Libraries not the baddies!

“Concerns about inadequate funding of the Author’s Fund are shared by Libraries”, Library and Information Association of New Zealand Aotearoa President Spencer Lilley said yesterday.

“On the one hand, it is essential that the nation’s literature is made available to every individual of every age in order to foster understanding of ourselves as a people. Libraries make this possible through their holdings of New Zealand writing, both for the present and the future.

“On the other hand, it is important that authors are supported and compensated fairly for loss of sales through library lending of their works, so that they can continue to write. This is a widely recognised right internationally.

“The recent cut in the Author’s Fund is regrettable because it places the benefits for writers, libraries and the country as a whole in jeopardy”, he said.

LIANZA has been involved closely in the recent Review of the Author’s Fund and endorses its recommendations that the Fund should be separately administered and specifically funded.

This latest cut to the Fund is a double blow, following last year’s concerns about revised statistical data used to calculate library holdings, which resulted in reduced payments for some authors. The sampling methodology applied by Creative NZ was subsequently shown to be seriously flawed. Creative NZ however decided not to revise the sample this year pending Government consideration of the Author’s Fund Review.

“Libraries are unfairly being painted as the baddies”, Mr Lilley said. “In fact we support the stand taken by the NZ Society of Authors and urge the Government to address the future of the Authors Fund as a matter of urgency.”

Contact
Mr Spencer Lilley
President
Library and Information Association of New Zealand Aotearoa
06 350 5799 x8788

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