by Gareth Hughes
The Tauranga City Council is consulting on imposing charges for adult books at local libraries as a cost cutting measure. I went to Tauranga last week to investigate.
The council is in the red, and hopes to make up $430,000 over 3 years by introducing user-pays for free adult fiction and non-fiction by around 50 cents a book, rising to one dollar in a years time.
I got quite a bit of media locally when I said it was an ‘untouchable’ core council service and should be funded as such. I believe if they implement user-pays library patronage is going to decline, like in Ashburton, who suffered a 45% decline in patronage when they implemented a per book charge before scrapping the scheme.
The charges are going to hit the people who need the library the most: low income people, migrants, the elderly, new mums, and kids doing school research who’ll have to pay for ‘adult books’ like travel guides or non-fiction. Literacy levels are on the decline in New Zealand and I think this will damage them further in Tauranga. It’s a little galling the councillors would propose it in United Nations Literacy Decade.
It think it’s nuts, the Council is planning to reduce the service and charge for it. They are proposing to cut 30,000 books from the 4 local libraries and 7 equivalent staff and then charge people for books!
I think there is an important philosophical debate behind the proposal. Are libraries core public services or luxuries that aren’t worth paying rates for? It’s an important debate we are facing. It’s an attack by right-wing ideology to prune back council services. This is a battle that’s part of a war being fought across the country.
Tauranga Council could set a nationwide precedent if it goes down this path encouraging other councils to charge for books. It could also see a broadening of user pays for other community services. What’s next: charges for using parks, boat ramps, the art gallery?
If you like you can make a submission to the Tauranga City Council. Submissions close Friday, 23 April.
Published in Environment & Resource Management by Gareth Hughes on Mon, April 19th, 2010
More posts by Gareth Hughes | more about Gareth Hughes
on the trolls and those who are unable to keep on topic
Hi
I agree that libraries should be core services, but so should recreation facilities such as boat ramps and tramping huts/tracks. Both are already charged in most places. The only services that do not appear in danger are rugby fields. 30 M from Whangarei council for a new rugby stadium. Boat ramps are charged as are best seller library books.
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What is the problem.
The local library at Mangawhai Village has volunteer staff helping out and charges 50 cents for new releases and valuable reference books etc.
So I normally borrow say four books every Saturday and pay for two of them.
Seems to be no shortage of old folks, mums and kids.
We pay an annual membership fee of $25 for adults.
I probably donate about four books a month to the library.
There are plenty of free books if you do not want to pay.
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Good points from Kerry – don’t just wade into this form an ideological perspective, follow the logic through and look at the bigger picture too.
The elderly have ID, as do students so could easily be exempted. Rates money going to libraries could have a more worthy uses – computer literacy? Or in the case of Tauranga, servicing their growing debt – unless you want more kiwi money going to Aussie banks?
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It’s a bit sad but then again maybe this is just a temporary ploy to get lots of people using it when they bring it back to free, the Wellington CC libraries started charging for children’s DvDs and audio with a massive backlash but there was no outcry and having to pay for the ability to read a best seller
They also could have asked the community to provide 80% of the staff as volunteers to save a pile of money – I bet many unemployed would actually be willing to helpout and not just sit at home playing xbox
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Kerry – boat ramp ..or books, boat ramp ..or books?
Which should be paid for by the user, which should be provided for free for the benefit of all of the community ..
Tough question!
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Carterton library has charged for library books ever since I’ve been here (over 10 years). Fifty cents a book but NZ authors are free. I imagine it’s the same throughout the Wairarapa.
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Hi
Boat ramps or books. No both should be provided. Make the Rugby Union, who have plenty of money pay for their own stadiums.
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It seems a sad thing when it seems everything must be paid for and nothing is provided through our shared tax contribution, as seems to be the trend. Books sit deep within the range of ‘things that are good for us all and good for the community’. To have them ‘for rent only’ says something significant about how we are managing our communities and how we regard the less able and less monied.
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Because of the extremes of wealth now found in New Zealand the affluent object to contribruting to things like community swimming pools, especially when they often have their own. Down here in the south the people of Bluff are shortly to lose their swimming pool because it is seen by the Invercargill City Council as too expensive to maintain. At one time all rural schools had pools because of the importance placed on swimming in a country with a high level of aquatic activity. It seems atrange that a community based around a port and fishing industry will not easily be able to teach their children to swim. The Bluff people are not wealthy and are desperately trying to raise the money to save their pool while in Invercargill the sporting facilities are amongst the best in New Zealand (the Invercargill City Council is responsible for both communities). The children will have to travel to Invercargill for swimming lessons and, as it takes 30 minutes each way to travel there, will effectively remove more than an hour of school time for each pool session.
