[1] A brief introduction on the library wall gives another version - the earliest form was established in 1880 by the Epsom Mutual Improvement Society.

[1] There was a plan to build a larger library based in Newmarket, New Zealand in the early 1990s, but it was ultimately scrapped.

The bronze Weta sculpture (80 kilograms in weight, 1500mm in the length) was made to celebrate the 80th anniversary of Epsom Library in 1998.

It was commissioned by Astrid Malcolm, a community board member then and was sculpted by Jonathan Campbell as one of a series of artworks.

[2] A new weta sculpture funded by the Hobson Community Board was unveiled to mark the library’s 90th anniversary in 2008.

[4] Keith Simpson was recommissioned to create a new, slightly larger, "Phoenix Rising Mark 2" to replace the stolen one.

[1] Ten years later, in February 2014, the original “Rising Phoenix” was found in a vacant house in Rangataua, near Ohakune (300 km away from Auckland) by police.

Considering significant presence of Asian populations in Epsom/Mt Eden area, Epsom Library runs programmes specific to ethnic groups, such as Conversation in English.