Auckland Council Libraries are leading the way lifting literacy across Tāmaki Makaurau with a stack of activities, and smart technology.
With 56 local libraries across the Auckland region, a fleet of mobile libraries on the road and borrowing available online, Aucklanders have access to the largest public library network in Australasia.
Auckland Council Libraries carry a whopping 3.4 million items available to borrow or view for free. Anyone with a library card can access the collection, thanks to a network of specialist teams and technology constantly moving items around the region on request.
Head of Library and Learning Services Catherine Leonard says customer demand for requests across the collection is strong, with between 12,000 to 15,000 items moving through the central book sorting system each day.
“On top of that, we’ve had an incredible 14 million items borrowed in total over 12 months and our visitor numbers have climbed to 6.75 million so far this financial year, which is well above our expectations,” Catherine says.
E-books continue to gain popularity with 5 million checkouts in 2024, which places Auckland Council Libraries in the top ten eLending libraries worldwide.
On top of the borrowing figures, Catherine says a key indicator that things are going well for regional library services is the customer they receive. Over the past two years, customer satisfaction has consistently hit 90 per cent or higher and is currently sitting at 93 per cent.
To keep the momentum going, Auckland Council Libraries team has adopted a new three-year service plan (2025-2028), which includes key priorities to inspire creativity, learning and discovery.
This ensures our region-wide focus consistently s those aspects of community wellbeing that libraries uniquely hold, says Catherine.
Every day, Auckland Council librarians literacy by encouraging reading. They work hard to make sure everyone has access to the safe and inclusive environments of libraries and the wide array of resources they hold.
Other priorities include improving participation, championing Mātauranga Māori and celebrating cultural identity.
An innovative content-creation and publishing programme launched in 2000 has led to the creation of 20 bilingual books to fill a gap in the collection for Māori and Pacific readers, 16 documentary films, 10 podcasts and a range of other material including virtual reality content.
Catherine says demand for free digital equipment and library programmes continues to grow. All Aucklanders have unlimited access to public computers, internet, printing and Wi-Fi when visiting their local libraries.
For researchers, Auckland Central City Library contains a treasure trove of resources with one of the largest collections of heritage and research materials in the country. Access to rare and precious taonga (manuscripts, historical maps, photographs, rare books) can be easily arranged.
“Our staff are always looking for new ideas and developments in libraries to improve and engage new customers. Responding to continues to be a priority for us, and the hugely-popular Bestie collection celebrating local authors is an example of this. We have just launched a new board game collection and plans for a Bestie collection for children are on track with the collection set to be launched towards the end of the year,” she adds.
