Discard Rumors Cause Brouhaha
in New Zealand
The rumor that some 100,000 books were being discarded by the National Library of New Zealand raised a chorus of protests earlier this month from angry librarians, archivists, and university researchers.
Education Minister Nick Smith claims the rumors stemmed from charges made by Labour Member of Parliament Marion Hobbs that he had breached the National Library Act by approving the sale of 32,000 books to a dealer for less than $1 a book. Smith said Hobbs had stirred up “a storm in a teacup” and that the library routinely disposes of an average of 32,000 books (out of a collection of 1.5 million) each year and acquires another 60,000.
Smith said in the July 6 Christchurch Press that a book is selected for discard only if it is not an original, is older than 20 years, and has not been used in 10 years. Disposal lists are circulated to all libraries nationally, he said, giving them an opportunity to take some of the books or suggest which should be retained.
Posted July 12, 1999.
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