New settlers

Kia ora and welcome to Christchurch. We have a good range of resources and services on offer to new residents. Christchurch City Libraries has a network of community libraries and a team of helpful librarians.

Join the library

It is free to join the library.

Conditions of membership

• Most items are free to borrow
• We generally charge for lost or damaged items

Bring some:

• Identification e.g. passport, driver’s licence
• Proof of Address e.g. bank statement, telephone bill etc
• Membership form to fill out in advance

Useful resources

• Books in your language
• Bi-lingual resources/dictionaries
• ESOL resources and easy reading novels, grammar, vocabulary and spelling guide books, English dictionaries, language courses - tapes and books, IELTS practice material
• World music on CD
• Study guides for high school
• World language collections

Our services

• CINCH: a list of clubs, organisations and courses around the greater Christchurch area
• Free Internet access
• Links to websites for new migrants
• Links to ESOL education sites
• Links to news websites by country and language
• Access to word processing — other language fonts available
• Activities for children and their parents
• Free tuition in use of catalogue, email, Internet searching

Read and listen to your language

Explore the World languages collection.

Links to our catalogue for books, DVDs, CDs and audiobooks in:

• Afrikaans
• Arabic
• Chinese
• Dutch
• French

• German
• Japanese
• Korean
• Persian
• Russian
• Spanish
• Thai
• Vietnamese

Links to our catalogue for children’s stories in:

• Afrikaans
• Arabic
• Chinese
• Dutch
• French
• German
• Japanese
• Korean
• Persian
• Russian
• Somali
• Spanish
• Thai
• Vietnamese

Bi-lingual dictionaries

• Arabic
• Chinese
• Japanese
• Korean
• Persian
• Russian
• Somali
• Thai
• Vietnamese

Donations of adult’s and childrens’ books in your language are very welcome.

Learning to drive

The Road Code is the official guide for learning to drive in New Zealand. It is a high demand item and you may need to go on a waiting list for this. Ask at your nearest library. Libraries have a copy available for reference.