Rich Katherine: National Library of New Zealand (Te Puna MAtauranga o Aotearoa) Bill — In Committee 
Rich Katherine: National Library of New Zealand (Te Puna MAtauranga o Aotearoa) Bill — In Committee 
[Volume:607;Page:4948] 
KATHERINE RICH (NZ National) 
: 
 I am glad to take a second call in this debate. Because it is a wide-ranging debate I would like to take the opportunity to thank those members of the National Library staff who have been involved in taking the bill this far and once again to pay tribute to Lydia Weavers. I was a trustee on the National Library for a period of time and I saw at first hand the skill and dedication of Lydia Weavers and the meticulous approach she took to ensuring that the Alexander Turnbull Library and the trustees could put their best foot forward. I suppose that part of her work was planning the demise of the trustees—as they will now be broken into the guardians and the commission—but I think she needs to be recognised for a job well done. 
I still have a few questions remaining about this bill which the Minister has not covered. I do not think she has quite covered the issue of how different formats will be dealt with when it comes to dealing with a wide range of electronic media. The materials that will perhaps come from the 1980s from the 1990s and from more recently will have to be stored in such a way they can be retrieved easily. In my last speech I gave an example of some of the files we used when the use of computers was becoming widespread in the 1980s. Some of those documents we wrote at the time would not be accessible these days unless we had the software the machinery and the whole bit in order to be able to retrieve that information. 
It is good to see a number of members taking calls on this bill. Although the bill seems quite technical in nature it really highlights the importance of the National Library. When I first became a member in 1999 I was very lucky to be given the spokesmanship for the National Library. One of the first things I did was go to the National Library and take a tour. That was an absolute eye-opener and in a way I think I became a born-again National Library convert. The library staff arranged quite a creative tour. They showed me a lot of things that I suspect they knew I would have an interest in so I looked at old music memorabilia posters old political pamphlets—you name it. It was quite amazing to see what is kept in the Alexander Turnbull Library as well as in the National Library as a whole. 
I think it is a good reminder to all of us that the whole point of keeping documents and parts of our heritage is not so much keeping them for their own sake. They are kept so that they can be enjoyed by the entire New Zealand community so that they can be used as the basis for research and so that following generations will be able to learn a little bit about the generations that have gone before. That is why we keep the memorabilia old copies of the  
New Zealand Woman’s Weekly 
 and all sorts of things that document different parts of our heritage. 
But in keeping that material it is important to be able to disseminate it and to use and spread knowledge of that material throughout the community. One of the things that did concern me when I first looked at the bill was clause 11(3) which states: “Except to the extent provided by section 14A the collections of the Alexander Turnbull Library must remain in the custody of the National Library at all times.” The unintended consequence of that clause was to ensure that nothing could leave the library—ever. 
I think one of the good things about the library is that materials can be drawn from its collections and used in other presentations and exhibitions for example Sophie Jerram’s  
Posted Love 
 exhibition. Ms Jerram took a whole range of love letters from the last 100 or so years and put them all together in an exhibition that travelled up and down the country. It came to Dunedin. I am glad to see that the select committee realised that clause 11 as it was would be overly restrictive. It would not allow those sorts of exhibitions to travel. The Jack Lovelock exhibition was another one that would not have been able to travel had all the materials been kept within just the Alexander Turnbull Library and the National Library at all times. 
I am interested in the role of the guardians. I am not 100 percent sure what their role will be. In the way they are described in this bill they sound a bit like glamorised security guards and protectors of the collections. I would like to see a better explanation of what is expected of them and what they will be doing in terms of their protection of the Alexander Turnbull Library. The reason for that of course is to be able to measure what they do and to be able to judge whether parts of the bill have been put in place correctly. 
I also make that point about the commission. I think there needs to be a clearer definition of its role so that all people involved in the library and the public at large can be aware that things are being done well. 
Once again I say that this is an important bill. Although sometimes people look upon libraries as not being as exciting as they should be when we get in amongst them we find they are a repository of knowledge. They are exciting places. The National Library is particularly exciting when we go in and see a lot of the photos posters and snapshots of the past. I think there is an opportunity for us to begin to understand a lot about ourselves as people of a country and about the generations that have gone before. I think it is timely that electronic aspects have been brought into the bill. I have some concerns about formatting and storage and I am a bit unsure about what exactly will be collected because by the way this bill reads everything from Wayne Mapp’s newsletter down to the National Party’s web page will be captured. 
Hon Tony Ryall 
: That’s not going to be stored in the National Library is it? 
KATHERINE RICH 
: Absolutely! Technically according to this bill Wayne Mapp is a printer and publisher and he will have to forward his newsletter. 
Hon Tony Ryall 
: What about  
Collins Comments 
? 
KATHERINE RICH 
: That goes for  
Collins Comments 
 and also for  
mccully.co 
. I think the worldwide headquarters of  
mccully.co 
 will be appalled to know that its newsletter will have to be submitted on a weekly basis for the purpose of preserving the heritage of this country. 
Once again I thank the staff of the National Library. I will leave it there except to say that National will be supporting this bill.