We began Overdue, pt. 1 in 2021 when the particular pressures faced by workers during COVID-19 lockdowns and work-from-home environments were very much on our minds. During this challenging time, public library workers strove to continue the provision of multiple essential services, such as the lending of books, community connection, computer access and internet services, as well as children's story-time. Concurrently, many libraries were facing anew the threat of cuts to staff and services.

The project was developed to acknowledge the service of library workers, who often labour behind the scenes and with the spectre of redundancy hanging over them. Overdue, pt. 1 extends our focus to a sector of workers whose essential contributions frequently go unrecognised.

Although the development of Overdue was delayed considerably by COVID-19 restrictions, we continued to work on the project, meeting in studio when possible and making cups.

In 2024, on receiving an invitation to contribute a Public Share event to the Tāmaki Makaurau launch of Urgent Moments: Art and Social Change: The Letting Space Projects 2010–2020 at Objectspace, we saw a link between the book and our developing project.

Ironically, when one of Public Share's members made a visit to the Auckland Central Library to view a copy of Urgent Moments, they found that the research section hours had been reduced, and the book could not be accessed for another hour – a pointed, real-world illustration of the very conditions the project sought to draw attention to.

In keeping with Public Share's established practice, ceramic cups were produced for the event and offered freely to attendees. Guests were invited to select a cup, use it for refreshments, and then take it home with them. The cups were cast using Halls Highfire White Casting Slip with a clear exterior glaze mixed with ash from the Public Share studio fireplace (from fallen Pohutukawa, Poplar, and Macrocapa trees). The cup interiors were glazed with different matte glaze – mint velvet, rose velvet, melon velvet, and buttercup velvet.

Following on from Overdue, pt. 1 we are aiming to stage an event with the workers of Takapuna Library, which houses the Angela Morton Room Te Pātaka Toi Art Library.

The Angela Morton Room is a space that archives an extensive collection of Aotearoa New Zealand art resources, including artists' files and many publications, notably a copy of Urgent Moments (Call number: 709.93 Urge). Both this book and the Angela Morton Room operate as a collected record of Aotearoa art projects.

The staging of the second event has been delayed due to cuts to library staff which meant no librarian remained dedicated to the Angela Morton Room.