Te Pouhuaki | National Librarian, Rachel Esson, explains

National Library's process of culling the Overseas Published Collections (OPC).

"The OPC Project is part of the national library’s and my ongoing commitment to transparent processes. 

Since October 2019, we’ve been posting book lists from the Overseas Published Collections on our National Library website. This transparent review process has given libraries the opportunity to add these books to their collections. It has also given members of the public, including researchers, scholars and historians, the opportunity to contact our project team if they see any titles in the published lists that they believe should be retained by the National Library.

We have listed over 50% of the OPC in this way to date. Through our review process, with [community] input, approximately 10% of these books will be retained within library collections in New Zealand, which includes our National Library, along with public, university and specialist libraries around the country. Aside from these books and the 50,000 books donated to Lions and Rotary for a charity book sale, no other books have left the ownership of the National Library.

I would also like to reiterate that the Alexander Turnbull Library collections are not part of this project.

You can find out more on our Overseas Published Collections webpage. We update this page regularly with information about the Project."

Rachel has worked in libraries since the mid-1980s and at the National Library of New Zealand for almost a decade. She is a firm believer in the value of libraries and the positive impact they have on their communities, enriching lives culturally and economically. She is a Guest Speakers at this year's National Forum of Public Library Managers.

PLNZ fully endorses The National Library’s move to distinguish our country's contribution to world culture by placing stories from New Zealand and the Pacific first. and something for us to be proud of. It signals to the international community we have a literary culture and a voice that is uniquely from this region, one that has for so long been under-recognised.