Change in reading room services

Over the last 10 years we have seen a steady decrease in the number of people visiting our reading rooms. This correlates with an increase in the number of customers we are serving online.

Reader visits

Items issued in reading rooms

Our vision to be a vibrant, trusted, national archive is rooted in our ability to provide a modern service that meets our customer’s needs.

Reducing the hours allows us to put our energy into listing and digitising records and making them available online. This increases discoverability of and provides better access to our records for a greater number of users.

This has been a difficult decision to make but will have long-term benefits for all New Zealanders. We received valuable feedback and as a result have made slight amendments to ensure that our services, despite change, continue to be as accessible as possible.

To learn more about our direction for the future of Archives take a look at our 2057 strategy.

We looked at many options based on the feedback we received. It was agreed that the amendments would be the best possible option for all those who use our reading rooms.

We took the Treaty of Waitangi into consideration before making the decision to change our reading room hours, and we’ve taken any feedback in relation to the Treaty and our obligations to Treaty partners seriously.  We think that improving digital access will benefit our Treaty partners, and Māori stakeholders, because we know that travelling and accommodation are expensive particularly for those who don’t live in the main centres. It’s one of our strategic aims to take the nation’s archives to the people, rather than making them come into the reading rooms.

We’re also developing mutually agreed work plans to better respond to Māori, like our letters of commitment, which include internships and metadata improvement projects that continue to build our post-settlement relationships with our Treaty partners.

We intend to collaborate with Māori to better understand a Te Ao Māori view in regard to access of culturally sensitive records that does not fit in with a Western paradigm.

We’re still open every day in Christchurch and Dunedin, and for three full days in Auckland and Wellington. We also still have our online avenues of access for all researchers including our Treaty partners.

The order limit will remain at 5 items per reader, but all records requested will be delivered to the reading room within 30 minutes. This halves the wait time in our Wellington reading room.

In Wellington, maps and oversized items are retrieved four times a day at 9am, 11am, 1pm and 3pm. This is because these types of items require specialist retrieval that cannot be done with more regular items.

The limit on the number of probates that can be viewed at one time will stay the same. This is to reduce the opportunity for these to become mixed up. Probates contain the same types of information and often it is difficult to tell the difference between one person’s probate and the next.

No. Viewing records in person at our reading rooms is free of charge. There is also no charge for taking your own photographs of the records. Any copying or online research services may be charged a fee. Find out more about our using our records and our fees and charges.

No, you can visit us anytime during our opening hours. But if you plan to view many records or if you know that you will need a lot help from our staff please let us know before your visit so we can make sure we can give you the best help possible.

No. Removing archives from the reading rooms is a criminal offence. 

Any records you order and view in the reading room must not leave the reading rooms. Records are returned to the issues desk after you have finished with them.

Yes. The online research service will remain unchanged. The turnaround times for online research and the fees also remain the same.

Find out about researching in our archives. And remember to regularly check what’s been digitised to see if the items you’re interested in are available online.