Kiama’s Machteld Hali has used the service for a decade to borrow Dutch published books.

“I found out it about 10 years ago, so every three months I get this wonderful box with 30 books and I read them every night,” she said.

“It’s the most wonderful service, it’s my connection, a lifeline to my previous culture.

“Apparently there are half a dozen or so people in Kiama who use this service and they are all very much tied to this, it is very important to them.”

Last week, Ms Hali was advised she would have to return the box of books she had on loan.

“All of a sudden, without any community consultation, the librarian rang me and said ‘you are to bring all those books back in immediately, the service is finished’,” she said.

“Not only are they doing this, but they are doing this in a very precipitous and unpleasant manner.”

Every three months, borrowers apply for a fresh collection of books from whatever genre they want.

“You can’t speak the language, because you don’t know other people around who speak the language and you can’t go there every day so this is a fantastic way of keeping the connection with your primary culture,” Ms Hali said.

Asked where she would source books published in Holland from, Ms Hali was at a loss.

“I wouldn’t have a clue, I would have to write to publishers in Holland and get them to send them out to me, which would be fairly expensive, long and complicated process,” she said.

“I’m not going to read 30 books in three months, if I’m lucky I read 10 or so, but I get the choice.”

Ms Hali said the service also provided people learning another language a way to immerse themselves in another culture.

“I speak French and German, sometimes I might get a box of French books,” she said.

“It’s not just for us ethnic migrants, it’s for anyone who wants to get a handle on the language, and it’s always really hard to get foreign language books.”

The State Library of NSW was contacted for comment.