10 Sep 2018

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Getting out a book will be an opportunity to try out your te reo this week with library kiosks set to the Māori language option.

Christchurch City Council community libraries are celebrating Te Wiki o te reo Māori (Māori Language Week) by setting all of their self-service kiosks to Māori Language as the default option from today.

“We are delighted to be able to support the use of te reo Māori in our communities in this way,” says Council Head of Libraries and Information Carolyn Robertson.

“It’s a very visible way to contribute to the revitalisation of an official language of our country and raise awareness of Te Wiki o te reo Māori.”

Library customers will be able to manually choose the English language option if they need to.

The theme of this year’s Te Wiki o te reo Māori is 'Kia Kaha te Reo Māori’ which means, ‘Let’s make the Māori language strong'.

Māori Language Week is a government-sponsored initiative promoting the use of te reo, one of the three official national languages of New Zealand (Māori, English and New Zealand Sign Language).

It aims to raise public awareness for Māori language revitalisation, learning and public usage.