School librarians are warning proposed staffing cuts at the National Library could undermine literacy, reading engagement and equitable access to books and specialist support for hundreds of schools across Aotearoa.
The School Library Association of New Zealand Aotearoa, SLANZA, says a proposed 36 percent reduction in the National Library’s Community Engagement and Learning capability threatens a service many schools rely heavily upon.
The warning comes as the National Library and Archives New Zealand face a wider restructuring proposal involving the loss of 47 full-time equivalent positions, with specialist services across preservation, research, digital collections and school-library support facing reductions.
SLANZA President Trena Lile says reducing specialist support at a time when schools are grappling with literacy challenges risks weakening an important part of the country’s reading and learning infrastructure.
SCHOOL LIBRARIES RELY ON NATIONAL SUPPORT
At the centre of SLANZA’s concern are the National Library’s capability facilitators.
They provide schools with specialist library expertise, professional development, advice on collections and reading engagement, resources and connections across the wider library sector.
SLANZA says those services are particularly important because school-library provision differs significantly around the country.
Unlike classroom teaching, there is no nationally mandated level of school-library provision. Individual school boards and leadership teams make decisions about library staffing, spaces and budgets.
That can leave some schools with well-resourced libraries and qualified specialist staff while others operate with considerably less.
National Library support therefore provides expertise that individual schools may not otherwise be able to access.
THE NATIONAL LIBRARY’S OWN NUMBERS SHOW THE DEPENDENCE
Perhaps the strongest evidence of the importance of the service comes from the National Library itself.
Its 2025 national survey of school libraries found 97 percent of responding schools accessed National Library resources every year.
National Library connections were identified by 86 percent of responding schools as contributing to their library services.
When school-library workers were asked about professional development and support, 80 percent reported sometimes or often using National Library capability facilitators, while 78 percent used National Library local network meetings.
National Library online resources were used by 95 percent of respondents.
Those figures underline SLANZA’s argument that the proposed reductions are not targeting a peripheral service.
They affect support already deeply embedded across school libraries.
LIBRARIES ARE ABOUT MORE THAN BOOKS
The debate also challenges the outdated idea that a school library is simply a room containing books.
The National Library’s own research found school libraries play a central role in reading culture, student wellbeing and equitable access to resources.
Libraries also help students find reliable information, develop research skills and navigate an increasingly complicated digital environment.
Almost every responding school — 97 percent — reported Māori language and culture were reflected in their library collections.
For tamariki Māori, that makes a well-resourced library another place where books and resources can reflect their language, whakapapa, identity and experiences.
And at a time when rangatahi are navigating social media, misinformation and rapidly expanding artificial intelligence, information literacy is becoming more important rather than less.
A LITERACY CONTRADICTION?
That is where SLANZA believes the proposed cuts collide with the Government’s wider education priorities.
The Government has placed literacy achievement at the centre of its education reforms, including major changes to curriculum, assessment and classroom teaching.
SLANZA argues it makes little sense to demand improved reading outcomes while simultaneously reducing the specialist infrastructure supporting school libraries and reading engagement.
The association wants the Government to go further and guarantee every student access to a properly resourced school library and specialist librarian.
It argues access to reading and learning resources should not depend on which school a child happens to attend or how much discretionary funding that school’s board can allocate.
SCHOOLS ALREADY FACE TIGHT LIBRARY BUDGETS
The financial position of school libraries adds another layer to the concern.
The National Library’s 2025 survey found the median collection-development budget among responding schools was just $10.28 per student, only slightly higher than $10.03 in 2023.
Budget limitations were the most commonly identified constraint on improving school-library services.
That means National Library expertise and shared resources can be particularly valuable for schools unable to simply purchase additional specialist support themselves.
The impact could also be uneven.
Larger and better-resourced schools may have greater capacity to absorb reductions in central support, while smaller, rural or financially stretched schools could find that considerably harder.
That raises an equity question: whether cutting a national support service ultimately widens the gap between children attending well-resourced schools and those attending schools already working with less.
PART OF MUCH WIDER NATIONAL LIBRARY CUTS
The school-library warning sits within a much bigger restructuring proposal.
The proposed changes would reduce the National Library and Archives New Zealand workforce by around 47 full-time equivalent positions.
Other specialist areas are also facing substantial reductions, including preservation and conservation, digital preservation, collection description and research roles.
The proposed changes would take effect from 30 November if confirmed.
The Public Service Association has also raised concerns about any expectation that artificial intelligence and digital delivery can compensate for reductions in specialist human expertise.
For school libraries, the proposed direction includes greater reliance on online delivery rather than the existing level of face-to-face specialist assistance.
WHO LOSES WHEN SUPPORT DISAPPEARS?
SLANZA is now working with other library-sector organisations, including LIANZA and Public Libraries of New Zealand, amid shared concerns about the potential loss of institutional knowledge and specialist capability.
The association’s warning ultimately comes down to what happens inside schools after positions disappear from the National Library.
If fewer specialists means less professional development, less collection advice, fewer school visits and reduced support for reading programmes, those consequences eventually reach the classroom.
And they reach tamariki.
New Zealand is simultaneously undertaking major curriculum reform, attempting to lift literacy achievement and confronting growing challenges around misinformation and digital literacy.
Against that backdrop, SLANZA is asking whether reducing one of the national services supporting school libraries makes educational sense.
Because if improving literacy is genuinely a national priority, the people, libraries and resources helping tamariki discover reading cannot be treated as optional extras.
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