Need to treasure books that reflect all whakapapa
THE National Library has decided to cull more than 600,000 ‘‘nonNew Zealand’’ books, stating that it needs more space for New Zealand material.
But at the current rate of acquisition quoted, the space saved by the cull would be gone within a few years.
The problem is not nonNew Zealand books, but the library storage space that has been taken away by Department of Internal Affairs managers in recent years and a lack of provision for future storage.
Anahare Morehu, president of the Library and Information Association of New Zealand, claims rightly that all material relevant to AotearoanNew Zealand culture, Maori and Pasifika literature in particular, should be a priority for the National Library collection. But she has not said what, if any, of this material has not been collected in the past or is actually threatened in the future.
Then there is Ms Morehu’s remarkable statement, as the leader of a major cultural organisation, about the book cull — ‘‘None of this stuff has anything to do with Aotearoa’’.
As a former National Library Fellow, I find this appalling.
I respect Ms Morehu’s concern for the proper collection of Maori and Pasifika kaupapa.
This is vital to the understanding of indigenous history and whakapapa. But there is other kaupapa that is of equal importance to a majority of New Zealanders: that of their Pakeha ancestors, their whakapapa.
The countless books printed over many hundreds of years are the repositories of Pakeha history, science, philosophy, religion, politics, art and creative endeavour.
No book becomes ‘‘out of date’’. Each is a stepping stone of knowledge, a resource for understanding how we have arrived where we are and who we are.
To throw them away is an act of cultural vandalism, driven by space managers, not those truly dedicated to a rich understanding of all our country’s heritages.
National Library acquisitions and holdings must be based on an appreciation and understanding of all our cultural values, not simply on available shelf space.
Philip Temple
Dunedin
Lee Vandervis
RUDDY complexion or not; the raised voice, the eye roll, the impatient sigh, the pointed finger — anger is anger.
Those who jump quickly from impatience to anger, lack of empathy to anger, dominance to anger, entitlement to anger, control to anger and then anger to potentially damaging others, are all around us.
Some we witness in a car park, others we find ourselves living with or working under. Some we grew up with or suffered through school with. It’s just everywhere.
It’s an insidious pandemic that needs serious classification.
It will take generations to address the complex fallout from those who ‘‘lose it’’ and it’s unlikely to be eradicated like a common disease.
Cr Vandervis would not apologise. He is an angry man and he will get angry again. They all do.
Liz Benny Middlemarch ..................................
BIBLE READING: You are my God and I will give thanks to You. — Psalms 118:28.