World Languages
Information about the different world languages collections held in libraries, and online resources in a range of languages.
We also have books in different languages for children. These are found in the Children’s area of the library.

Chinese
We have titles available in the following languages:
- Afrikaans, Afrikaans (children's titles)
- Bengali (children's titles)
- Arabic, Arabic (children's titles)
- Chinese, Chinese (children's titles)
- Dutch, Dutch (children's titles)
- Finnish (children's titles)
- French, French (children's titles)
- German, German (children's titles)
- Greek (children's titles)
- Hindi, Hindi (children's titles)
- Japanese, Japanese (children's titles)
- Korean, Korean (children's titles)
- Latin (children's titles)
- Persian, Persian (children's titles)
- Polish, Polish (children's titles)
- Russian, Russian (children's titles)
- Slovenian (children's titles)
- Somali (children's titles)
- Spanish, Spanish (children's titles)
- Tagalog, Tagalog (children's titles)
- Thai
Bilingual dictionaries
- Afrikaans
- Arabic
- Chinese
- Cook Island Māori (Rarotongan)
- Fijian
- French
- German
- Hindi
- Japanese
- Korean
- Niuean
- Persian
- Russian
- Samoan
- Somali
- Spanish
- Tagalog
- Thai
- Tokelauan
- Tongan
- Vietnamese
Te reo Māori and Pasifika languages
All our libraries have titles in te reo Māori in their Ngā Pounamu Māori collections.
Some libraries have Pasifika collections. Most of these books are for children. These include books in:
- Niuean, Niuean (children's titles)
- Rarotongan, Rarotongan (children's titles)
- Samoan, Samoan (children's titles)
- Tokelauan, Tokelauan (children's titles)
- Tongan, Tongan (children's titles)
Collection policy
We do not actively collect books in every language. For more information please see our World Languages Collection Policy.
World languages collections by library
World languages collections include adult fiction and non-fiction. Some children’s material is also available in these languages at each of these libraries. Please note that the children’s resources in world languages are usually shelved in the children’s areas.
- Aranui Library
- Niuean, Rarotongan, Samoan, Tokelauan and Tongan. A large proportion of this material is for children.
- Fendalton Library
- Chinese, Japanese, and Korean.
- Te Hāpua: Halswell Centre
- Chinese, French, Japanese, Korean, and Russian.
- Hornby Library
- Chinese
- Linwood Library
- Chinese, Korean, and Russian. Some of this material is for children.
- Papanui Library
- Chinese, Japanese and Korean plus children's books in Chinese.
- South Library
- Chinese, Dutch, German, Japanese, and Korean
- Shirley Library
- Chinese, and Japanese
- Tūranga
- Afrikaans, Arabic, Chinese, Dutch, French, German, Hindi, Japanese, Korean, Persian, Polish, Russian, and Spanish are found in the world languages collection on Auahatanga | Creativity, Level 4. There is also a small selection of magazines in the following languages - Afrikaans, Chinese, French, German, Hindi, Italian, Japanese and Russian. Children’s books are found on Hapori | Community, Level 1.
Books in Niuean, Samoan, Tokelauan and Tongan languages are found in the Pasifika collection on Tuakiri | Identity, Level 2 . Most of these books are for children.
eResources
LOTE4Kids
OverDrive World Languages
Mango Languages
Enjoy world cinema with Kanopy
PressReader: Newspapers from around the world
Read in your language with OverDrive
Pasifika
Newcomers
Learning English
Borrow English language courses, grammar titles, or books in simple English to help you learn or access online resources focused on improving your English skills.