Te Totara Primary School Library

02/09/2026

We took a team of Year 5 & 6 students to the Waikato Book Battle at Hamilton Central Library on Friday. The Book Battle competition is "an exciting and engaging literary event designed to foster a love for reading and encourage friendly competition among students".

Our team had an enjoyable morning answering questions about the selection of books they were assigned to read. They represented the school well.

Our thanks to the sponsors of the event - Rotary Waikato Sunrise, Kiwanis Club Morrinsville & Matamata, Books For Kids, Poppies and Hamilton Book Month. The event could not happen without them, Hamilton City Libraries and the Waikato Literacy Association.

17/08/2026

📚⚡️ SPARKING CREATIVITY WITH DES HUNT! ⚡️📚

What an incredible experience our tamariki had last week during Aotearoa NZ School Library Week!

We were super lucky to host famous Kiwi author Des Hunt, and what an amazing session it was! Our students were completely engrossed as Des demonstrated how science can be used to spark ideas, imagination, and creativity in writing.

From wild experiments to captivating storytelling, it was a fantastic learning opportunity for our young writers. They most definitely left this experience feeling inspired to pick up a pen and create their own stories! ✏️✨

A huge thank you to Des Hunt for visiting Te Totara Primary and bringing books (and science!) to life!

Check out the photos and videos below to see the action!

30/07/2026

We have two exciting weeks coming up that celebrate libraries, books and reading. From 10-14 August, it is Aotearoa NZ School Library Week. We have author Des Hunt coming to speak with some of our older students, and we will be running a scavenger hunt in the library. The following week, it is our school's Book Week. Check out the poster to see all the fun events we have planned.

18/05/2026

Congratulations to our two Kids' Lit Quiz teams for representing our school so well during Thursday night's Waikato heat. The Kids' Lit Quiz is an annual literature quiz for students aged 10-13 years. Our students competed against 47 other teams and answered 100 questions from categories such as "Middle Names", "Pies" and "Pigs".

19/02/2026

We have some enthusiastic students in our book clubs and Lit Quiz Squad this year! Our (mostly) Marama team students named their club "The Nerdy Rats" and brought along their best clever rat pictures. Our (mostly) Milky Way team students named their club "The Fairly Ferocious Ferrets" (which is a mouthful to say over the intercom!). Our Lit Quiz Squad are preparing for the Kids' Lit Quiz next term. They had fun doing some literary Kahoots (online quizzes).

16/02/2026

Today we gave out the prizes for our Summer Reading Challenge. Congratulations to all our winners, and to everyone who read books over the holidays. Our staff Reading Challenge was won by Mrs Goile.

17/12/2025

In the last two weeks, we have issued over 1,800 books for students to read over the holidays, so there should be lots of children with their noses in books this summer! We hope that your holidays are filled with the best kind of stories.

09/12/2025

Here is Part Two of the videos made by our Pink Fluffy Unicorns and Hot Bananas Book Club. They talked about some of their favourite books they read this year. It was great to see their enthusiasm and the wide range of books they selected.

The Pink Fluffy Unicorns and Hot Bananas Book Club talk about some of the best books they read in 2025.

09/12/2025

Our Pink Fluffy Unicorns and Hot Bananas Book Club talked about some of their favourite books they read this year. It was great to see their enthusiasm and the wide range of books they selected. Here is Part One.

The Pink Fluffy Unicorns and Hot Bananas Book Club, talk about some of the best books they read in 2025.

25/11/2025

Today was our Shelf Monitors' turn to enjoy a special treat for all of their hard work this year. Mrs Rorimpandey made a big batch of her yummy cupcakes for everyone.