The Dannevirke News office has closed. Photo / NZME
The Dannevirke News office has closed. Photo / NZME
A new home has been found for the newspaper collection of Dannevirke News.
With the closure of the Dannevirke News office, it became necessary to find a place to store the approximately 100 years’ worth of newspapers where they could be kept safely.
There were 410 bound volumes of newspapers from as early as 1909 and as late as 2011, but some of them had deteriorated and were falling apart due to old age - and what was suspected to be pests eating the paper.
The collection also included the Daily Press, which ended publication in 1909, as well as the Dannevirke Advocate, which ended publication in 1912.
According to an article found in Papers Past, the Dannevirke Publishing Co was formed in 1909 with the purpose of establishing another daily newspaper in Dannevirke.
The first issue of the Dannevirke Evening News was published later that year.
More than 400 volumes contain around 100 years of newspaper history. Photo / Leanne Warr
According to nznewspapers.org, the daily newspaper went through a few name changes in its history, published as the Dannevirke Evening News until 1936, then as just the Evening News until 1988.
It was in the 1980s when the Appleton family, which had owned the company since the 1930s, sold to what was then New Zealand News.
For some years following the move from 21 Gordon Street to across the road, the Dannevirke News was published as a weekly lift-out in the Hawke’s Bay Today, and is now a page in the daily paper every weekday.
The books are now stored in a secure facility. Photo / Leanne Warr
The collection was now being stored in a Tararua District Council facility.
Council records and information manager Joy Kopa said an agreement had been made between the council and NZME to store the collection on the company’s behalf, for a term of five years initially.
She said she was more than happy to help, knowing that the books would need to be stored so they could be preserved for the community.
“It’s not in the scope of council records, but it’s in the scope to retain and preserve them on behalf of the community,” Kopa said.
She felt it was important to keep the history within the district and protected “as much as we can”, as well as keeping it intact as much as possible.
While there were some dates missing, the majority of the volumes were relatively complete.
With them now in secure storage, any researchers wanting to access the archives could only do so through a nominated NZME staff member.
Meanwhile, research was being done into digitising the newspapers to ensure open access without the risk of causing further deterioration of the older issues.
For any Dannevirke news, the public can still contact the news reporter on 027 279 2970.
