Kāpiti libraries going cash-free

Going cash-free is the next step in the development of contemporary library services for Kāpiti.

Siren Deluxe, Manager Libraries, says this is an exciting year for Kāpiti Libraries with the eagerly anticipated completion of Te Ara Whetū, the new library hub in Waikanae.

“The way people are using our libraries, our collections, our spaces and services is changing. We are steadily evolving our services across the district to meet customer demand and social changes and going cash-free is just another step in that direction.”

Paekākāriki Library has already moved to only accepting card and contactless payments, Paraparaumu and Waikanae libraries will make the change on Saturday 8 August and Te Ara Whetū will open cash-free.

“We already offer self-service for issuing books, an amazing app which enables customers to reserve and renew books from the comfort of their homes, we’re supporting an explosive increase in eBook use, and welcome community groups to use our spaces for practicing new language skills, and creative skills from low tech crafting to high tech 3D printing and laser cutting in our Makerspace.

Ms Deluxe says that going cash-free will help the library team to serve people more efficiently as well as reduce operational costs and eliminate the labour and risk associated with handling and storing cash.

She says self-service photocopying and printing will also be introduced at both Paraparaumu and Waikanae libraries over the coming months, with staff on hand to help. These services will be cash-free, payable by card or contactless payment.

At the moment cash payments will still be available at the Waikanae Service Centre (within Waikanae Library) for services such as dog registration and rates.

A decision on when Ōtaki Library goes cash-free is yet to be made.