Hon Judith Tizard
Minister Responsible for the National Library

Media Statement
18 September 2006

Get connected during Library Week

National Library Minister Judith Tizard is encouraging New Zealanders to get connected with their local library during Library Week which starts today.

"Libraries offer huge opportunities to all New Zealanders – whether it's storytime, research for your studies or business, armchair travel or a great New Zealand book.

"Libraries and librarians connect us to our communities by offering information about what's on.

"Public libraries, school Libraries and the National Library's School Services team play a huge role in educating and upskilling New Zealanders. Some public libraries even offer afterschool homework support centres. Another exciting national initiative is anyquestions.co.nz which offers real time homework help from an online librarian.

"Our libraries are knowledge warehouses that connect us with our past and our present. They contribute to our sense of national identity by telling our stories through novels, histories, music, photos, old newspapers and many other formats.

"Libraries connect us to the huge ocean of international knowledge resources which support academic and business research and in turn help to grow and transform our economy.

"This Labour-led government is committed to a strong knowledge-based society. We have worked with local government towards a clear vision for the direction and investment in public libraries. We have created Maori subject heading so for the first time we have consistent way to access information in te reo and a Maori world view of information.

"Our National Library is leading the digital content strand of this government's digital strategy to ensure that our digital knowledge is captured and preserved to avoid a "digital dark age".

"So go and get connected with your library this week!"

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Library Week 2006 is organised by LIANZA, the Library and Information Association New Zealand Aotearoa. For more information, check out www.libraryweek.org.nz

ENDS

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