Books-for-NZ-Libraries.md

Python books for New Zealand libraries

A list of Python books curated by NZPUG which are to be suggested to all NZ public libraries for their purchase and availability as part of their non-fiction collections.

The Computing and Information Technology shelves in the Non-fiction sections of New Zealand libraries hold a variety of books about many general computing topics, programming being one of them. Each library has its own collections criteria so what one can find in one library catalog is very different to what can be found in another. That also extends to Python programming books in New Zealand general libraries.

According to Public Libraries of New Zealand (https://publiclibraries.org.nz/find-a-library) as of May 2021 there are 315 public libraries in the country: 93 in the South Island, 220 in the North Island, 1 in Steward Island, and 1 in the Chatham Islands.

The Idea

To curate a NZPUG recommended list of Python books that would enable any member of the general public to pick up Python at a given point and progress in their understanding of Python from then on, just by moving from one book to the next in the library's Python collection.

What needs to be done?

1. Design what this list might look like. What should it cover? How far should it go? How far should it take people?
2. Explore lobbying like-minded organisations, such as Code Club Aotearoa (which already teaches Python using Raspberry Pi), in order to approach libraries jointly.
3. Explore whether we can get corporate sponsors who would help New Zealand libraries to purchase some of the books.

What might come next?

1. Two curated Python book lists for school libraries with an integrated vision for primaries and secondaries (flow from one onto the other but still separate, age appropriate).
2. A Python programming curriculum and resources for New Zealand schools.
3. Another curated list for New Zealand Tertiary institutions.

Lists

Libraries (primary)

• Dive Into Python 3 - good introduction into Python 3, data structures, comprehensions, regexp, generators, iterators, testing, XML, ...

Tertiary Institutions

• Python for Data Analysis by William McKinney
• Python Data Science Handbook by Jake VanderPlas