Members of the group acting as the custodian of South Canterbury’s family history archives say a proposal to restructure roles at the town’s museum and library “threatens to undermine decades of cultural heritage stewardship”.

The South Canterbury Genealogy Society wrote to Timaru District Council chief executive Nigel Trainor following his announcement to staff, on March 23, of a proposal to cut 71 roles and create 19, outlining its grave concerns.

Under that proposal, the South Canterbury Museum director role would be cut and the duties would be combined with the existing curator of social history and curator of document history roles to create a new curator/team leader role.

A new curator role would also be created.

At the Timaru District Library, the manager role would be disestablished, a new team leader would absorb the roles of the adult and youth services team leaders, and the roles of senior librarian and heritage librarian would go.

General librarian roles would also be reduced from 4 full-time equivalents (FTE) to 3 FTE.

But South Canterbury Genealogy committee member Dave Jack described the proposals as posing “an unacceptable risk to the preservation, accessibility, and educational value of our shared history”.

“We work with both the library and the museum very closely and they store all our archives in their research rooms — all our assets,” he said.

The group manned the museum’s research room on a Sunday, with two volunteers working in with staff.

“There can be people from the other side of the world that come in wanting to research their history in Timaru.

“Are we going to put the brakes on family research?”

Members also spent time at the library helping people with their research and he said at the most recent session, on Wednesday morning, two residents came in wanting to start research of their family tree.

“Where do we end up if we get rid of key staff? Does the council want volunteers running the places? You need to be qualified in these roles.”

He said those affected by the proposal had a wealth of knowledge and the society’s archives supported the greater South Canterbury area.

“We have all sorts of stuff. If you take away your history, what have you got left?’’

Jack says people affected by the council proposal have a wealth of knowledge and the society’s archives support the greater South Canterbury area.J

The letter, sent to Trainor on Wednesday, said the society had “grave concerns over the proposed disestablishment and merging of key archival and curatorial roles”.

It outlined the impact such changes would have on public access to community records, the digitisation of local collections, and its longstanding collaborative work with museum and library staff.

The proposal to remove roles, such as senior heritage librarian, and reduce librarian FTEs posed a serious risk to the preservation and accessibility of the library’s heritage collection stored in the basement, as well as public services via the research room, it said.

The collections were essential for local family history research, tangata whenua whakapapa studies, school and community projects and digitisation efforts under the Aoraki Heritage Collection.

Without the roles, it was unclear who would continue the vital work, the letter said.

Meanwhile, at the museum the consolidation of multiple roles would “inevitably result in the loss of specialist capacity, either on the archival or the curatorial side”.

The society also pointed out the archives at both the library and museum were public assets and community members relied on the institutions to research ancestry, land history, cultural identity, and civic records.

“These services underpin the democratic right of access to public records and cultural heritage.”

The society was also keen to strengthen its partnerships with staff at both, to enhance public genealogical services including joint digitisation and indexing of school rolls and war records, and share expertise on historic preservation public workshops and training and support for the planned South Canterbury Archives Online Access Portal.

“Without dedicated archivists to collaborate with, these projects cannot proceed. The result will be a net loss of community value and a reversal of recent gains in accessibility and outreach.”

It said Timaru had “long-prided itself on valuing and protecting its heritage” and the proposed cuts were deeply at odds with that.

“A district of our size and historical depth must continue to support professional roles dedicated to heritage preservation — not diminish them at a time when digital access and historical understanding matter more than ever.”

The group recommended the council retained the full-time senior heritage librarian role, maintain the roles of curator of social history and curator of document history or an archivist role at the museum, and ensure adequate staffing for the Aoraki Heritage Collection, with a long-term digitisation and access plan.

It also asked the council to support continuation of public research assistance and education through appropriately skilled and resourced staff and engage with community stakeholders, including the society, before finalising staffing decisions to align the council’s strategy with community needs.

Trainor said as staff were considering the proposal, it “wouldn’t be fair to comment on specific individual roles during this process”.

“All staff are being invited to provide feedback and alternative ideas for the organisational structure, which will be considered before we come to any final decisions,” he said.

“Unfortunately the council is faced with a significant deficit in its day-to-day running costs, and in order to provide essential services to the community in an affordable and efficient way there are some difficult decisions that will need to be made in the months ahead.”