Charging for books, closing community pools and making many cultural and sporting activities too expensive (I keep hearing that World Cup Rugby has been priced beyond many average NZers) will seriously effect the quality of life of our struggling elderly, and disadvantaged. Our poorer communities are being increasingly disadvantaged in a world of “user pays”, our unequal society is just becoming more so!
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@sprout
Very true, though the RWC is as such in order to buffer some of the debt that will be created by it and in consideration that NZ does not have the titanic stadiums of other nations though it won’t remove school time, I used to have swimming lessons from 5-7 – two hours nicely acceptable for learning how to swim
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Hi Kerry – I agree with your comments. Support for sport and sport facilities from funders has always irked me, when I compare the ease with which it is accessed and compare that with the trials other community groups have to face to get support. Rugby and netball especially.
Rah, rah!
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stephensmikm-Our current government and civic leaders choose to prioritise funding differently from the past. Things that were considered core public facilities have be to justified using more commercial criteria than ever before and “public good” is being ignored. The Invercargill City Council and Community fund holders have invested heavily in sporting facilities in Invercargill and those competing in the University Games, recently held here, were full of praise for these. There was much support for upgrading our hockey and football fields when local business would gain from the resulting national and international use. I have no problem with this, but when the city council also has a responsibilty for a struggling low decile community such as Bluff and would rather upgrade hockey fields to the best in NZ, then maintain the Bluff swimming pool, I do see a problem. Bluff people will now have an hours driving to have the use of what should be a core community facility (there is no public transport available either).
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@ Sprout
It might be based on the dwindling populations in those areas – if there is less demand then less service is provided I guess, It might pay to take a look at census records as well – if the population is goign to make bluff solely reliant as a passenger ferry town like picton then it’ll mean very few servies other than a 2nd hand playground will end up being provided
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Apaprently it only has has 2% of the regional population and is losing people at a rate of 7-8% every 5 years according to a quick search
also apparently over 45% haven’t even got NCEA lv 1 or equivalent
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I think Rodney Hide just exploded with delight…
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When I was growing up in Rotorua in the forties and fifties we used to pay for fiction books at the Rotorua Public Library and I think it was one shilling a book. Which makes fifty cents today a steal.
My fathers wage in the fifties was about 14 pounds a week or 280 shillings a week.
Go figure. Seems we paid about four times as much a book in the days of our forefathers and mothers.
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stephensmikm-When communities based around 1-3 teacher schools still have swimming pools, to deprive Bluff of theirs is an even a geater insult. All you do when you remove such facilities is to crontribute to the downward spiral. Bluff is a strong community and do more than many with what little they have, the local marae is one the most interesting (amazing contempory carvings) and well maintained in the country but they lost their autonomy when governance was taken over by Invercargill. Many potential Bluff projects are lost because the commercial hub of the area is elsewhere. I can see similar things happening with Auckland’s Super City. Financially, investment in poorer communities does not produce as much of a return but in human terms raising the aspirations, general health and the spirit of a community there is much benefit.
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Public libraries are for bludgers.They are NOT a core service of council….after all there are plenty of private sector libraries around that “lower income” people are quite happy to voluntaraly belong to and pay for their products…you may have heard of them….Video Ezy,Video Runner,Fatso…? Thats because these libraries offer what these people actually want…and strive to deliver it with the incentive that competition provides.
Far from being a boon to lower income peoples Public libraries are in fact a bludge by mainly middle class readers on the extorted rates of those on lower incomes who have to fund them regardlesss of weather they choose to use them or not.
And their service is,comparativley slow,retrograde crap.Waiting lists for the one or two copies of a popular new release (as is happening with “The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo” at the moment) is simply pathetic when private services have 50 plus copies of popular new products instore providing far better access and satisfaction to customers.
No….public libraries are dinosaurs in this modern age of choice and improved service and they should be put out of the ratepayers misery.
Any “service” that people are not willing to voluntarly fund and that requires forced subsidising is,by definition not wanted and should not exist.
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but that community won’t sudden;y grow because the school has a cold outdoor pool, it would just be a waste of 100k or so a year for a community that might be as small as 300 people within the next 20 years. I can’t see this happening in the super city, those communities in Auckland are literally just really big suburbs with their own councils which I think alot of people will now be glad to not have to deal with several authorities.
