Kiwi authors band together to save library
Twenty-four big names in New Zealand literature have come together to pen an open letter in defence of ‘‘the city’s flagship house of reading’’ – Wellington’s central library.
The building, which housed many of their own works, has been closed since March 2019 after it was deemed an earthquake risk.
Last week, Wellington City Council passed a proposal for the partial privatisation of the central library building, and a 40 per cent cut to the resources budget for books.
‘‘We write jointly to express our strong opposition to this move and to ask Wellingtonians to roundly reject this private-public partnership model and severe budget reduction,’’ the letter reads.
While the books and services housed in the old central library had been spread between three smaller pop-up libraries around the city, the central library had been an irreplaceable hub for the community, ‘‘greatly loved and heavily patronised’’.
Book borrowing spiked during lockdown, with libraries experiencing a more than 50 per cent rise in online memberships, and the borrowing of ebooks and audiobooks.
‘‘We understand the central library as a space and essential resource for everyone – children, wha¯nau, students, our homeless people, the self-employed, the lonely, business people, the mentally fragile, and the elderly,’’ the letter continues.
New Zealand faced a growing challenge with falling literacy and reading competency, and public libraries played a vital role in minimising inequities in access to reading material.
Right now, the library’s worth was measured in public good, not by how much money it made – and it should stay that way.
‘‘Privatisation, however partial, inevitably threatens the library’s existence as a cultural institution dedicated to burnishing the people’s cultural growth and well-being.’’
The authors of the letter include Anna Jackson, Bill Manhire, Bridget Williams, Catherine Robertson, Chris Tse, Claire Mabey, Dame Fiona Kidman, Damien Wilkins, Elizabeth Knox, Emily Writes, Gregory O’Brien, Ingrid Horrocks, Jane Arthur, Jenny Bornholdt, Kate De Goldi and Mandy Hager.