A Study of Libraries and their Role in a City's Cultural Well-Being

Abstract

In the shift towards culture and creativity-based economies the ability for a city to attract visitors and residents is increasingly reliant on the development of clearly defined cultural amenities. Cultural institutions such as museums and galleries have long held a prominent place in a city's identity and the establishment of cultural city centres. Libraries too have an equally important role to play as they are able to provide not only information and resources, but also a public space where people can engage in the cultural attributes unique to a city. Unfortunately, many time libraries are left out of the process altogether and relegated to an ill-defined support role. To establish how the role of libraries is perceived in New Zealand, the general and cultural planning documents and strategies for Wellington, Auckland, and Christchurch were examined. This was to determine first, where libraries were included the overall planning framework of each city and second, to determine if there were any obvious links between libraries and other cultural institutions. The analysis of the documents revealed too main themes that affected libraries' perceived role: how culture was defined and the physical location of a city's cultural institutions. A discussion of these two elements revealed that libraries' inclusion in cultural precincts is reliant on first understanding what libraries provide and second on establishing clear relationships between all cultural institutions throughout the planning process.