Auckland Libraries
| Established | 2010; 7 years ago |
|---|---|
| Location | Auckland, New Zealand |
| Branches | 55 |
| Collection | |
| Size | Approx. 3.5 million items |
| Access and use | |
| Circulation | Approx. 16 million items borrowed annually |
| Population served | Approx. 12 million annual visitors |
| Other information | |
| Director | Mirla Edmundson (Manager Libraries) |
| Website | Auckland Libraries |
Auckland Libraries is the public library system for the Auckland Region of New Zealand. It was created when the seven separate councils in the Auckland region merged in 2010. It is currently the largest public library network in the Southern Hemisphere with 55 branches from Wellsford to Waiuku.
In November 2010, Auckland's local councils merged to create the Auckland Council. As a result of this process, the seven public library systems within the region were combined to form Auckland Libraries. The following is a list of library networks that amalgamated to form the current Auckland Libraries:
In the years leading up to the merger of the library systems within Auckland, the separate library systems combined to form a consortium so that they could align their processes. This organisation was called eLGAR ("Libraries for a Greater Auckland Region"). This consortium settled on Millenium as their Library Management System (LMS) and the libraries within this system all moved to this software. The result was that the library systems were able to offer their customers a seamless transition to membership of the larger network, with immediate access to all 55 libraries from November 1, 2010 (the first day of the new council).
Prior to the amalgamation, Auckland City Libraries was a network of 17 public libraries and a mobile library operated by Auckland City Council.
In September 1880, the said local government authority took responsibility for the library of the Auckland Mechanics Institute (which dated back to 1842, but had come under financial difficulties). In 1887, George Grey donated around 8,000 books (doubling the existing collection) and a new building was erected for the library on the corner of Wellesley Street and Coburg (now Kitchener) Street. At the time, this building housed the entire collection for the Auckland public library in addition to the city's art collection. Additionally, from its inception in 1916 until it was closed in 1957, The Old Colonists’ Museum was also in this building. This building is now the Auckland Art Gallery.
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