The AroVideo Library Preservation Transition Fund

The AroVideo library collection and website is looking to transition out of my private ownership and into a Trust entity that might ensure its future preservation as an archive for the benefit of current and future generations of film-lovers in Aotearoa.

The reason for this decision is because the library can sadly no longer be feasibly sustained as a commercial business.

The library comprises approximately 27,000 titles on DVD, Blu-Ray and VHS that have been hand-picked and developed over a 34-year period, with its associated website of film data, notation and transaction facility that dates back almost as far.

The new trust entity will likely comprise of a public and/or non-profit private entity or group of partners that have the interest and resources to house and manage the collection as a working archive for the foreseeable future.

The preferred and most feasible option currently is to integrate the collection into the Te Matapihi Library rebuild project when plans to open in 2026. This proposal is still in the preliminary stages of negotiations with the Wellington City Council.

We require urgent funding for the intervening period, and in August 2023, I applied for a grant application to the Wellington City Council Arts & Culture Fund, and also opened this Give-a-Little campaign to invite the support of all film lovers and preservationists in Aotearoa.

Thank you for reading and pledging your support.

~Andrew Armitage, proprietor