Christchurch City Libraries head Carolyn Robertson said AI books might be stocked in the future if people wanted them, such as if they become popular on the BookTok reading community on TikTok.
However, they would need to be identified as AI books and they would need to meet quality standards.
“Often this content has not gone through an editorial process to refine content, check facts, or provide a balance when offering different points of view,” Robertson said.
Auckland Libraries head Catherine Leonard said AI books would be considered based on customer demand, but many don’t currently meet quality standards.
“Reading and writing is about humans communicating. A book should feel like a human wrote it, to communicate something to human readers,” she said.
Wellington City Libraries manager Laurinda Thomas said it will review its AI policy later this year, but currently researches the author of every book it buys.
“For now, this means we strongly prioritise work that is written and reviewed by people, not AI-generated,” she said.
Hamilton City Libraries director Paula Murdoch said it recently decided not to purchase or stock material any AI work.
“This instruction has been shared with suppliers and, to date, no substantially AI-generated content destined for the collections has been identified by library staff,” she said.
Tauranga City Libraries manager Joanna Thomas said while library workers check the credentials of authors and publishers, some AI works still get through.
“We recently became aware that a digital media streaming platform utilised by public libraries had... AI generated titles in it. We have worked with the vendor to block those titles,” she said.
Where libraries stand on AI
Auckland – “Self-published and AI-generated titles are only considered in response to customer demand on title-by-title basis. This involves assessment for the quality and suitability for our collections.”
Hamilton – “We will not acquire or include material that is substantially generated by artificial intelligence. Any material that may be AI generated would be returned to the supplier for a refund.”
Tauranga – “Tauranga City Libraries currently avoids purchasing AI content (along with titles automatically generated from sources such as Wikipedia) as much as possible.”
New Plymouth – “To the best of our knowledge, we don’t have any AI-generated works in our print collection.”
Palmerston North – “We do not have a policy against AI-generated content, however in practice, current AI generated content is not considered for selection.”
Porirua – “As far as we know we do not currently have AI-authored works in Porirua Libraries’ physical collections. If we had AI-authored works in the collection, they would be identified.”
Lower Hutt – “To the best of our knowledge Hutt City Libraries does not currently carry any AI-generated books in our physical collection. As the publishing landscape evolves, AI-generated works may become a valid option. Should that occur, we are committed to applying appropriate cataloguing standards.”
Wellington – “We strongly prioritise work that is written and reviewed by people, not AI-generated.”
Nelson – “Nelson Public Libraries is not aware of any AI-generated works in the physical collections. If an AI-generated item is found, we contact the vendor to ensure a similar item is not purchased in the future.”
Christchurch – “Currently we do not knowingly carry AI-generated works. This does not mean that we will never carry AI-generated works. If the library held AI-generated works, these would be identified in the catalogue record.”
Dunedin – “Our policy is to avoid purchasing AI generated library materials wherever possible.”
Invercargill – “AI-generated works typically do not meet our standards for purchase, in terms of quality of content.”
