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Fully Certified
Ruataniwha Civic Centre
General Information
176 Williams Street, Kaiapoi 7630
0800 965 542
Opening Times - Check before visiting as might change
Monday to Wednesday: 9:00 am – 5:00 pm
Thursday: 9:00 am – 7:00 pm
Friday: 9:00 am – 5:00 pm
Saturday: 10:00 am – 2:00 pm
Sunday: 1:00 pm – 4:00 pm
Overview
Welcome to Ruataniwha Kaiapoi Civic Centre
Haere mai ki tō tātou Kā Ruataniwha Kaiapoi Civic Centre
We have four parts to our space: Kaiapoi Service Centre for all your council needs, Art on the Quay (gallery), Kaiapoi Museum, and Kaiapoi Library.
Our service centres are the front face of our council; we aim to help every customer who comes through our doors and respond to emails and telephone calls.
At our service centre, you can:
-Pay rates
-Register dogs
-Pay any council bill
-Book council venues and cemetery plots
-Enter service requests
-Apply for a rate rebate
We hope you enjoy your time with us as you learn, imagine, and explore. Our focus is on delivering outstanding customer service, providing a wide range of resources, maintaining our dynamic collection, and offering programming, activities, and opportunities to reflect and empower our hapori. From late nights and our Tinker Zone to preschool programming, we aim to have something for everyone.
If you can’t make it into our library to access books, board games, DVDs, magazines, and newspapers, we also offer an e-library with over 70,000 resources. These include movies, crafts, comics, music, audiobooks, magazines, newspapers, and more. You can also explore our local history through our Recollect platform.
We are a fines-free library, offering zero fines on holds or overdue items, with only a small fee for our bestsellers. This means you can visit any of our libraries or place a hold without worrying about costs.
The Kaiapoi Library offers:
-Free-to-use public library computers
-Mobility scooter recharging station
-24/7 Wi-Fi
-The Tinker Zone
-Visitor materials, including welcoming bags, maps, and flyers
We also share the building with:
-Art on the Quay
-Kaiapoi Museum
Notes for Cardholders
For use of our Tinker Zone sewing machines, you must complete a 45-minute induction. You can book a day and time using the link below:
https://events.humanitix.com/tinker-zone-induction-sewing-suite-kaiapoi-library
You can join the library in person or online using the following link (please note that membership is free for residents of Waimakariri and those who study in our district): https://onlinereg.kotui.org.nz/forms/12
If you have any feedback regarding books you would like to see in our catalogue, please speak to our team or fill out our purchase suggestion form.
You can view our social stories to learn more about what we offer in our library by clicking on this link: https://waimakaririlibraries.com/about/locations-and-hours
Your support person has free access to any paid activity you are attending. Please note that our team will need to know they are attending in advance.
Standing and Queuing
Our staff can assist you when you are at Ruataniwha Kaiapoi Civic Centre.
Our library team can sit with you while communicating if you would like. This space is to the left of our main desk in the library. Our library staff are often roving, and we are happy and ready to help—just approach us or call out. Our team wear our library card colours (blue, purple, orange, and green) on their lanyards. We have a manual wheelchair available by the carpark entrance if you require one.
We have one library catalogue computer that is accessible. This can be lowered to your height to make it easier to use. It is situated by the holds shelf.
Our Service Centre has a wheelchair-accessible counter on the right-hand side. If you are struggling with standing, please let our team know so we can organise a chair for you.
In our spaces, we have a mobility recharging station positioned in front of our customer service desk.
Level Access
We have a slope outside the car park entrance to the building, between our mobility carparks and the library. Access involves wheeling approximately 10 meters up this slope to the library door. Our other main entrance on the Williams Street side is flat between the library and the road. There are no accessible carparks close to the Williams Street entrance.
Once you arrive at our building, there are automated doors at each library entrance. Our library is on two levels, with accessible toilets on each level, and a lift that goes between the levels.
The Service Centre is closest to the Williams Street entrance.
Distances
We have two mobility carparks located about 15 meters away. Our toilets are on the side closest to the carparks. We have one parenting room and one accessible toilet on the ground floor. On the first floor, we have another accessible toilet, which includes shower facilities if needed. Please speak to staff if this is required. We also have a manual wheelchair available by our entrance if you need one.
Urgent Toilet Access
We have six toilets in our building, which have a range of door types. Our accessible toilets have sliding doors, while our main public toilets have push/pull doors.
Disability Assist Dogs
Disability assist dogs are welcome in our library. We are happy to provide water outside our spaces for pets. We cannot accommodate other dogs due to council policy and health and safety risks in our spaces.
Essential Companions
Ruataniwha Kaiapoi Civic Centre entry is free for everyone. If you need support to find seating for you and your companion, please let the team know. Please note this may not be in your chosen area of the library. Your companions are warmly welcomed.
If we are running a paid activity, we are happy to give your support person a complimentary ticket. Please note they may not be able to take part in the activity if it sells out, but we will try our best to accommodate them. If you would like your support person to attend, you will need to purchase your own ticket and email library@wmk.govt.nz
to book a ticket for your companion.
If you are booking a rate rebate appointment at the Service Centre, we allow space for up to three people to attend. If more than three people need to attend, please contact kaiapoi@wmk.govt.nz
to make additional arrangements.
Difficulty Accessing Visual Information
We are happy to assist you in finding what you need and to introduce you to the library. We offer books in dyslexic fonts that are easier to read and have a range of audiobooks and DVDs available. We have bilingual signage in our building to identify areas and shelving. Our computers all have text-to-speech accessibility, and if you need time with a librarian to find information, we are happy to help you by booking a “Book a Librarian” appointment. We can also show you how to change the formatting of BorrowBox and Libby to make your books easier to read. If you would like access to braille books, we are happy to see what is available at libraries around New Zealand that take part in the Interloan Scheme.
Difficulty Accessing Audible Information
We have time to listen and talk with you in a way that works for you. We can use a translation tool to work between audible and written information. We have a range of tools available; you can use a tablet and our translation apps at our counter to convert speech to text to communicate with our team.
Hidden Disabilities
We are happy to follow your lead to ensure you have the best possible experience in our library. Please let our team know.
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