Leys Institute Little Library News

Kia ora koutou Ponsonby. Happy New Year; fingers crossed the start of 2022 means library programmes are set to return as is the Pride festival.

Though like everything these days they are not quite the same.

This month Ponsonby (and the rest of Auckland) are celebrating Pride. On Wednesday 16 February you will find some Leys library faces at Studio One Toi Tū with 'Same Same But Different' hosting the 7th Poetry Speakeasy at 5pm. We promise an evening of rainbow poets and poetry, with an open mic, guest readers Courtney Sina Meredith and Lily Holloway, and host Michael Giacon. Come along to read, listen, and enjoy in our welcoming queer word nest, refreshments provided. Pre-book at www.eventbrite.com or at Leys Institute Little Library.

Most exciting in our calendar of Pride events is 'Rainbow Storytime' on Friday 18 February with the fabulous Miss Trinity Ice. Join us on the lawn of All Saints Church Ponsonby (284 Ponsonby Road) at 11am for some rainbow themed stories, songs, dancing and fun, plus of course bubbles. Some kid-friendly light refreshments provided.

Down the road at the Grey Lynn Library on Tuesday 15 February you can join the Sisters Gay from 6.30pm for 'Private Eyes': A library event for Pride. A 2022 literary salon (aka Storytime) for grown-ups and other family. Rendez-vous with our intrepid heroines to detect dangerous liaisons, reveal the romance of mystery, and make the catch/match of the day, refreshments provided. Pre-book at www.eventbrite.com or at Grey Lynn Library.

Last, but not least our regular programmes - 'Wriggle and Rhyme' returns from Wednesday 10 February. Join us at the Ponsonby Baptist church every Wednesday at 10am or 11am during the school term. 'Wriggle and Rhyme' is a fun active movement programme full of songs and rhymes to help the development of your infants and toddlers, plus we promise bubbles and pop music at the end to help shake out those ‘wheels on the bus’ earworms.

The Classic Film Club is returning to Grey Lynn Library Hall with the first season’s theme being black comedy. Start date is Friday 25 February at 3pm the season runs for six consecutive Fridays. Enquire at Leys Institute Little Library or Grey Lynn library for further information.

At all events we want to do everything we can to keep everyone safe which means we will be taking registrations through Eventbrite and at the library, limiting numbers, checking vaccine passes, and wearing masks. Also keep an eye on our Facebook page in case of changes or cancellations of events.

David’s Film Recommendation - Black Comedy Classic: The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie
Six well-heeled, middle-aged friends, who also happen to be drug traffickers, try again and again to sit down to a meal together, but find themselves interrupted at every turn by a series of random events, alternately humdrum and bizarre.

Luis Buñuel’s surrealist black comedy, which won the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film in 1973, continues the director’s life-long preoccupation with lampooning the obsessions and frustrated desires of the middle class. Punctuating the proceedings is a number of brief but sublime interludes, each of which features our impeccably attired party walking incongruously, yet with purpose and confidence, down an empty country road. But where exactly are these charming and rather corrupt bourgeoisie going?

Is there, indeed, any purpose at all to their lives, besides the pursuit of pleasure? The film supplies no direct answers to these questions, but it has great fun asking them.

Leys Institute Little Library, 14 Jervois Road, T: 09 377 0209, www.aucklandlibraries.govt.nz

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Published 4 February 2022