Source: Auckland Council
From fascinating early Chinese journals, to thousands of popular Chinese magazines and eBooks, there’s a wide range of excellent Chinese digital entertainment and learning resources on offer at Auckland Council Libraries.
Parks, Arts, Community and Events Committee Chair Councillor Alf Filipaina says, “Auckland Council Libraries offer a great range of online resources for our Chinese community, including Auckland Libraries Chinese Facebook page, Chinese eMagazines, eBooks and eAudiobooks, English learning resources, and Chinese Heritage collections. It’s a fantastic resource that’s free to all Auckland Council Libraries members.”
The Auckland Libraries Chinese Facebook page is a valuable source of information for Aucklanders on Chinese library resources and community events. The page is regularly updated with new book reviews, information about our library collections, notices, events, community news and other interesting topics.
Keep the whole family entertained with thousands of Chinese eBooks, eAudiobooks, eMagazines, eNewspapers and more. An Auckland Council Libraries’ membership gives you immediate at-home access to these resources through the following digital platforms:
- Overdrive– our main eBook and eAudiobook platform with over 6,000 Chinese titles for childrens, teens and adults that can be accessed on the Libby app or through aucklandlibraries.govt.nz. Search titles or go straight to our Chinese collection room (under Collections) where you’ll find library-curated lists of popular titles, classics, cookbooks, books about business and economics and much more.
- Dragonsource – choose from 2000 eMagazines and eJournals from mainland China with articles available in simplified and traditional Chinese. Read about economics, culture, politics, and current affairs to stay connected to China and the world.
- Pressreader – get instant online access to today’s eNewspapers from around the world in full-colour, full-page format. Top popular magazines, like Mu dan “牡丹”, Shi yue “十月”, Zhi dian “支点”, and Jian kang da shi ye “健康大视野” are usually available at the time of publication. There are 40 titles in Traditional Chinese and 234 in Simplified Chinese.
- RBDigital – offers over 600 popular eMagazine titles, including Chinese titles like VOGUE服饰与美容, GQ 智族, Mombaby妈妈宝宝杂志 and AD 安邸.
- See Auckland Libraries blog post for more information about accessing Chinese e-resources.
If you’d like to study English, Auckland Council Libraries offer free access to world-class preparation and practice with Road to IELTS General and Road to IELTS Academic. This study programme is the best possible introduction to the IELTS exam and activities. With over 120 hours of interactive learning materials, the resource provides preparation and practice for the reading, writing, listening, and speaking modules of the IELTS exam.
Discover our local history and explore the wealth of Auckland Libraries’ heritage collections with Kura Heritage Collections Online. Search for Chinese journals, listen to Chinese oral histories, or view historic photographs of Chinese people in New Zealand. Simply browse items and narrow your search by Chinese language, or search for Mandarin or Cantonese language. A special highlight in this collection is the Chinese Growers’ Monthly Journal, New Zealand’s last remaining set of original Chinese printing types that were used in a traditional printing press.
Researching your Chinese genealogy is another great activity to do at home. Auckland Council Libraries hold large collections on New Zealand Chinese settlement history and Chinese genealogy. There’s many resources available to start your search and you can get online assistance from a research librarian.
How to join Auckland Council Libraries
Auckland Council Libraries’ buildings are currently closed until further notice, but they have a world of reading, listening and viewing you can access anytime, anywhere, online. Check out what they have to offer; all completely free with an Auckland Council Libraries membership.
For those without a membership, it just takes a couple of easy steps and can be done entirely from home. Head to aucklandlibraries.govt.nz to join and access online services and resources.
