A sweeping panorama of more than 500 dots, most provided by the community, features in Masterton District Library’s effort to repeat its success as national winner of the Out on the Shelves display competition.
The competition is part of an annual campaign in June celebrating rainbow (LGBTQIA+) literature in libraries across New Zealand.
The library won first place in the 2025, and library assistant Danielle Stark said the inspiration for the rainbow display this year was the book, The Dot, by Peter H. Reynolds, and its theme of “making our mark and seeing where it takes us”.
Danielle contacted a range of groups for dots, including early childhood centres, IDEA services, English for speakers of other languages programmes (ESOL), and councils.
“So many people took up the challenge, some completing the mission with multiple additions, sometimes daily. They really let out their creative flair and came up with amazing results!”
Danielle said community involvement was the key to this year’s display.
“We’ve won already, by the number of people who have contributed,” she said.
“But, of course, it would be great to have that recognised with the top prize again.”
Library manager Tiffany Rawlings said the entry was a real community effort.
“Libraries should be at the centre of communities and the response to this competition entry shows we have some great connections,” she said.
