In Term 3 Week 3 the library hosted the 2026 St Paul's College Book Week to celebrate reading engagement and storytelling, boost student literacy, and have fun.

During Monday morning assembly, our three Head Librarians, Hugo Lloyd (Year 12), Miguel Ragat (Year 12) and Christian Fa'aui (Year 11), outlined the events planned for Book Week and talked about their favourite books. Throughout the week, we invited some of the teachers to address the school about their love of books and reading. We would like to thank Mr Bickford, who held up three of his favourite books and outlined why they resonated with him, Mr Tanielu talked about his childhood spent reading and escaping into otherworlds through his love of literature and Mrs Fiu delivered a wonderful address about her favourite book, The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, by C. S. Lewis, and the hidden messages within the text.

We were honoured to host three special guests in the library, and were impressed by the number of students who turned up to listen and engage. Firstly, award-winning journalist and TV presenter Ms Paula Penfold talked about her career and how she goes about investigating community interest stories. She told the students about her involvement in the Teina Pora case, how he was falsely accused and incarcerated, and how it took a large team of people to right this miscarriage of justice. 

Poet, journalist, artist and performer Ms Dani Kionasina Dilys Thomson delighted a room full of students with her poetry readings and provided background about the subject matter and recurring themes in her prose. We have all three of her books of poetry available to borrow in the library: Tusitala (2024) her debut poetry collection; Tusiata (2025) an exploration for the daughters of the diaspora; and Moana: Voices of Our Ocean (2024/2025) a collaborative collection of poems by a range of writers.

Poet, journalist, artist and performer Ms Dani Kionasina Dilys Thomson delighted a room full of students with her poetry readings and provided background about the subject matter and recurring themes in her prose. We have all three of her books of poetry available to borrow in the library: Tusitala (2024) her debut poetry collection; Tusiata (2025) an exploration for the daughters of the diaspora; and Moana: Voices of Our Ocean (2024/2025) a collaborative collection of poems by a range of writers.

On the Tuesday of Book Week, we delighted in the Year 7 & 8 students dressing up for the Book Character Costume Parade. Our head librarians and I dressed up, with me as Sherlock Holmes and Hugo Lloyd as my off-sider Dr Watson, Miguel Ragat as Greg from the Wimpy Kid, and Christian Fa'aui as an adorable Little Red Riding Hood.

Many students put a huge amount of effort into their costumes and paraded in front of the group, holding up the book their character was chosen from. 

Huge congratulations to our winner, Manu Hilbron (Year 8) as Achilles, the great Greek warrior and the central character in Homer's epic poem, The Iliad.

Our two runner-up contestants were Boston Pascoe (Year 8) in his Bananas in Pajamas costume, and Sione Mateaki (Year 8) as Where's Wally?.

A big thank-you goes to Mr Rice, or should I say Peter Rabbit, a fictional character from one of my childhood favourites, The Tale of Peter Rabbit written in 1902 by English author Beatrix Potter. Like Peter Rabbit, Mr Rice is a wee bit mischievous, definitely adventurous, and looked great in the bunny onesie costume.

We celebrated Cook Island Language Week in the library by doing a quiz created by one of our Head Librarians, Christian Fa'aui (Year 11). Christian is very proud of his Cook Island ancestry, and he also decorated the library with precious kōpū tangata ta'onga, cultural treasures and family valuables. Thank you, Christian, for your ongoing Mana Tiaki.

Kia manuia

Rebecca Washer, Librarian