Teaching Resources Library Collections

The Teaching Resources Library contains books and other resources to assist in preparation and planning for teaching and for use in schools and early childhood centres during teaching practice. It is Teaching Resources Library policy to purchase from a variety of New Zealand and international children’s book awards.

Fiction

The Fiction collection is divided into novels (also known as chapter books) and picture books. Each collection is shelved alphabetically by author surname, prefixed with F for novels and PB for Picture Books.

Novels

The Novels collection contains a wide range of books appropriate for use with, and by, students transitioning from picture books to novels, with content suitable through to Year 13.

Picture books

The Picture Books collection contains a wide range of books appropriate for use with, and by, students from pre-school through to Year 13. Board books for pre-schoolers sit alongside sophisticated picture books for intermediate and secondary school students.

Non-Fiction

The Non-Fiction collection supports curriculum areas and areas of general interest from pre-school children to Year 13. This collection is shelved using the Dewey Decimal classification system.

Pictures

The Pictures collection contains single pictures and collections of pictures for use in teaching practice.

Teacher Resources

Many teacher resources contain a mixture of theory and practical activities. Where most of the content fits the criteria above, or the item is a practical guide for teachers, it is held in the Teaching Resources Library. Teacher resources are shelved in the Non-Fiction collection, Te Reo collection, Reading Centre and in a separate section using Library of Congress classification.

Te Reo Collection

This Collection supports the teaching of Te Reo Māori and contains material that is at least 50% Te Reo Māori, or where the intent of the item is for teaching Te Reo Māori. Fiction and non-fiction are included and some items are translations of English versions held elsewhere in the Teaching Resources Library.

Reading Centre

The Reading Centre contains books written for the purpose of teaching children to read. Most of the books in this collection are designed for use by students with a reading age between 5 and 12 years, with interest levels between 5 and 15 years. Some teacher guides for these resources can be found in this collection.

See more about the Reading Centre.

School Journal Collections

School journals published by the Ministry of Education are shelved in this area and several different series are available. The key series are The School Journal, Junior Journal, School Journal Story Library and Connected (which is located in the Dewey non-fiction collection).

The content of these series can be searched from the online database Journal Surf.

In addition to the School Journal series, there are three reading collections to support literacy instruction.

English Language Readers

These readers are organised according to reading ability levels. Most readers are in boxes colour-coded to match the reading ability levels found on the Ready to Read Colour Wheel.

Māori Language Readers

These readers are not graded in the same way as the English Readers and comprise of a number of series which vary in reading difficulty. More recent series, such as Nga Kete Korero, have their own reading levels system to assist teachers in selecting appropriate titles.

Pacific Language Readers

These readers are for students from pre-school children to Year 13 who speak or are learning to speak Cook Islands Māori, Niuean, Samoan, Tokelauan and Tongan. These readers are not graded for difficulty and can be used in various ways.

DVD and CD Collection

These resources are shelved together in a separate location within the Teaching Resources Library.