Collecting and sharing great books so all tamariki have access to stories they love

Our mission

Story Store's mission is to create equitable
reading opportunities for New Zealand tamariki

How we started

The idea for Story Store was born when I was asked whether I knew of any school libraries in need of near new used books. Addressing this need has become my passion and goal in retirement.

By the end of January 2023 shelving was being installed in our premises at EPIT (Education Partnership & Innovation Trust) in Onehunga.

Since our very first visit from St Mary's School in Avondale in March 2023 we have happily donated 6,108 books to 49 schools from the Hokianga to Porirua, and impacted 13,344 tamariki!

Who is eligible

We have four criteria for schools to meet:

The school has an insufficient budget to provide new books for their library
The school must have a decile rating of 6 and under in the old system
The school management must be 'pro Library'
There needs to be someone passionate about books/reading leading the Library space

How we work

Story Store works best when we have stock turning over – it’s all about ‘books in’ and ‘books out’.

'Books in' are the donations of near-new books that we receive from individuals or through schools holding book drives for us. Books must be pristine because library books lead a hard life, so need to start out in excellent condition. And it sends a subliminal message that all tamariki are worthy of nice books!

When we receive a donation, the books are sorted into ‘A’ and ‘B’ depending on their condition. The best of the best are ‘A’ — these are catalogued then shelved. The ‘B’ grade books have some small defect, e.g., a name written on the end papers. These books are not catalogued, and if a school selects them, they know and understand the defect.

'Books out' Our visiting schools are very excited when they walk into our bookstore. They choose their books from a collection of several thousand books covering a huge range of subject areas. Like a shop, we even have daily specials. Schools potentially walk away with 200 books!

The awesome thing is that no money changes hands, just smiles, and sincere appreciation for the books the visiting schools take back to their libraries.

Schools we've helped

Since our very first visit from St Mary's School in Avondale in March 2023, we have happily donated 6,108 books to 49 schools, impacting 13,344 tamariki!

The books -chosen by our visiting school librarians, teachers, teacher aides, and students- find new homes in school libraries throughout the motu.

Click on the map to explore the schools we work with.