New Zealand Book Council

Bringing Books and People Together

Like no other human activity reading opens up our imagination. It enables us to understand those around us. It allows us to project the future and reach back into the past. Reading can entertain, challenge and educate. We believe that reading can transform people's lives.

Our mission is to inspire more New Zealanders to read more; to promote reading in general, but particularly to represent and promote New Zealand writing and writers – our own artists, stories and points of view.
 

'The New Zealand Book Council encourages our intellectual life and promotes the power of words. Through its diverse programmes, it educates and entertains adults and school children in communities throughout New Zealand.'
Dame Fiona Kidman, writer and President of Honour, New Zealand Book Council 

The New Zealand Book Council is a national not-for-profit organisation founded as an Incorporated Society in 1972. Our work promotes the love of books and reading among all New Zealanders, and, in particular, aims to introduce communities and readers across the country to New Zealand's literary wealth.

Our flagship programme, Writers in Schools, has been encouraging and inspiring children to read, write, create and learn through books for more than 35 years, providing free writer visits for more than 50,000 students each year. the sky is the limit when you read, a programme sponsored by the Ministry of Education which we run jointly with the National Library, provide further free writer visits to low-decile schools and schools in geographically isolated areas.

Words on Wheels and other travelling author programmes have inspired educated, entertained and activated communities across the New Zealand, from the Far North to the Deep South and many points in between.

Through our International Programme we support New Zealand writers to greater success on the world stage and our literary culture and heritage to greater exposure outside New Zealand.

Our quarterly publication Booknotes, designed to nurture and encourage New Zealanders' interest in books, reading and writing, is a valuable addition to New Zealand's cultural life.

In providing these and other literary programmes, the Book Council is led by Chief Executive Noel Murphy and a governing board, chaired by Peter Biggs, which sets the policy and strategic direction of the organization. We are funded by an annual Creative New Zealand grant, donations, charitable grants and the subscriptions of a 1700-strong membership made up of individuals, schools, tertiary institutions, libraries and businesses.

• Download our 2010 Full Financial Report, the 2010 NZBC Annual General Meeting Minutes, and the 2011 Meeting Agenda
• Find out more about our purpose and plans in our Strategic Directions discussion paper
• Download a copy of the rules of the New Zealand Book Council Incorporated