Aucklanders have until 11pm Tuesday to have their say on sweeping cuts the council is proposing to meet a $295 million shortfall in its annual budget.
The region's libraries stand to lose funding through reduced hours and programmes.
But some Auckland residents say libraries are essential for the community's education and should not be interfered with.
In the consultation document for this year's annual plan, Auckland Mayor Wayne Brown did not mince his words. He said the council needed to reduce spending on nice-to-haves, and instead prioritise projects that would make Auckland a resilient city.
In interviews, the mayor took aim at declining book readership, and questioned whether libraries needed to be open as long or if they could make better use of volunteers, as opposed to paid staff.
The council's local boards - all charged with making savings - had put forward their own plans, many of which involved significant cuts to library services.
Auckland Central City Library. Photo: Google Maps
At Auckland's Central City Library, opening hours may be reduced to six days a week.
Along with adjustments to outreach and programming, the move could contribute to reductions in spending of up to $170,000.
It was one of several schemes that could affect the region's libraries, with job cuts also on the table.
'Short-sighted'
Checkpoint asked the residents of Tāmaki Makaurau what they made of the proposals.
"I would say that would be quite short-sighted," one resident said. "Particularly at the moment, there's a lot of people who need these types of community services, and I think there are other areas where Auckland Council could find the budget."
"I would get pretty annoyed," said another, Jordan. "I remember growing up, I was always in the library in the weekends. If there was no sport on, you'd just be there reading comic books or children's books."
"If you're going to cut the hours back, that's going to be a lot more people out on the streets," another patron said.
The number of items issued by Auckland libraries, including e-books, had dipped over the last three years, with the 13.1 million items checked out in 2022 falling well short of the council's target of 16.4 million.
But the council also noted that Covid-19 had impacted these numbers.
And as these Aucklanders said, the services libraries provided went well beyond book-lending:
"It's just having a communal space that everyone can go to and have access to knowledge. We do tend to live in a really separate world now, so those public areas are really good," said one.
"They provide a lot of access for a lot of people who might not necessarily have it - access to information, internet, books - so it's an important community service," said another.
Cameron was working on a university project and said the library was an indispensable resource for specialty engineering or science publications. He was concerned that budget cuts might mean fewer qualified librarians who could help him find information quickly.
"If I'm going to look for a book that I don't know the genre of, I'm usually going to staff for help, because I'd have no clue where it is otherwise. And if I need somewhere quiet to study, I go there and find a little spot to study and read books."
Cameron said reducing funding for libraries would have negative outcomes for New Zealanders' education - and not only for university students like himself.
"Education's a pretty important thing, so we should invest in it more and not take away funding.
"Especially something like libraries - a lot of people who are misfortunate don't have access to computers, books, and stuff at home, so a place where they can feel safe and get educated is pretty good in my opinion."
Local boards' plans
Most local boards listed libraries' opening hours as an area to cut, usually from seven to six days a week.
Some local boards such as Albert-Eden would look to implement a "network approach", staggering closures to ensure if one library was closed, a nearby library would be open.
The Henderson-Massey Local Board was looking at reducing the hours of its Waitākere Central and Rānui libraries to the minimum service level of 44 hours a week over six days.
The Ōtara-Papatoetoe may look to reduce its library programmes by 40-50 percent and consider working across local boards to deliver the programmes.
Howick's local board said cuts could mean a decrease in literacy programmes and access to information, while the Kaipātiki local board said they could also lead to job losses.
Any changes to libraries could also impact other services that used the sites, including Justices of the Peace, Plunket, and Citizens Advice Bureaux (CAB).
Former Silver Fern and now general manager of literacy group Duffy Books in Homes, Linda Vagana, told Checkpoint community services that are working well should be left alone.
"The worst is seeing a community that is already having to deal with barriers across inequities right across the board, whether it's education or social interaction with each other, just seeing all of that disappear. This is a service that is free to our communities and why do we always have to touch things that are working well?"
She said accessible community libraries are essential for improving New Zealand children's literacy.
"I just went to a principals' conference last week and everything's around literacy, numeracy, extending learning for our young people.
"And then on the other hand, we're trying to cut them at the knees and not provide the space for this to happen.
"I think there's an essential role that our libraries play in particular in our communities.
"I'm seeing whānau who are constantly hurt by things that are taken away from them, and this is certainly something that will stop access, stop their learning ability.
"It's a space where they go and find themselves. It's a space where they can go and communicate with others and find how better they can be people in our society."
