Historic community newspapers to be digitised thanks to agreement between National Library of NZ and new trust

(From left): Mark Crookston, Jane Hill and Andy Fenton are excited about preserving historic community newspapers. Photo / Mark Beatty

Historic community newspapers, at risk of loss and decay, will have a more secure future and be better able to inform the present.

The Preserving Local History and Education Trust has been established with the goal, through grant funding, to digitise historic community and local newspapers to support their availability and use in local history and education initiatives.

Their agreement with the National Library of New Zealand will ensure these valuable local titles will be made available via the Papers Past platform, which currently provides access to eight million pages of New Zealand’s newspaper archive.

“The National Library is excited to be working with the trust on this initiative,” National Library of New Zealand content services director Mark Crookston said.

“It will elevate community and local stories to the same level of access as the major daily and metropolitan titles which are the predominant focus of our very successful Papers Past service.”

Trustee Jane Hill said, “Much of our history is documented in local community newspapers. They contain so much rich content about everyday New Zealanders: revealing the people, places, events, organisations, businesses, societies, iwi, and hapū that make up a village, small town, rohe or region. We want this to be available to all Kiwis today, and for generations to come. If we do not act today, the first written draft of our history will be lost forever.”

Fellow trustee Andy Fenton added, “We believe our mahi can provide lasting benefits for communities and will help advance education, while ultimately supporting the views and expectations of all Kiwis. The introduction of the Aotearoa New Zealand Histories in our school curriculum means that free and easy access to heritage resources, like community newspapers, is essential.”