Early preserves: the first archivists in Tauranga

There was something in the air, during the mid-1970s. Tauranga was in the midst of a technological boom. In September 1973, the first automatic car wash opened and the following year, Trust Bank installed escalators (a kind of self-moving staircase that transported you upward while inducing a mildly hypnotic state). Traffic lights had been installed at the Elizabeth Street and Cameron Road intersection; and colour television began broadcasting from Mount Te Aroha. Everywhere you looked it seemed there was a bowling pavilion, arts and crafts centre,  shopping centre, kindergarten, or Marae being freshly opened*.  Even the first Library branch (Greerton), opened during this time. Perhaps, with this wave of new and exciting development, also came a little anxiety about not losing sight of our past, at least the parts we wanted to remember anyway.  In 1974 the first historic building was moved onto the soon-to-be Historic Village and in 1975 the formation of an Archives and Local History section within the Tauranga Public Library was approved by the Council.  

The first official archivist role within the Tauranga Library bore the lofty title of “City Archivist.” William E (Ted) Morris was appointed in 1976, after 21 years of service with the Bay of Plenty Times (Photo 02-098). He promptly began soliciting historical materials from local organizations and long-established businesses, as well as local genealogical societies. Ted authored "The Centennial History of St Peter’s Presbyterian Church", "Journey in Yesterday," and numerous poems and articles for the Tauranga Historical Society Journal. Ted Morris retired in 1979, passing the baton briefly to Fenella Pringle, before Jinty Rorke assumed the position of “Archivist” at the Tauranga Public Library.

Jinty served in this role for 27 years, enriching the collection and instigating significant changes in the archive. In 1988, she became a founding member of the Bay of Plenty District Committee of the New Zealand Historic Places Trust and served on The Elms Trust committee and as the Director of The Elms Foundation.

After a decade, her title shifted to “Special Services Librarian” and then, five years later, to “New Zealand Librarian.” Regardless of her title, Jinty remained a staunch advocate and protector of local history, a mission that extended well beyond her retirement. She made considerable contributions to the Bay of Plenty Times and the Bay of Plenty Journal of History, as well as the Dictionary of New Zealand Biography. In 1993, she published "Policing Two Peoples," a history of policing in the Bay of Plenty. 

Mererina Murray, Jinty Rorke, and Belinda Leckie (1993), Photo 21-316 (digitally enhanced)

During her tenure, Jinty indexed newspapers, photograph collections, historic journals, and ephemera. Anticipating the digital age and with assistance from the Friends of the Library, she acquired an early scanner and PC that inaugurated the Archive’s digitized photographic collection. Jinty completed a Waikato University Certificate in Māori Studies in 1990. The team of local history librarians began to expand and included Margaret Mackenzie, Belina Leckie, Pam McConnochie, and Stephanie Smith.

In 1995, the library welcomed its first Māori Information Specialist, Mererina Murray (Te Arawa and Ngā Puhi). She was succeeded by Cambell Ngata (Ngāti Porou), Carl Mika (Tuhourangi), Kitty Murray, Karren Anderson (Ngā Puhi, and Te Rarawa), Tangimeriana (Maxine) Rua, and Bernie Johnson (Ngāi Te Rangi, Ngāti Ranginui, Te Whanau O Tauwhao).

When Jinty retired in 2007, Stephanie Smith, who had been there since 1998, took up the reins as the New Zealand Room’s “Heritage Specialist.” An Oxford-educated New Zealander, Stephanie supplemented her Masters in English literature with a postgraduate Diploma in Archives and Records Management from Victoria University. Her keen intelligence, previous roles as User Education Librarian, and background in proofreading and copy editing made her an engaging and well-liked communicator. She continued to enhance and promote the archival collection, harnessing emerging digital technologies and ensuring the collections were housed in a temperature-controlled and fireproof room within the New Zealand Room. Approaching her retirement in 2019, the archive had become too large a job for any one person to manage and a restructure was required.

Stephanie overlapped with the resulting new Heritage and Research team consisting of Heritage Specialists, a Mātanga Taonga Tuku Iho Māori, and Information Access Specialists. With the demolition of the library building on the horizon, this new team rehoused most of the collection, developed Pae Korokī: Tauranga Archives Online, built a new climate-controlled facility off-site, and moved into He Puna Manawa, the former Goddard's  Arcade between Devonport Road and Grey Street.

The ambitious digitization program the team runs continues today.