The Facebook of its day

When our descendants want to learn about us, it’s likely they’ll trawl through archived versions of today’s social-media platforms. Those embarrassing photos will have nowhere to hide! But, what about our ancestors? How can we learn more about their pastimes and what they did to support their community? For those with connections to Rotorua, the Photo News offers just that: an exciting glimpse into the everyday lives of locals throughout the 1960s.

The Rotorua Photo News really was the Facebook of its day. From 1963 to 1971, it reported on everything and anything: from weddings and engagements to competitions and community events. For this reason, if your whānau lived in Rotorua, you’re likely to find them in the Photo News (we’ve tested this theory on library staff and can confirm positive results!!).

How can I access the magazines?

Simply head to Pakiaka, search for a name or keyword, and then browse the results. You can also access the magazines from the collection page.

There are now 66 magazines loaded to the Pakiaka website ready for you to explore!

This sounds amazing! Why hasn’t the publication been made available sooner and why are there gaps!?

The Heritage and Research Team at Rotorua Library, Te Aka Mauri, was lucky to receive funding from The National Library of New Zealand back in 2021, as part of New Zealand’s library system COVID-19 recovery. With reference-only content being difficult to access during the lockdowns, we decided to spend the funds on digitisation.

The project didn’t end there, however. We couldn’t just put the magazines online and hope for the best! We needed to describe each issue: the dates, the creator, the contents, the access and rights information ... Gaining permission from the copyright holder – Logan Publishing – was also vital. They kindly agreed to assign a CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 License. We are still researching the copyright of the final 16 issues (October 1969 to February 1971), so these will go live at a later date.

While it meant there would be gaps, the team decided to digitise our duplicate copies. Posting the magazines to the digitisation company was our only option due to COVID-19 restrictions, and we didn’t want to risk losing a single issue. Those without duplicates remained on site. The good news is Friends of Rotorua Library have provided funding to fill the gaps. Keep an eye on Pakiaka, over the next 12 months, as more issues are made available!