The National Librarian Pouhuaki and Chief Archivist Poumanaaki have announced upcoming impacts to customer services for Archives NZ and National Library services in Wellington to enable the preparation and moving of staff, equipment and holdings to the new archival facility from July.

The most pressing part of this update for NZHA members for now is: “The last day to submit high-resolution digitisation orders will be Monday 2 June, with orders being available again in late October.”

Full message below:

E ngā rangatira o te ao, tēnā koutou 

The construction of the new archival building in Wellington is complete, and we are now preparing for what will be a large-scale and progressive move there of staff, equipment and holdings from July 2025.

As part of the move, we’ll be relocating and consolidating our technical labs and studios into the new building. This move to new, modern facilities will allow us to continue to conserve and preserve our taonga, collections, and holdings, making items safe to digitise and view in our reading rooms.

As moving our equipment is a complex activity, the team will begin packing our specialist technical equipment in June and will need time to commission and test throughout July, August, and September. During this time in Wellington, they will also complete training on some new equipment and familiarise themselves with their new spaces.

This means that our more fragile taonga, collections, and holdings held in Wellington, including audiovisual materials, may not be available to view until October. We’ll also pause high-resolution digitisation of National Library collections for this period. Low-resolution digitisation, also known as research copying, is unaffected. The last day to submit high-resolution digitisation orders will be Monday 2 June, with orders being available again in late October.

We will keep you updated as we get our new facilities up and running and thank you in advance for your understanding and patience during this period.

Please contact us at Ask a librarian or Ask an archivist if you have any questions about this move.

Ask a librarian — National Library of New Zealand
Ask an archivist — Archives New Zealand

Ehara taku toa i te toa takitahi, erangi he toa takitini.

Chief Archivist Poumanaaki Anahera Morehu
National Librarian Te Pouhuaki Rachel Esson