BSANZ member profile

Paula Legel
Associate Curator, Heritage Publications
Tāmaki Paenga Hira

I’ve only recently joined BSANZ, though I have been aware of the Society for some time, attending the conference in Melbourne last year and thoroughly enjoying the wide range of discussion and varied body of research. I’m very pleased to now be part of this interesting and eclectic community of bibliophiles and look forward to participating in the online conference later this year.

The role I currently inhabit at Tāmaki Paenga Hira – Auckland War Memorial Museum (AWMM) is the first ever curatorial role dedicated to heritage publications in the museum’s Documentary Heritage Team. Heritage publications at Tāmaki Paenga Hira is a broad church; books, pamphlets, serials, newspapers and maps, and I’m just beginning to get a sense of the scope and depth of the collections. Library materials at AWMM were some of the earliest of the Museum, starting with seven serial subscriptions in 1867 and building into the research collection we have
today.

There are many avenues I’ve been drawn to investigate, including early feminist activity in Auckland, rare scraps of 11 century music manuscript repurposed in 16th century book binding, nature prints and printers, donors and collectors and early hand drawn maps of Australasia. What to choose? Another element of my role is to facilitate access and engagement with our Pacific collections and communities. This has become a strong focus of my work that I find deeply rewarding.

Contact: plegel@aucklandmuseum.com 

Originally published in Broadsheet, No. 113, June 2020.