Why did the librarian cross the tea room? : social capital within the library work place

Abstract

The Hokitika Free Public Library was built with the aid of a funding grant from Scottish industrialist and philanthropist Andrew Carnegie and opened in 1908. This study examines the importance of the library to post gold rush settler society in Hokitika. It sets it in context by examining the ways in which British and American library traditions were transferred to New Zealand soil, and the impact of nineteenth century library initiatives in Hokitika. The examination of the period 1906 - 1916, which includes the planning, construction and the first eight years of the library's existence, is based on extensive newspaper research, the correspondence of the Hokitika Borough Council and Andrew Carnegie, annual reports of the library committee, as well as biographies and other settler reminiscences.