Disposal decision made by National Library
11 June 2025
The disposal of more than 500,000 publications from its Overseas Published Collections (OPC) has been confirmed by the National Library of New Zealand today.
The National Library has withdrawn from its donation agreement with the Internet Archive and has decided on the secure destruction of these items.
“After assessing a range of options, and following discussions with key stakeholders, the National Library has decided on the secure destruction of the items removed from this collection,” says National Library Director Content Services Mark Crookston.
“Removing out of date and unused items from lending collections is not undertaken lightly and is part of good library collection management practice. The space created through this decision will help the Library to continue to build well-managed collections that support the Library’s functions and the needs of New Zealanders.”
In December 2018, the then Minister of Internal Affairs approved the National Library request to remove these items under the National Library of New Zealand Act.
“In response to feedback about loss of access to the remaining items, the National Library entered into an agreement with the Internet Archive to export the remaining items to their offshore digitisation base, to provide online access and retain the physical copies.
“However, responding to subsequent concerns about copyright issues, the National Library paused this project and have now withdrawn from this agreement.”
In June 2024, a removal policy for the general collections was agreed, following extensive feedback and engagement. This reinforced the need for routine and regular disposal of lending collections as part of good library collection management practices.
“Our research strength is our world-class Alexander Turnbull Library collection. This carefully curated collection is owned by the Crown in perpetuity. Nothing from the Alexander Turnbull Library is included in the National Library’s project to dispose of items from its Overseas Published Collections.”
Disposal options considered included transfer, sale, donation and destruction.
“While 15,000 collection titles have been transferred to other libraries, the experience with donating approximately 50,000 titles to book fairs in 2020 resulted in a modest pick-up from the public which reinforced the purpose of disposal in the first place.”
From 2017–2020 less than 1% of the items involved were borrowed. Most of the titles have not been issued for the last 20 to 30 years.
Read the full details of the announcement on the National Library website > https://natlib.govt.nz/about-us/strategy-and-policy/collections-policy/overseas-published-collection-management#latest-update-from-te-pouhuaki-national-librarian
The National Library’s General Collections removal policy can be found on its website here: Development of General Collections removal policy | National Library of New Zealand.
For more information:
Media contact:
Media Desk
Department of Internal Affairs | Te Tari Taiwhenua
Mobile: +64 27 535 8639
Email: media@dia.govt.nz
