At home without a book? We have an option that will satisfy your need for instant gratification, the Central Otago Libraries online resources. 

Central Otago Digital Services Librarian Emma McLean says there are plenty of online resources to take advantage of without the need to physically visit the library. 

“Libby Overdrive and Borrowbox provide eBooks for you to read, eAudiobooks read by narrators that bring them to life as you sip your coffee or weed your gardens. 

“Beamafilm and Artfilms bring you movies and documentaries to fill that need for stories and knowledge. Newspapers and magazines from New Zealand and around the world with Pressreader. 

“TumbleBooks bring eBooks, eAudiobooks, animated read alongs, chapter books and national geographic documentaries for children of Primary school age. 

“Mix this in with some amazing research tools to delve into your family history using AncestryLibrary Edition or New Zealand and local history and your days will be full.” 

All you need to access these resources is a library membership which is free, and you can sign up from home. Click here to sign up. 

Spring in little places. Lockdown walks allow you to take notice of the little things. 

“Need something else? Central Otago Libraries are creating a multimedia digital book titled, Central Otago Moments in Lockdown,” Emma says. 

“We are inviting the community to get involved and share images with captions, short videos, poetry, short stories, or audio to add to our book. 

“Already we have beautiful scenes from the Maniototo, a poem from Cromwell Primary student Ethan Everett, Harry Farrell’s pond where he assures us there are ducks, new lambs in the Teviot Valley and blossoms blooming on the streets of Clyde, but we need more. 

Central Otago Libraries are creating a multimedia digital book titled, Central Otago Moments in Lockdown. 

“We encourage anyone and everyone to share a snippet of this time in lockdown by emailing it to [email protected].”

Click here to view our digital book and watch it grow - Link to Moments in Lockdown

“We have also created Lockdown Library Updates #1 and #2 that are full of information to share what’s happening with libraries in lockdown, they also include links to cool resources to keep you busy at home.”