THE NATIONAL LIBRARIAN WRITES TO LIBRARY USERS
Her letter follows:
Building a better National Library
The National Library of New Zealand and the Alexander Turnbull Library are getting ready to move to temporary premises while we redevelop the Library building in Molesworth Street, Wellington.
Space for collections is fast running out, and the collections are at risk from leaks and failing plant and infrastructure. The redeveloped Library will vastly improve collection storage and conditions.
Changes to services and collection access are necessary
Carefully packing, moving and storing New Zealand’s precious heritage is no small task, so during the relocation period, services and access to collections will change. These changes are necessary to ensure that we can take the time to build a better National Library for all New Zealanders, and to safely store and protect the nation’s heritage collections until they are moved back into the redeveloped building.
This means some different ways of accessing collection materials, and changes to the availability of materials that you can access through the relocation period.
Planned access levels
Finding spaces to store the nation’s heritage collections, while keeping as much material available as possible, has been a complex and exacting task.
We plan to offer easy, on-site access to the General Collections, which includes New Zealand, Māori, Pacific and international publications along with family history and music resources.
We plan to offer easy, on-site access to the most highly used parts of the Alexander Turnbull Library collections, including the Manuscripts collection and the Special Printed Collection of rare and early books.
There are other parts of the Alexander Turnbull Library collections that will be unavailable during the period of relocation, including low-use collection items, and those that require very specialised storage to keep them safe.
This includes most of the original items in the Ephemera Collection, Cartographic Collection and Drawings, Paintings and Prints Collection; although in many cases there are file prints or digital files available of the most highly-used items.
Detailed information on planned access levels is available on www.natlib.govt.nz/building-redevelopment.
Let us know your access requirements
As outlined above, there are some parts of the collections that will be unavailable for the duration of the building redevelopment.
If you can tell us about the items you would like to access from these collections, we may be able to help by setting specific items aside for you, or packing them so they are easily retrievable. Although we can’t make any guarantees, the more specific you can be about these items, the more likely it is that we can help you.
To make a request, your first step is to read through the detail of what parts of the collections we are planning to make available, and which parts we plan to store away for the duration of the redevelopment. Then, fill out our simple online form.
You’ll find how to do this by going to www.natlib.govt.nz/building-redevelopment.
Next steps
Our next steps are to collect and assess these requirements, then make final decisions about collection access, the timings of the move and packing timetables. If you make a request, we will also contact you to let you know the outcome.
Any questions?
You can call us on 04 474 3021or email future.services@natlib.govt.nz. We will respond to you as soon as we can.
The Library team is committed to offering the best services we can through the relocation period, and to building a better National Library for all New Zealanders in the future.
Nāku noa, nā
Penny Carnaby
National Librarian and Chief Executive of the National Library
The National Library of New Zealand and the Alexander Turnbull Library are getting ready to move to temporary premises while we redevelop the Library building in Molesworth Street, Wellington.
Space for collections is fast running out, and the collections are at risk from leaks and failing plant and infrastructure. The redeveloped Library will vastly improve collection storage and conditions.
Changes to services and collection access are necessary
Carefully packing, moving and storing New Zealand’s precious heritage is no small task, so during the relocation period, services and access to collections will change. These changes are necessary to ensure that we can take the time to build a better National Library for all New Zealanders, and to safely store and protect the nation’s heritage collections until they are moved back into the redeveloped building.
This means some different ways of accessing collection materials, and changes to the availability of materials that you can access through the relocation period.
Planned access levels
Finding spaces to store the nation’s heritage collections, while keeping as much material available as possible, has been a complex and exacting task.
We plan to offer easy, on-site access to the General Collections, which includes New Zealand, Māori, Pacific and international publications along with family history and music resources.
We plan to offer easy, on-site access to the most highly used parts of the Alexander Turnbull Library collections, including the Manuscripts collection and the Special Printed Collection of rare and early books.
There are other parts of the Alexander Turnbull Library collections that will be unavailable during the period of relocation, including low-use collection items, and those that require very specialised storage to keep them safe.
This includes most of the original items in the Ephemera Collection, Cartographic Collection and Drawings, Paintings and Prints Collection; although in many cases there are file prints or digital files available of the most highly-used items.
Detailed information on planned access levels is available on www.natlib.govt.nz/building-redevelopment.
Let us know your access requirements
As outlined above, there are some parts of the collections that will be unavailable for the duration of the building redevelopment.
If you can tell us about the items you would like to access from these collections, we may be able to help by setting specific items aside for you, or packing them so they are easily retrievable. Although we can’t make any guarantees, the more specific you can be about these items, the more likely it is that we can help you.
To make a request, your first step is to read through the detail of what parts of the collections we are planning to make available, and which parts we plan to store away for the duration of the redevelopment. Then, fill out our simple online form.
You’ll find how to do this by going to www.natlib.govt.nz/building-redevelopment.
Next steps
Our next steps are to collect and assess these requirements, then make final decisions about collection access, the timings of the move and packing timetables. If you make a request, we will also contact you to let you know the outcome.
Any questions?
You can call us on 04 474 3021or email future.services@natlib.govt.nz. We will respond to you as soon as we can.
The Library team is committed to offering the best services we can through the relocation period, and to building a better National Library for all New Zealanders in the future.
Nāku noa, nā
Penny Carnaby
National Librarian and Chief Executive of the National Library
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