You wouldn't read about it | Auckland News | Local News in Auckland

Sweeping changes to everyday life are coming in the switch to one council for the Auckland region. Joanna Davies investigates the first department to be tackled: our treasured public libraries.

Through the long aisles and in the reading rooms, borrowers in the region's libraries are asking questions. Not about whether a book has been stacked on the wrong shelf, or when the bestseller they've reserved will be ready for collection.

They want to know how they will be able to use their library after November 1.

With all the talk of Council-Controlled Organisations and new local board responsibilities and boundaries, visitors to libraries want to know one thing: will there be any changes to their reading habits?

James Bennett is one Auckland City resident waiting to find out what his library card can do for him after the change. With a backpack full of books - some overdue - to return to the city's central library, the 22-year-old hopes any changes won't affect library users too much.

"I want to know if I can use all of the libraries in the region," he says. "I've read books in the Howick library before but, because I'm not a ratepayer there, I can't borrow books, and paying the $100 membership fee would put a lot of people off."

The short answer is: from November 1, if you are a member of any of the libraries from Te Hana to Pukekohe, you will be able to borrow and return books, DVDs, CDs or computer games at more than 60 libraries without paying joining fees or getting a new card.

"I think it will encourage more people to use libraries," says Mr Bennett. "Especially if you can return books to libraries outside the area you live [in]."

For eight months, library managers have been working on a $400,000 My Card scheme to ensure customers can collect their books without mix-ups.

Something that will change, regionwide, is the fine for an overdue adult's book. It will go up to 50c per day - double the average 23c now charged.

For children's books, there will be no daily overdue charge. Most libraries currently fine members 10c.

Mr Bennett hopes libraries won't charge for borrowing books, as some councils around the country have been considering. "If they did that, I'd be a lot more selective of what I was borrowing. But it's still cheaper than buying them."

The region's councils  are deciding whether to adopt these new fees. At this stage there are no proposals to charge for borrowing books, except for bestsellers at $5 per title.

The Auckland Transition Agency has no authority to approve the proposed fee changes, so it is up to each council to do so. Already, Franklin, Auckland, North Shore and Papakura councils have supported the charges.

For most libraries, any changes won't be too noticeable, apart from signs on library entrances. Auckland, Waitakere, North Shore, Manukau, Rodney and Papakura use the same cataloguing system and
customer database, and have done so for five years in a joint venture called ELGAR.

But, for the region's newest libraries in Franklin District, the paperwork is more complex. Two Franklin libraries will join the rest of Auckland and the ELGAR system, while Tuakau's library will join Waikato.

Pukekohe library manager Susan Russell has a lot to do before next month, when the new cataloguing system goes live.

"We've had to look at the way we do everything, from issuing books to renewals to returns, to see how it will fit with the new system," she says. "We're finding out more about our computer systems than we ever needed to know, and IT has been very busy."

A quick glance around Pukekohe's library shows people browsing the shelves, seemingly oblivious to the work Mrs Russell is doing. "We will also have to show our customers how to use the system when it is ready, but I think that libraries are undergoing a bit of a renaissance and a lot of people will benefit from this."

All Franklin libraries are managed by Franklin Arts, Culture and Library Trust but, from today, they will be under Franklin District Council control for the merger on November 1.

Trust chief executive Robert Burke says the move will benefit the rural communities of Pukekohe and Waiuku. "It will be very positive for the existing customers. About 40 per cent of our working population work in Auckland, and a lot of our members visit other libraries on their lunch breaks, and they will now be able to use them without paying membership fees."

Not everybody is so positive about the scheme. Noel Vanderwee lives in Waitakere City and fought the outgoing council's closure of Te Atatu South library in 2005. He believes small libraries will suffer under amalgamation.

"I believe in local libraries. People use them far more than central libraries and the idea of amalgamating them is superficial," he says. "Who knows what could happen? Would Avondale and the Pt Chev libraries merge at some stage?

"To me, they are just trying to save money, but the services will suffer."

Susan Russell's response to queries like this is that smaller libraries will have access to more resources. "There is going to be even more information-sharing and more opportunities for staff training. We are quite in touch with our
community and that is not going to change.

