National Library of Australia Staff Papers, 1995

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Rain, Riots and Rarotonga:
Polynesian Acquisitions Trip

Summary of Adrian Cunningham's presentation to the Australian Library & Information Association (ALIA) Asia Pacific Special Interest Group (APSIG) meeting, National Library of Australia, 14 November 1995.

In accord with the National Library s recent increased emphasis on Asia/Pacific regional collection development, I recently undertook an acquisitions trip through parts of Polynesia. Because Tom Ruthven visited Tonga last year and Amelia Mackenzie visited Fiji in 1993, it was decided that I should visit the remaining major island groups in Polynesia, namely Western Samoa, American Samoa, the Cook Islands and French Polynesia. This is the first time that a National Library staff member had visited any of these four territories in an official capacity.

The necessity of paying periodic visits to the islands if one is serious about collecting Pacific publications has often been demonstrated in the past. This trip proved no exception. Pacific Islanders appreciate and respond positively to personal contact, much more so than the rather impersonal approach of writing letters. Moreover, the lack of up-to-date directory information makes it impossible to identify from a distance sources of publishing activity. In three of the four territories I visited I received extensive assistance from local librarians and archivists who not only drew up appointment schedules but also generously provided invaluable chauffer/introduction services. In all four territories I found that one contact often suggested three or four other potential contacts. As a result my preliminary list of contacts, which was prepared prior to my departure, grew rapidly once I was out in the field. In addition, I found once I arrived in the islands that many of my contact details were either inaccurate or out of date.

Over the four weeks I spent in the islands I identified and made contact with over 100 publishers and/or booksellers. Many of these were government departments, but there were also a number of non-government organisations, research and academic institutions, commercial enterprises and branches of international organisations. In many cases, these organisations were happy to place the National Library of Australia on their mailing list or agreed to the creation of standing orders, although in quite a few cases organisations either had no mailing list or had no centralised control over the issuing of publications and reports. Government publications can be particularly elusive. A general shortage of funds means that departments and instrumentalities often print only the exact number of a publication that they know they need and make no provision for printing and storing additional copies. In a number of cases only a master copy is retained from which photocopies are produced upon request. The National Librarians who accompanied me in the Western Samoa and the Cook Islands (Miss Mataina Teo and Mrs Carmen Temata respectively) often located publications that they themselves were unaware of. This puts into perspective the difficulties of collecting Pacific publications. If the librarians on the spot have trouble ensuring a supply of local publications, it is little wonder that the National Library of Australia often has difficulty collecting the same material from thousands of miles away.

I believe that the trip was a successful one. I personally sent home over 200 kilograms of publications. In addition, I arranged for local suppliers to send approximately 60-70 kilograms of material. I estimate that between half and two thirds of the material I acquired was given to me free of charge. I spent over $A3,000 on up-front purchases and committed the Library to buying about $A4,500 worth of extra material. The National Library has been placed on a large number of mailing lists and now has accurate and up-to-date contact details of all the important publishers and distributors in each of the territories visited. The results of this trip in conjunction with appropriate follow-up action, should ensure that the National Library will be able to provide access to a very thorough and up-to-date collection of information on activities and developments in Polynesia.

Nowhere has the re-emergence of Australian interest in the South Pacific been more clearly demonstrated than with the reaction to the recent decision of the French government to resume nuclear testing in French Polynesia. By chance my visit to Tahiti coincided with the detonation of the first nuclear device at Mororoa Atoll in September. My departure from the Territory was delayed by rioting that broke out at the airport and in downtown Papeete on 7 September. My trip was brought to a dramatic conclusion when I was forced to flee my downtown hotel in the face of random firebombing and spent the next three hours on the streets running the gauntlet of looters, riot police and teargas. Fortunately, I had concluded all my business in Tahiti before the trouble began. Despite the tensions and despite the fact that many of my government and opposition contacts were extremely preoccupied, I found almost everyone I dealt with to be very friendly and immensely cooperative. Had I had arrived a week later, however, the Tahitian leg of my trip would probably have been a complete failure

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