September Focus: Today’s Stories Are Tomorrow’s Heritage
This September, Manawatū Community Hub Libraries (MCHL) is shining a spotlight on exploring and creating heritage. Many people are curious about the history of a place, a building, or even their own family. Did you know that you can discover these stories while also contributing your own?
One of the ways Manawatū’s history is being preserved, is through the Feilding and District Heritage website, which showcases thousands of historic photographs and artefacts. Managed by Manawatū Community Hub Libraries, the platform serves as a community repository, ensuring that images, memories, and the community of today are safeguarded as tomorrow’s heritage. Visitors can browse and download historic photographs, read descriptions, and share items with family or friends. While many items are free to view and download, some materials are subject to copyright or licensing conditions.
Importantly, members of the public are invited to add to the collection. By adding your own photos, stories, and memories, you can help weave the living story of the Manawatū District. Contributions are reviewed by the MCHL team before being included in the permanent collection.
“Heritage isn’t just about the past, it’s about the stories we create today,” says Warrick Taylor, Library Services Leader. “By sharing what matters to us now, whether it’s a family photo, a local event, or a personal memory, we are giving future generations the chance to understand and see the community as it really was.”
Alongside the Feilding and District Heritage collection, MCHL provides digital access to resources including Family Search, Ancestry.com, Find My Past, and the Papers Past newspaper archives. For those seeking more hands-on help, the Feilding Branch of the New Zealand Society of Genealogists are available at Te Āhuru Mōwai every Wednesday morning from 10am to 12pm, where volunteers assist locals with ancestry records, microfilm, and other materials.
Together, we can celebrate our past, capture the present, and gift future generations a heritage that truly reflects our community.
For more information, visit Feilding Heritage Website and MCHL Digital Collection: Digital Library | Manawatū Community Hub Libraries
