cook islands library & museum

When you read the previous reviews you will see the split in comments between "glad I went/great/worth the money" and "waste of time/waste of money" and they all make sense depending on your expectations going in. This is the cook islands people. This is not going to be a big city museum. The library and museum are clearly run mostly by local volunteers as a labour of love.. this is not a for profit enterprise with govt subsidies in a big city. It is however going to be your best bang I found on the island for your buck ($5 bucks for adults to be exact) to learn about the history of the cook islands on your own as a tourist. Its in a beautiful setting - a short walk from town or the bus stop along a road steeped in history and old churches and graves and a garden park. The library itself gives you the sense of the old voluntary libraries of days past in many of our home communities. What a brilliant resource it is for the island so as a tourist.. why not do what you can to support it? You can bring in old reading books and donate them here for sale as well as financially supporting the museum with its nominal entrance charge (considering most cocktails on the island cost 2-3 times the museum admission price.. I really think the museum is a very reasonable cost and supports a local community educational resource !) . There is a small selection of miscellaneous books/local arts and crafts and reference books also for sale here. Cheapest prices I saw anywhere on the island for the reference books/guides. At the back of the library is the museum. Pay the $5 and support the initiative. There are bathrooms there too. ; ) No - it wont be the best museum you will ever have seen... but its still full of information in it to help you learn and better appreciate the role and influence of colonization, religion, tourism, self-government and the space program on the cook islands. If you are at all interested to learn about the history of the place you are vacationing in and understand more about the people who live on these islands.. I strongly encourage a visit.

Museum is not worth the money paid. Very disappointed with the amount of exhibits, we expected to find out more about the history of the island.

Old timey library, it made me feel good inside to know that something like this (still working with a Dewey decimal system card catalog!). Librarian Sally is a classic.

Definitely worth a trip - it's devastating to see how much history has been lost by the colonisation of the islands by Christian missionaries who burned the (mostly wooden) historical artefacts. A really character-full museum clearly run by dedicated staff in a labour of love.

We wished we'd had more time to spend in this really interesting small museum with warm and friendly staff. Recommended.

Nice little museum rolled together with the library and available to visit up to 1pm each day. A good way to find out a little bit more about Cook Island culture with small but distinct exhibits in each of the 15 islands, plus history, religion, geography and traditions. Will help provide a bit if background to any of the island's many cultural shows.

I was confused by the fact there are 2 museums both charging $5 entry fee.Not knowing which would be best I eventually visited both I enjoyed the information boards about the history of the different islands in the Cooks and the informative DVD playing in the Library museum, some of the artifacts in the other museum were also worth viewing.I really like museums and learning about the history and culture of a place and I think it is a shame from a tourists point of view that the town can't organise itself to have one informative museum with knowledable staff.

Small and very crammed Library.The museum is also small but has a lot of exhibits and was much better than the National Museum.Very well laid out and lots of history and information.Well worth a visit.

This museum contains various interesting creations but really not a lot of historic interest. The Cook Islanders must have a great deal more to tell visitors about their history than this.

Good but very small and none of the DVD entertainment services worked and toilets were filthy!liked the fact a library was attached

Worth the visit to view some interesting things from all over the Pacific, not just the CI. The layout is cute and unsophisticated, which is exactly it's charm.

A real museum feel here. For $5 each a great way to understand Rarotonga and it's history! With videos playing a so many different artefacts. Was very impressed to see the gorgeous Charles McPhee velvet paintings in the wall!

We liked the selection of items on display. the museum needs more advertising, we stumbled across it one day whilst out driving.

There were some very interesting items in the museum, it all looks rather tired. The building houses both library and museum and is cramped. It is a pity.

As the title of this Museum implies, it is run by government being a national asset or facility. This venue is not to be confused with the small private museum situated 100 metres away, which is attached to the Cook Islands Library, opposite the USP campus. Many of the reviews below actually refer to that museum in error.The National Museum retains a small permanent collection of artefacts either gifted or on loan as subjects of national and historical importance. These heirlooms are also used as art objects to support major exhibitions and cultural installations on several occassions each year.I attended one of the annual Tivaevae displays last year, created by several individuals and local women's embroidery groups. These large pieces were all magnificently displayed, and well were suited to the lofty height of this large arena. For anyone interested in material manifestations of Cook Islands culture, do not miss a Tivaevae heirloom display. I also reviewed the work of some amateur photographers and local artists at an earlier exhibition within the same venue. Again the chosen location was used to good effect. A gold coin entry fee is requested.