Te Aka Matua Research Library is Te Papa's research and reference resource, with particular strengths in New Zealand, Māori, and Pacific history, natural history, art, photography, and museum studies. The library is distributed across the Museum, with reading rooms open to the public by appointment at our Cable Street and Tory Street sites.
The library also holds a large collection of artist files. See below for more details and an index.
Opening hours
Te Aka Matua Reading Room (Cable St)
Monday to Friday, 10am–5pm, by appointment only, from late June 2013
The Hector Room (Tory St)
Monday to Thursday, 10am–5pm, by appointment only
Phone enquiries and bookings
Monday to Friday, 10am–5pm
Phone: +64 (0)4 381 7286
Make an appointment or an enquiry online
Te Aka Matua Reading Room
From late June 2013, the Te Aka Matua Reading Room will be in its new home on Te Papa's Level 4 mezzanine, above Signs of a Nation. It will be open to the public by appointment from Monday to Friday, 10am to 5pm.
A welcoming, comfortable area to work in, it will contain our non-science rare book collections, museology books, and art and exhibition files. Photocopying facilities, free Wi-Fi, and power sources for laptops will be available.
The rest of the Te Aka Matua collection is now housed in departmental libraries throughout the Museum, close to the staff who use them. When you make an appointment, our library staff will source the material you require and bring it to you in the reading room.
Access the library’s catalogue
Access Collections Online
Access Tai Awatea | Knowledge Net
Make an appointment or an enquiry online
The Hector Room
The Hector Room is located in our Tory Street building and is named after the first director of the Colonial Museum and New Zealand Institute, Sir James Hector. It contains some of the science journal collection and the natural-environment rare book collection.
The Hector Room is open to the public by appointment from Monday to Thursday, 10am–5pm.
Make an appointment or an enquiry online
Find out more about Sir James Hector
Artist files
Te Aka Matua holds over 5,000 individual files on New Zealand and international artists, Te Papa’s exhibitions, and other related subjects. New material is added daily. Each file includes articles, small exhibition catalogues, invitations, and other ephemera.
Index
Click on the links below to browse the list.
A-D | E-H | I-L | M-P | Q-T | U-W | X-Z
To view the artist files, make an appointment to visit Te Aka Matua Research Library