Kaipara District Council has voted unanimously to adopt a ten year library strategy, paving the way forward for an equitable, modern library service.

The decision to adopt the strategy was made in a Council meeting at the end of last month. The strategy provides a clear, future-focused plan to guide delivery of library services, and recognises the changing role of public libraries from its previous incarnations.

Libraries are no longer just a place for books and research, but are also community hubs where people can gather for social or educational reasons, and learn about, access and/or use technology. The library strategy was made possible with support from the New Zealand Library Partnership fund.

There are currently five libraries in the Kaipara District: Dargaville Library, the only library service run by paid staff, and four community libraries at Paparoa, Kaiwaka, Maungaturoto, and Mangawhai, all run by volunteers. Under the Kaipara District Council Long Term Plan Growing a better Kaipara 2021-2031, new library facilities for Mangawhai and Dargaville are planned. Council is currently in the process of determining the best location and securing land for a new, larger Council-owned and operated library in Mangawhai.

As well as the new facilities in the two main centres, the adopted strategy also includes a new mobile library service to complement the physical libraries, an increased budget for library resources and additional staff, and installing publicly accessible internet and equipment for internet access across all the community libraries.

The strategy was created by Sue Sutherland Consulting, experienced library professionals with a record in local and central government and libraries both in Aotearoa New Zealand and Australia, as well as digital learning knowledge across a number of industries. To formulate the strategy they worked closely alongside elected members, Council staff, iwi, and the wider community. Earlier versions had been presented at two previous Council briefings, where further direction was given by Council ensuring its fit for the Kaipara District.

At the meeting Kaipara District Council Chief Executive Louise Miller spoke to the work staff and Sue Sutherland Consulting had done to complete the strategy – pulling together information from previous consultations and strategic documents such as the Long Term Plan Growing a Better Kaipara 2021-2031, while recognising the need for a plan that was future forward.

“What we don’t want to do is build something that is answering issues of the past, we need to answer the current issues, but also forward thinking in terms of how libraries can actually build communities and bring people together, which is really key with the environment we find ourselves in currently.”

Mayor Dr Jason Smith heralded the strategy, calling it “smart and clever” and “done the Kaipara way”.

“Kaipara people have needed this strategy for a very, very long time.

I celebrate that we are getting on with the job adopting a Kaipara District Library Strategy fit for a new digitally-savvy era. With this we can now move forward with delivering better library services across Kaipara.”

Staff will now begin work on options for budgets, implementation plans and detailed timeframes for achieving the work.

Read a summary of the strategy, or read the strategy in full on the Council April meeting agenda.

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