A large anchor stone sits solidly and reassuringly, framed within a circle at Māngere East Library. Commissioned for the library, the work is a collaboration between a teacher and his student. Appropriately named, akoako is the Māori principle of reciprocal relationships between student and teacher, the sharing and passing on of knowledge and skills.

The stone's surface has largely been left in its rough and raw state. However, a smooth, fluted funnel has been carved through the top of the sculpture, representing its anchor point; a place that both connects and secures. The huge stone was carved by sculptor Dr Richard Shortland Cooper and his student Terry Koloamatangi Klavenes, and opened to the public in 2002.

As with the sharing of knowledge between teacher and student, *Ako Ako* also represents the knowledge to be found within the books at Māngere East Library.

Ako Ako

These small stainless-steel symbols are embedded into the pavement outside the Māngere East Library entrance. *Matau Mātauranga* is a play on words asking you to get 'hooked on learning'. The symbols are arranged in a seemingly random formation, so you stumble across them by chance, if they are noticed at all. Elements of the Phoenician alphabet are used, referencing the common ancestor of many written languages. Other symbols – numbers, fish, bird footprints, feathers, reflect the natural world, technology and the deeper aspects of both. A leaf at one end of the pathway represents the challenge presented to the seeker of knowledge, while a feather at the other entrance represents the achievement gained.

Commissioned for the redevelopment of the Māngere East Library in 2002, this artwork by artist Gabrielle Belz was an integral part of the building's planning from the beginning. The art enhances this special place designed to share knowledge, learning and information.

Matau Māturanga

These modern tukutuku panels are attached to the exterior of the Māngere East Library with a tūmatakahuki rod running up the centre of each panel. The panels are based on tukutuku (woven lattice panels used between the carvings inside a meeting house) and bring together many of the elements of the meeting house and the knowledge systems it represents. One of the interpretations of tukutuku is 'to release' and in the context of the library, it is the release of history, ideas and knowledge. Tukutuku patterns are used here to refer to the different kinds of knowledge stored and released by writers through these library 'flash points'.

The ten geometrical patterns used are based on the patterns used widely in whare throughout the country. The name of each provides a point of entry into a different area of understanding, another perspective, and more chains of connection. The patterns are incomplete – acknowledging that the building up of knowledge is an ongoing process.

Inside the library, the children's area has a set of similar rods carrying the meaning through into the heart of the building, something for children to touch, play on and be inspired by.

Commissioned for the redevelopment of the Māngere East Library in 2002, this artwork by artist Peter Boyd was conceived as an integral part of the building's planning from the beginning. The art enhances this special place designed to share knowledge, learning and information.

Children's Area, Māngere East Library

Immense wood poles topped with stainless-steel sculptures catch the light and mark the Māngere East Library as a special place.

Artist Richard Shortland Cooper created these five sculptures to greet visitors as they arrive at the library. Inspiration came from the whakapapa (genealogy) term tātai hikohiko, literally meaning a line of flashes, a line of luminaries, a line of ancestors. Tātai hikohiko is a short whakapapa giving just the names of important ancestors. The library is seen as one of these flashes, linking points in journeys of many kinds.

Commissioned for the redevelopment of the Māngere East Library in 2002, art was conceived as an integral part of the building's planning from the beginning. Four leading Manukau artists were chosen to work with the project team to invest each site in, on and around the building, with meaning.

Richard Shortland Cooper, Terry Koloamatangi Klavenes

Ako Ako

"A large stone sculpture at Māngere East Library represents the sharing and passing on of knowledge and skills."

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