[1] Te reo Māori names were also gifted for the internal rooms to reflect the activity and thinking that would happen in these areas.

Sadly, Heta Tobin passed away before Te Manawa opened but his gift remains as a legacy to the building project and the community.

The space was designed by multidisciplinary award-winning artist Robin Rawstorne[1] and was inspired by the concept of a pool in the middle of a forest glade with ripples radiating outwards.

The space was designed to encourage play, ownership and investigation and includes a stage for story-telling and performances, nooks to curl up in and moveable book bins to change the area's shape and size.

With a wingspan over 3 metres, these huge and powerful native birds used to prey on Moa and were the largest eagles known to have existed.

It is a part (one of 55 branches) of the wider family of Auckland Libraries, which has extensive collections of books, e-books, newspapers, magazines and online resources, even free movie streaming.

Back in 2010, then Waitakere City Council noticed that Northwest Auckland was growing so fast that the Massey Library was unable to meet future demand.

A proposal to build a new three times larger library plus town square and bus interchange was put on table.

[11] Massey Library was permanently closed on Thursday, 21 March 2019 shortly before the soft launch of Te Manawa.

Te Manawa has a varied programme of free events and classes focused on literacy, learning, creativity and community participation.