I would say the kids should be taught to learn to swim in the rivers but…
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It is hardly ever used. It is in Dargaville the biggest town in the District but the most remote.
Then down in Rodney District outside a tiny village called Te Hana a rural family has built a private covered heated pool and that provides year round swimming lessons for kids and professionally coached aquarobics programmes.
My wife and I attend the aquarobics sessions about three times a week for $6 per person per session. Subsidised by the local health centre I understand. It certainly helps me maintain fitness, and treats back and joint pain. Old women who first arrived on walking frames now walk in and out of the pool unassisted.
It if fully occupied every hour and every day of the year. They are now building a gym to go alongside the pool.
Which is the better investment and which better serves the needs of these two communities?
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stephensmikm-perhaps you’re right, if you live in small, poor communities you shouldn’t be allowed a swimming pool, even though smaller rich communities have them. Bluff does have the harbour and learning to swim in the murky, fuel stained waters surrounding the container ships and fishing boats would teach five year old Bluff children the realities of what would happen if they fell in! They are being taught that education is a serious business with the heavy focus on Numeracy and Literacy, and those wonderful National Standards, so they may as well learn that swimming is serious stuff, too!
And you’re probably right in saying that community boards in Auckland will be powerful advocates for their people, the fact it hasn’t worked in Bluff doesn’t mean it won’t work elsewhere.
I am being sarcastic here, but having lived for over half a century my experiences have caused me to lose the trust and cheerful optimism you obviously still have.
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Over half a century sprout, maybe a name change is in order?
Gout?
Worn out?
Old Trout?
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my but was referring to that actually
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People charged for a service they use instead of forcing everyone else to pay for it? Outrageous. Soon people will be forced to pay for essentials like food, clothing, heating and shelter.
The other question is why should ratepayers be forced to pay for the library in the first place, and if you don’t like it, what is stopping you fund raising to keep it free? Or is it once again the view of those who support “redistribution” of wealth that it is only valid if it is done by force?
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Because, Libertyscott, in the everyday struggle to eke out a living, individuals lose sight of important things like free access to books and the State comes into its own then, from its ‘removed from the grind’ vantage point, and ensures that we don’t miss out on those things that out forebears recognised as good.
That’s why.
And that’s good.
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Greenfly-I have found that some really old beans can still sprout and there’s still alot of life in this old bean yet!
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Are you musical, old bean?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WeC5PlrKQxA
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Not at all-greenfly, but you could have chosen an indigenous clip!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lGe-OT5DkTg
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Nice sprout!
There’s only one baked bean scene that can beat it …
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k8T1ZR98aEA
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James, I think you are confusing public libraries which mainly lend books with video libraries.
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Did you once get ‘shushed’ by a librarian, James?
You seem bitter.
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Greenfly-I think my tastes lean to the slightly more refined…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A45s839vSqE
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Ah yes the grumpy librarian, was terrified to take the books to the check out counter!.
Move quietly to the counter DO NOT MAKE EYE CONTACT!, while staring at the floor whisper I’d like these books please oh the feeling of relief when walking out the door and away from the piercing gaze of the angry librarian! and God help you if there were any fines!!
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There is only ONE bean scene, and you guys know it!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qpB3ME_Xem0
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Hooray for the rural family that happily shares its pool with the community – pity about communities who don’t have families with those means and that attitude. Relying on individual wealth for things like swimming pools or books is pretty random as well as unusual.
A library should reflect its community – ours is $15 a year for adults, free for children and it is heavily used by all kinds and ages of people. No fees for books though there is a small charge for cds and dvds.
I think there will be changes in what libraries offer and how they offer it, but the principle of access to books for everyone seems important to me. It isn’t about income distribution but about sharing opportunity. A literate society is better for everyone.
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Gareth, you think that’s bad, have a look at what is happening in libararies in and around the electorate you stood for in 2008.
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It is hard enough to get non-book-lovers to even walk into a library. Especially kids. If libraries start charging it only creates another obstacle in NZ’s literacy levels. Keep it free, bump up the late fees.
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Breaking news! Win! Tauranga City Council just decided not to introduce per book charges and will not be slashing collection. Congrats to local campaigners & 1000 submitters.
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“Breaking news! Win! Tauranga City Council just decided not to introduce per book charges and will not be slashing collection. Congrats to local campaigners & 1000 submitters.”
And a loss for liberty,justice and human rights.The day of the bludger continues it seems…
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Do you wear fingerless gloves James?
And does a glistening drip hang from the end of your nose?
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