Hastings District Libraries

Statistics New Zealand gathers comprehensive data on many aspects of our region.

Visit their website to find the latest economic, social and demographic statistics for Hastings District and Hawke's Bay.

http://search.stats.govt.nz/search?w=hastings  

Also Interactive Maps is useful. 

From a free reading room to computerised services, the Hastings Library has evolved over many years. Our buildings have been built, fallen down (literally), moved, rebuilt and extended, to provide a much used community service in the heart of Hastings.

Photo: The old Hastings Library building in Market Street South, destroyed in the 1931 Hawke's Bay earthquake.

The main repositories of local history information are: Hastings & Havelock North Libraries, Napier Library and the Hawke's Bay Museum. 

Hawke's Bay local history records and items may also be located at National Archives and the Alexander Turnbull Library (part of the National Library) in Wellington.

The Hastings District was devastated by the 1931 earthquake.  The damaged buildings were replaced by strongly reinforced buildings in the Art Deco and Spanish Mission styles. 

Some buildings did survive the earthquake, so we now have an interesting mixture of architectural styles and some very fine buildings. 

The Landmarks History Group is holding a series of monthly talks on Hawke's Bay histor.  The topics are very interesting and have been well attended. 

The meetings are held on the second Tuesday of the month, 5:30pm - home by 7pm.
Gold coin donation upon entry

Judy Siers spoke at the August meeting on researching Hawke's Bay history, with special mention of the Hastings Women's Rest building. 

Images of our district's history can be found in a variety of resources. 

Online collections of digital images can be searched from home or in the libraries.