Last week I had the opportunity, along with Rachel Esson (in her capacity as DIA official) and LIANZA President, Anahera Morehu, to meet with the Hon. Jan Tinetti, Minister of Internal Affairs, who also holds the ministerial portfolios of Women and Associate Education. The intention of our visit was to make her aware of LIANZA, its purpose and strategic vision, in other words, who we are and what we do, and more importantly, what we can do for her. Of course, while LIANZA represents the whole sector, we work with more specialists associations (Te Rōpū Whakahau, PLNZ and SLANZA)  to achieve the best outcomes for libraries.

While very aware of how lucky I was to have this opportunity, to meet and make a personal connection with the Minister on behalf of our association, I had been just a little nervous at the thought. From the moment that we were ushered into her office, it became obvious that we were among friends. The glass display cabinets lining her walls were full of colourfully displayed children’s picture books and she greeted us with warmth and genuine interest. She is passionate about literacy, equity and social justice and by extension, books, reading and libraries.

Topics discussed were, among others, LIANZA’s role as the lead library professional association, providing professional support to the whole library and information sector, well placed to be her main point of contact for connection, information and support regarding all things library. Of course, she was already aware of the NZ Libraries Partnership Programme and we discussed the way in which LIANZA is a key partner, working with the National Library in the delivery of these initiatives. The importance of schools being able to easily access library services. She was very interested in how libraries contribute to learning and is was keen to learn more about the range of options possible in this space. She was also interested to get an idea of the ratio of male to female staff working in libraries! 

Long story short, the meeting was a great success and it really felt like a positive foundation for the future. We were all so absorbed in the conversation that we totally forgot to ask the Minister if she would indulge us with a photo of LIANZA’s current and Immediate Past President and President-elect, with the Hon. Jan Tinetti, in front of her wonderful picture book-filled shelves in her office in the Beehive.  Luck would have it that Cellia Joe-Olsen was able to take the picture above to mark the occasion!
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Erica  Rankin
​LIANZA President-elect

I confess, I didn’t know much about the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) other than that they existed and that New Zealand was involved in contributing to them, so when LIANZA offered a professional development webinar on libraries and the SDGs, I jumped at the opportunity to learn more.

The presenters were informative and inspirational. Keynote speaker, Loida Garcia-Febo (USA) outlined how the SDGs were set in 2015 by the United Nations General Assembly and are intended to be achieved by the year 2030. The 17 interlinked global goals serve as our “collective blueprint to achieve a better and more sustainable future for all.”

I was expecting to hear how these were being achieved at a very high-level, perhaps describing international leadership and inter-government support programmes. In reality, the stories told by Loida and the other speakers were grass-roots examples which brought to life the way libraries are contributing in very real ways to the SDGs through serving their communities.

There was a project to save bats in Alaska, salary negotiation boot camps for women in New York, the recording of stories, voices and traditional clothing of the Punjab community in Auckland. Professor Ramesh Gaur told us of the Accessible Online Book Library in India which provides free access to over 1 million books for people with visual impairment. Those were just a few of the inspiring practical examples reported.

Gene Tan challenged us with his ideas for a brave new world inspired by Singapore’s response to COVID-19. Libraries shouldn’t just be limited to physical facilities and books which aren’t always accessible by everyone. Instead, consider a wallpaper of books placed on the side of a bus shelter or park bench where each book spine is enabled with a QR and AR code. Each title would be available digitally, for instant download, wherever the people are. He also proposed a ‘Spotify-inspired’ library model where users receive a customised library experience.

A common thread across the speakers was the advocacy which can be done from within libraries in their local context - it is not just big, well-funded libraries which can contribute to achieving the SDGs; the work of smaller, lower funded libraries is equally vital.

Another message repeated throughout was the importance of building partnerships and working together to address, and more successfully achieve, the SDGs. Libraries need to keep thinking outside the box to find new and innovative ways to empower their communities.

The COVID-19 pandemic has been used as a driver for change in libraries around the world and Paula Eskett proposed one of the results is that people are potentially replacing the book as the primary branding object of libraries. Libraries are so much more than traditional physical buildings and books, as the variety of examples throughout the webinar so perfectly illustrated. A huge part of the success is the sharing of these stories and Gene Tan laid down a challenge to all libraries in 2022 to share our post-COVID-19 success stories on a platform he named ‘’Brave New World’’.
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Libraries are well and truly playing their part in delivering on the SDGs. For inspiration and ideas on how you and your library can contribute, the webinar will be made available on the LIANZA YouTube channel. It is well worth a look!”