Archives and Special Books

Te Ao Mārama - Tauranga City Libraries’ Archives and Special Book collections are housed at a climate-controlled facility in Mount Maunganui.

Update

As we prepare to move our collections to a new library and community hub in 2026, Te Ao Mārama - Tauranga City Libraries will not be accepting any new donations into our archive from Thursday, 1 May 2025. In the interim, you are welcome to contribute digitised items to our online archive Pae Korokī - Tauranga archives online. Feel free to contact us if you need assistance with this, or if you would like any advice on how to care for your historic collections at home.

Once we are open for donations again, any donation offers will be assessed in accordance with our Library Archives Policy. We look forward to hearing from you about material you're interested in donating to us once we're settled into our new home at Te Manawataki o Te Papa!

Appointments to visit can be made by contacting the Heritage and Research team by email: research@tauranga.govt.nz or phone 07 577 7177.

Tauranga Archives can be searched via Pae Korokī

Special books can be searched via the Library Catalogue. Depending on the title, there may also be borrowable or reference copies at a community library.

Archive Collections
Pae Korokī serves as a tomokanga, a gateway welcoming you to explore the Te Ao Mārama - Tauranga City Libraries archives, including archive collections, images, maps, publications, audio visual resources. Enjoy discovering the diverse and unique stories of Tauranga Moana..

Te Waharoa o te Mana Mātauranga
Created by James (Hemi) Tapiata, Te Waharoa o te Mana Mātauranga (The Gateway to the Power of Knowledge), currently greets visitors to the Archives and Special Books collections. Members of Tūhononga Wairua presented Te Waharoa o te Mana, to attract and welcome Māori, and provide a point of identification for all who visit.

Special Books Collection
New Zealand-related publications that are rare, fragile, locally distinctive or very-difficult-to-replace. Sometimes there may also be a borrowable or reference copy at a community library..

Māori Special Books Collection
Mātauranga Māori (Māori knowledge) publications that are rare, fragile, locally distinctive or very-difficult-to-replace Sometimes there may also be a borrowable or reference copy at a community library

Sladden Collection
The Sladden library includes early editions of Cook’s voyages, the beautifully illustrated Buller’s Birds and a comprehensive collection of publications by Elsdon Best.

Munro Collection
This collection of books is of interest to anyone researching, or with just an interest in, nautical history.

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Phone: 07 577 7177
Email: library@tauranga.govt.nz