The number of library book issues appear to be dropping in South Wairarapa - but local librarians say it doesn't mean people are not using the service.
Martinborough branch librarian Shirley Nightingale says libraries are transforming into community hubs, moving away from the role of traditional libraries.
"Although book issues may look like they are going down, visitor numbers to the library continue to keep growing," she said.
South Wairarapa District Council figures show the number of issues has dropped steadily since 2011.
Issue numbers at Featherston Library have fallen from about 4500 to 3400 over the past three years. There is not just one single cause for the decline, said Mark Allingham, group manager infrastructure and services at the council.
"A lot of people don't think of themselves as readers, and are inclined to see libraries as being all about the books."
Wairarapa Library Service, which links the Martinborough, Featherston, Greytown and Carterton libraries, also offers e-books, toys, magazines, DVDs, newspapers, games and computer access with free internet.
Mr Allingham said competition from e-books may be a factor in the declining issue numbers.
Kathy Lenihan, Greytown branch librarian, said she can think of perhaps six library users she has "lost" to e-books.
There are 50,000 e-book titles available free of charge to library users.
She said she sees many people load up their e-book readers with e-book loans before going on holiday.
E-books and e-lending present a challenge for New Zealand libraries, according to a 2013 report by LIANZA (Library and Information Association of NZ Aotearoa).
There are restrictive conditions on e-lending, including the period of time the library can make the e-book available, the number of simultaneous readers and restrictions on the number of loans.
LIANZA is particularly concerned about the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement currently being negotiated between New Zealand and a number of other countries.
It says the agreement may have a serious impact on NZ copyright laws, which would restrict what libraries could provide to users.
The librarians say age also seems to be a factor in issues declining - older people who have been life-long library users are not always being replaced by younger users.
This is why they try to encourage younger people into the library with reading programmes, said Mr Allingham.
He said pre-school reading sessions at the libraries have grown in popularity as parents realise the benefits of reading on the developing brain.
The four libraries have recently started using Kotui, a new library management system designed by the National Library of NZ.
In 2011, librarians found the old system was becoming outdated and started looking at more modern systems.
It cost $62,688 for Carterton District Council and South Wairarapa District Council to join up to Kotui.
It also has on-going yearly costs.
The changes are mainly behind the scenes with librarians feeling most of the impact.
Most of the changes with the new system won't be obvious to library users, said Mr Allingham.
However, not everyone who uses the online catalogue has been a fan of it as it is quite different to the old one, he said.
Masterton Public Library uses a different system.
There are about 15,000 library users at all four libraries.