"If anything, this is going to be better for the smaller libraries."

From November 1 Alison Dobbie - now managing Auckland City's group of 17 libraries - will be in charge of the region's libraries and their performance.

"Auckland Council will do away with the boundaries that have sometimes prevented people from using the library that is most convenient for them," she says, stressing that it will cost no more nor less to use libraries.

"The adjustment to fees and charges is a cost-neutral revenue solution. The new, amalgamated library does not expect to generate additional revenue as a result of the changes, and some existing fees will be removed."

Some charges will increase - "however, these costs can be avoided by returning items on time and email reminders can be sent prior to the due date."

As for any teething problems, Ms Dobbie says these will be minimal as most of the libraries have used the same system for the last five years.

On the North Shore, libraries manager Geoff Chamberlain says people have been asking for the libraries to merge for a long time.

"The ability for residents of Auckland to be able to use any library in the region is something that people have been wishing they were able to do for years.

"In the 1950s, collaboration between the libraries on the North Shore began and anyone living on the Shore could use any library in the area. This was a groundbreaking arrangement in its day and remained a rare example of inter-council cooperation until the creation of North Shore City in 1989."

He says there is an "increasing buzz" of interest around the libraries, with more and more customers asking what will happen in the months ahead. "November 1 will be a landmark day for library users, who will then be able to use any, or indeed all, of the public libraries between Wellsford and Papakura."

When changes to Auckland's council structure were announced last year, concerns were raised about the possibility of libraries being privatised.

Tony Simpson, president of the Society of Authors, says his organisation was very concerned about core local government services like libraries being sold off. "Our concern was with the proposed new local government legislation. We feared that libraries would not be declared a core activity of local government, but that concern seems to have been satisfied in statements by the Minister, Rodney Hide."

Most people will continue to visit the library most convenient to them, he says. "But it will encourage the exchange of additional programmes and other services which may get more people into libraries."

As for frontline changes, the Auckland Transition Agency insists it will be business as usual. Its spokesman, Clive Nelson, says there will be no changes to staffing, except at senior management level.

"I don't think there are any job losses, although we have appointed one group manager. At present there is a manager for each council."

In terms of moving millions of books around the region, current budgets will roll forward and there should be no extra costs to ratepayers.

Some mobile libraries have been under threat for years; at this stage they will all be on the road in November.

Barbara Garriock, president of the Library and Information Association, is pleased to hear there will be few job changes. "Most non-managerial library staff have already been confirmed as no change to their positions."

She believes the changes should be positive for smaller libraries. "There will be collective buying discounts for resources and accessibility to a wider range of electronic resources.

"All this builds on the collaborative activity that has been fostered by local authority librarians in the Auckland region over the past decade, and all resources will be available to all residents."

What you pay now, what you will pay*

To borrow DVDs
Auckland, Franklin, Papakura, Rodney $5; Manukau, North Shore, Waitakere $2
November 1: $2

To borrow CDs
Auckland, Manukau, Papakura $2; Franklin $2.50; North Shore, Waitakere $1
November 1: $2

To borrow games
Auckland $3, Rodney $4, Waitakere $5, Franklin, Manukau, North Shore, Papakura n/a November 1: $5

To borrow a bestseller
All libraries $5
November 1: $5

Overdue fees (per day)

Adult book
Auckland, Manukau 30c, Franklin, North Shore, Papakura, Rodney, Waitakere 20c November 1: 50c

DVDs
Auckland, Franklin, Manukau, Papakura, Rodney $1; North Shore 40c; Waitakere 20c November 1: 50c

CDs
Auckland, Manukau, Rodney 30c; Franklin 50c; North Shore, Waitakere 20c; Papakura $1 November 1: 50c

Bestsellers and games
All libraries $1 November 1: $1

Children's books
Auckland, North Shore, Papakura, Rodney 10c; Franklin 20c; Manukau, Waitakere n/a November 1: no charge

Source: MyCard project, Auckland Transition Authority

• All new charges are proposed; they must be approved by existing councils.