Mobile Library service at 50: celebrating community and connection

Published on 13 October 2025

On 15 September 2025, our Mobile Library service reached a special milestone, celebrating its 50th birthday.

What started in 1975, with one royal blue and sunshine yellow bus bringing the joy of reading to Upper Hutt residents in remote areas, has evolved into two modern vehicles visiting schools, kura, early childhood centres, rest homes, and retirement villages.

Caption: Upper Hutt’s first Mobile Library, parked on a local street in the 1980s. (image credit: Mahara Upper Hutt Community Archive)

A drive down memory lane: heritage display at Central Library

As part of our celebrations, we invite you to step back in time and follow the evolution of the service through a specially curated display in our local history area at Central Library, on show until early November.

Featuring dozens of photographs from our community archive, it is a beautiful picture book story showcasing one of our city’s favourite features. It even includes the Mobile Library’s very sparkly appearance at the 2011 Santa Parade!

Can’t make it into Central Library? Explore photographs and ephemera (historical pamphlets and brochures) on Mahara Upper Hutt Community Archive.

Behind the wheel: thank you to our mobile librarians, past and present

There’s no doubt about the unique magic of a library on wheels. More than the vehicles themselves, it’s the staff and teams, on their weekly circuit of the city, who are at the heart of this service.

It’s their bespoke book selections for older locals in rest homes; setting aside the follow-up book in an exciting series for a budding bookworm; and big smiles, a friendly chat, or a gentle conversation making sure that everyone in Upper Hutt feels connected to their community.

On 24 September 2025, we celebrated current and past mobile librarians at Central Library, to say thank you for decades of service to Upper Hutt, and for the unforgettable experiences they created during their time on the Mobile Library service. Past staff also got a special tour of our two current vehicles, Pūrehurehu and Mangaroa.

Caption: Pūrehurehu (library bus) and Mangaroa (EV van) waiting to welcome past mobile librarians on board. (image credit: Upper Hutt Libraries)

Time to reminisce: share your Mobile Library memories with us

Generations of Upper Hutt residents hold fond memories of their library bus visits as children, stepping on board with parents and siblings, or watching the Mobile Library pull up at school or kindergarten.

We’re collating Mobile Library stories, memories, and drawings into a memory book for the community archive.

Here’s how you can take part:

• Draw, write, craft your Mobile Library memories – be as creative as you like, just make sure it's in 2D so we can add it to the book.
• Email us or drop off what you've made at one of our branches by 31 October 2025. Please let us know if it's okay to capture your first name and age.

The road ahead: new community stops in early 2026

The Mobile Library is coming to a community stop near you soon! Our Outreach Team is in the final stages of getting ready to launch a brand-new Upper Hutt timetable.

We will announce days, times, and locations early in the new year. The wheels of the bus do go round and round – we can’t wait to welcome you on board soon.

Be the first to know when we launch the new timetable: subscribe to Fanmail, our bi-monthly newsletter.