga o Aotearoa were outsourced to The Open Polytechnic of New Zealand offered at the Wãnanga, the Bachelor of Mãori Performing Arts and the Bachelor of Tertiary Teaching. Staff and students were given access to The Open Polytechnic Library collections and services at the same level as The Open Polytechnic’s own staff and students. Services included access to reference services, lending and borrowing, user education sessions, pre-paid postage for returns, email, fax, and free phone services. The online databases were not available, due to the unavailability of remote access.

            In 2001, at Te Wananga o Aotearoa’s request, library services were extended to other Wãnanga programmes. The library service provided for non-degree programmes was slightly different to that provided for degree programmes. The service was to supply staff and students with library resources on request, selected from extensive reading lists. Reference service were not available, but were not absolutely denied.

            Over the four-year period, The Open Polytechnic purchased extensively to support the wãnanga programmes, and at the conclusion of the contract The Open Polytechnic gifted many of the books to Te Wananga o Aotearoa to assist in the development of its own library collections.

            Development of a library at Te Wananga o Aotearoa began in late 2002. In May 2003, library staff appointments were made at regional campuses and in subjects areas. On 14 December 2004. Te Wananga o Aotearoa officially opened its library in Glenview, Hamilton.

            Wananga libraries are institutional members of the Library and Information Association of New Zealand Aotearoa (LIANZA) and the Achieves and Records Association of New Zealand (ARANZ).