Sage Eugenie: Local Government (Public Libraries) Amendment Bill — First Reading 
Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume 
Sage Eugenie: Local Government (Public Libraries) Amendment Bill — First Reading 
[Sitting date: 07 November 2012. Volume:685;Page:6418. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.] 
EUGENIE SAGE (Green) 
: 
 Tena koe Mr Speaker. I am pleased to speak on behalf of my colleague Gareth Hughes who is the Green Party’s library and archives spokesperson on this the Local Government (Public Libraries) Amendment Bill. The Green Party will be supporting this bill in the name of Darien Fenton because we believe that everybody has the right to information and because in an increasingly unequal society due to the economic policies of this Government libraries are a place where everybody can have free access to information. This bill is not telling local councils how they should run their libraries; it is just enshrining that free right to read and to access books digital information and the other services that libraries provide. We value libraries because they are the storehouses of knowledge. They play a vital role in our communities and in the functioning of this Parliament in providing access to information and providing in our communities a gathering place. 
In Christchurch where we have not been able to access the library in Worcester Street post-quake it was a major cause for celebration when the new library opened opposite the old Christchurch Convention Centre in the old Vbase building. It is open it is clean and it is a place where children migrants and older citizens go because they can access books for free. This is why we support this bill. I would like to quote something that Carl Sagan said about libraries: “The library connects us with the insight and knowledge painfully extracted from Nature of the greatest minds that ever were with the best teachers drawn from the entire planet and from all of our history to instruct us without tiring and to inspire us to make our own contribution to the collective knowledge of the human species. I think the health of our civilization the depth of our awareness about the underpinnings of our culture and our concern for the future can all be tested by how well we support our libraries.” 
Under the current Local Government Act local authorities that provide a library need to ensure only that local residents can join it free of charge. Those councils do not have to enshrine a right of free access. We have seen the growth of membership charges whether it is by rental for books or through other charges and that goes against the whole Kiwi culture. Kiwis love our libraries. In 2003 a survey of cultural activities and spending found that visiting libraries was the third most popular activity— 
Hon Simon Bridges 
: They love barbecues too; you’re not making them free. 
EUGENIE SAGE 
: Mr Bridges 39 percent of the population visited in a 4-week period. Around half of all New Zealanders are members of our libraries and in some places membership is at 80 percent of the local population. Another survey in 2009 by Kiwis Count found that 82 percent of people were happy with the services provided by their library—the happiest out of any council service. That is because New Zealanders value free access to books and library services. Where councils have attempted to put in place charges there has often been a strong resistance from the community and in places like Tauranga the council has had to retreat and not institute those book charges. And where those councils—like Ashburton as Darien Fenton mentioned—have put in place charges what has happened? Patronage of the library has declined. Where you put in place those user charges who pays? Who bears the brunt of those measures? It is people who can least afford to pay: migrants people on a benefit people on low incomes the people who would get the most out of free access to the libraries and getting access to books. 
This bill is a very useful one because it means that libraries have to ensure that books and the knowledge they provide is free. It is also a way as others have alluded to of bridging the digital divide because not everybody has a computer at home and by having free access to digital services we can get over that barrier. So it is a bill that we will be supporting because it is consistent with what done elsewhere internationally by not charging for books.