Kia Ora,

My apologies for not acknowledging your request earlier. We have your request underway and will be in touch at the earliest convenience.

We are handling your request under the Local Government Official Information and Meetings Act 1987 (LGOIMA). We have forwarded it to the appropriate Christchurch City Council staff, and we will provide a response or update within 20 working days of the date we received your request. If we are unable to respond to your request by then, we will notify you of an extension of that timeframe.

If you have any queries, please feel free to contact me. If any additional factors come to light which are relevant to your request, please do not hesitate to contact me so that these can be taken into account.

Kind regards,

Sean Rainey
Manager Official Information

show quoted sections

Dear Vanessa,

 

I refer to your request for:

 

1. How many email complaints were received about the event?
2. How many telephone complaints were received about the event?
3. How many individuals have specifically requested a drag queen story
time event be held in the Central Library during the prior 12 months?
4. Which rainbow groups have specifically requested a drag queen story
time event to be held in the Central Library during the prior 12 months?
5. Please provide the number of children that attended.
6. Please provide details of the seating capacity of the room used to hold
the event.
7. Please provide details of the stories that were read to the children -
including Title, Author, and ISBN number.
8. How much money was paid to the drag queens for their participation at
the event?
9. How much money was spent on additional security for the event?
10. How many money was spent on additional library staff for the event?
Please provide the prior 4 sunday morning rostered FTEs for comparison 11.
Please provide policy details regarding police vetting of all staff and
'invited guests' given access to children.
12. Please provide evidence of the drag queens police vetting 13. Please
provide evidence of the library's policy to EXCLUDE single, white,
childless women from the event.
14. Please provide evidence of the decision to exclude single, white,
childless women from the event - who, where, when, how and why.
15. Please explain why single, white, childless women are excluded from an
event that is allegedly grounded in diversity and inclusion?

 

Council Response

1. How many email complaints were received about the event?

27.

 

2. How many telephone complaints were received about the event?

14.

 

3. How many individuals have specifically requested a drag queen story
time event be held in the Central Library during the prior 12 months?

None.

 

4. Which rainbow groups have specifically requested a drag queen story
time event to be held in the Central Library during the prior 12 months?

One request to hold the event at Tūranga came from the Christchurch Pride
Festival 2023 team.

 

5. Please provide the number of children that attended.

100 adults and 60 children.

 

6. Please provide details of the seating capacity of the room used to hold
the event.

The TSB Space has capacity for 250 standing or 195 seated.

 

7. Please provide details of the stories that were read to the children -
including Title, Author, and ISBN number.

o Celeste the Giraffe Loves to Laugh - Celeste Barber 
ISBN: 9781760669171
[1]https://christchurch.bibliocommons.com/v...
o King Otter - Jane Porter ISBN: 9781471173387 
[2]https://christchurch.bibliocommons.com/v...
o Rainbow Hands - Mamta Nainy ISBN:  9781913747749  
[3]https://christchurch.bibliocommons.com/v...
o Teddy's Favourite Toy - Christian Trimmer ISBN:  9781481480796 
[4]https://christchurch.bibliocommons.com/v...

 

8. How much money was paid to the drag queens for their participation at
the event?

Nothing.  They are volunteers.

 

9. How much money was spent on additional security for the event?

$624.

 

10. How many money was spent on additional library staff for the event?
Please provide the prior 4 sunday morning rostered FTEs for comparison

No additional staff were paid to work that morning. Several managers came
to work in their own time.

 

11. Please provide policy details regarding police vetting of all staff
and 'invited guests' given access to children.

Legislation does not require vetting of performers. All Library staff
working with children are police checked in accordance with Council
Policy.

 

12. Please provide evidence of the drag queens police vetting

Event presenters are not normally required to go through a vetting
process, as they are accompanied by our staff at all times.  This was the
case for the two presenters of the 12 March storytime event.

 

13. Please provide evidence of the library's policy to EXCLUDE single,
white, childless women from the event.

The library made an operational decision to restrict event access to
parents or guardians accompanying children to the event.  This maximised
available space for young people, i.e. the intended audience, at a
ticketless, popular event.  No criteria around marital status, race or a
person’s status as a parent were considered or applied.

 

14. Please provide evidence of the decision to exclude single, white,
childless women from the event - who, where, when, how and why.

See our answer to question 13.

 

15. Please explain why single, white, childless women are excluded from an
event that is allegedly grounded in diversity and inclusion?

See our answer to question 13.

 

You have the right to seek an investigation and review by the Ombudsman of
this decision. Information about how to make a complaint is available at
[5]www.ombudsman.parliament.nz or freephone 0800 802 602.

 

Kind regards,

 

Sean Rainey
Manager Official Information and Privacy Officer
Official Information Team

 

 

 

 

 

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Dear Vanessa,

We provided the venue and promoted the events through our channels. No donations, payments or koha.

Kind regards,

Sean

show quoted sections

Dear Vanessa,

I will seek an update from staff.

Regards,.

Sean

show quoted sections

Dear Vanessa,

 

Please see our responses to your outstanding question:

 

Below are my draft answers to Vanessa’s remaining questions.

 

16. Please provide details of any and all interactions between
Christchurch City Council/Christchurch Central Library and RNZ about
protestors storming the event.

See attached. Please note we have withheld a small amount of personal
information under the following section of the LGOIMA - 7(2)(a) – to
protect the privacy of natural persons.

 

 

17. Please confirm the time on Sunday that the event was 'stormed' by
protestors

There was no storming of the event. This wording was chosen by RNZ and did
not reflect any information provided to them by Library staff.  The
majority of the protestors remained outside the library doors, although 10
to 15 protestors from various groups were inside the building, videoing
people and challenging our staff throughout the morning.

 

18. Please provide an estimate of the number of protestors involved in the
'storming' of the event.

See our answer to question 17.

 

19. Please advise the time that Police were called to respond to the
'storming'

See our answer to question 17.  Police were advised ahead of the event
that there may be some disruptions on the day.

 

20. Please advise the number of police officers that responded to the
'storming' and the time of their arrival

We believe one police officer located himself on the Ground floor of the
library throughout the morning.

 

In the Council's view the reasons for withholding these details are not
outweighed by public interest considerations in section 7(1) favouring
their release.

 

You have the right to seek an investigation and review by the Ombudsman of
this decision. Information about how to make a complaint is available at
[1]www.ombudsman.parliament.nz or freephone 0800 802 602.

 

Kind regards,

Sean

 

 

Sean Rainey
Manager Official Information and Privacy Officer
Official Information Team

 

 

 

 
   

 

 

 

 

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solely for the use of the individual or entity to whom they are addressed.
The views expressed in this message are those of the individual sender and
may not necessarily reflect the views of the Christchurch City Council.
If you are not the correct recipient of this email please advise the
sender and delete the email.

[2]Christchurch City Council logo

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