Fenton Darien: Local Government (Public Libraries) Amendment Bill — First Reading 
Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume 
Fenton Darien: Local Government (Public Libraries) Amendment Bill — First Reading 
[Sitting date: 07 November 2012. Volume:685;Page:6413. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.] 
DARIEN FENTON (Labour) 
: 
 I move  
That the Local Government (Public Libraries) Amendment Bill be now read a first time. 
 I nominate the Local Government and Environment Committee to consider the bill. This bill is about keeping public library services free for all New Zealanders. The bill would make public library services a statutory obligation for councils and would make core library services such as borrowing and internet access free. We have a fine tradition in New Zealand of our local libraries. We were brought up with them our children visit them new migrant students and older people rely on them. If members have not visited their local library recently they should. They will find vibrant exciting and inclusive hubs of community learning and activity. 
I want to acknowledge my colleague Grant Robertson the original author of this bill. I was delighted to pick it up from him and even more pleased when it was drawn from the ballot. I also want to acknowledge the important role of the Library and Information Association of New Zealand—LIANZA—which has been advocating for legislation of this type for some time. Its members have been talking with their local MPs. I am sure many of you will have heard from these guardians of the taonga we call our local libraries. 
Who could ever imagine that our libraries could be at risk? Yet with the Government’s focus on local government cost-cutting increasingly strapped local authorities may turn their attention to library services and more charges. Despite what many New Zealanders believe our public libraries are not protected in legislation. Our current legislation only advises local authorities to ensure local residents can join libraries free of charge. We are out of step internationally with countries such as Australia the United Kingdom and Canada all of which protect free public library services via legislation. 
We are not meeting Unesco guidelines where public libraries in principle should be free of charge and the responsibility of local and national authorities financed by national and local governments. The Unesco Public Library Manifesto states: “The public library the local gateway to knowledge provides a basic condition for lifelong learning independent decision-making and cultural development of the individual and social groups. This Manifesto proclaims UNESCO’s belief in the public library as a living force for education culture and information and as an essential agent for the fostering of peace and spiritual welfare through the minds of men and women.” This bill will help New Zealand meet Unesco guidelines. It will address the issue of user charges and ensure that New Zealand’s public libraries are an essential component of any long-term strategy for culture information provision literacy and education. 
Over the last couple of months since the bill was drawn I have reacquainted myself with my local library. I have visited many other libraries and have found they are well attended and supported sometimes crowded with an important store of local and family history and exciting places of discovery. At the Auckland Central City Library students sit along the walls to access the free Wi-Fi. Others are curled up in chairs reading a book that is crucial for their study. Walk a bit further along and there is a bank of computers with people waiting to access them. They are there to access important information such as job seeking. The old days of advertisements in the paper are diminishing and now jobs are advertised on a range of internet sites including Government sites such as the Work and Income job seek site. If someone finds a job more likely than not they will have to apply online. It is almost impossible to do anything these days without access to the internet. Information about and access to Government services are increasingly available only through the web. 
The public library is a place that is open to rich and poor alike. Our library services should never be bound by someone’s ability to pay but that principle is at risk in these days of cost-cutting. Statistics show that the introduction of user charges results in lower usage of public libraries and this in turn directly impacts on our communities’ literacy outcomes. It adds to inequality by denying access to those who can least afford to pay. The introduction of user charges in New Zealand in the past has resulted in lower usage of public libraries. In August 2009 Hamilton introduced a fee of $10 per month for homebound customers and the numbers using this service halved. A series of charges introduced by the Rangitikei District Council in the early 2000s resulted in a 35 percent decrease in borrowing. These charges—[ 
Interruption 
] Well good question. These charges were removed in 2005 resulting in a steady increase in issues. In 1999 Ashburton introduced a charge of $1 per issue for all adult books that were under 2 years old. In 1988 Napier introduced fees for selected fiction books and magazines and that resulted in a 65 percent drop in borrowing. In the Ashburton and Napier cases after a huge public opposition the councils subsequently reverted to a free issues policy and that resulted in an increase in issues. 
Libraries are the holders of many precious collections. They are the storehouses of history. I am thinking here of the important George Grey collections in the public library in Auckland. Imagine these collections being developed and applied on a user-pays basis. Do we really want unbalanced profit-driven libraries that cater only for immediate popular choices rather than non-profitable alternatives? The landscape in which public libraries operated has changed significantly over the past few years. Rapid technological change has seen the rise of social networks e-books smartphones and many other mobile devices. 
The scale of that change is impacting on public libraries worldwide and countries are responding to change and that pressure in different ways. Some like Denmark are reinventing the library both physically and virtually into a vital national and community asset without which a community cannot think of itself as civilised. In the UK sadly some local authorities are responding to financial pressure by closing libraries or moving them to being run by community volunteers which has been a disastrous move. However other UK local authorities are reinvesting in libraries to ensure their continued relevance and value. As Singapore did 10 years ago China is now investing heavily in public library buildings and services to realise the economic and educational benefits they offer communities. 
Public libraries are vital community hubs. They connect people to their communities and they contribute to New Zealand’s sense of national identity. A well-informed educated population brings social and economic benefits to the whole country. Libraries help provide this with education employment and recreation opportunities. They provide the means for anyone to interact with the Government business and each other regardless of means or income. With libraries now playing an important role in bridging the digital divide for those without personal computers or other devices this bill will also ensure that no one is charged for accessing the internet via libraries in accordance with reasonable use requirements. 
I am sure that all members in this House will agree that libraries have a very important place in our society. Voting for this bill will entrench in legislation the role of free public library services for all citizens. It is a popular bill. It is a bill that surely we can all agree with. In finishing I want to quote that great feminist Germaine Greer who said: “A library is a place where you can lose your innocence without losing your virginity.” But she also said: “Libraries are reservoirs of strength grace and wit reminders of order calm and continuity lakes of mental energy neither warm nor cold light nor dark … In any library in the world I am at home unselfconscious still and absorbed.” So the question for the parties in this House is whether they support free public library services being entrenched in New Zealand legislation. It is not a radical idea. I urge parties to support this bill.