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Mary Ronnie Obituary LIANZA

21/3/2023

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Mary Ronnie
​Mary Ronnie was an astute and capable leader in the library world.
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Active in the profession, she started work at Dunedin Public Library when she was fifteen years old and became the Dunedin City Librarian in the 1960s, later Auckland City Librarian, the first woman to be a National Librarian (1976-1981), she later taught at Monash University in the Graduate Department of Librarianship, Archives and Records from 1989 to 1992, and in her retirement she was an active LIANZA Murihiku committee member and writer.

​Mary was a New Zealand Library Association (now LIANZA) president from 1973 to 1974. 
She wrote the Dunedin Public Library centenary publication in 2008 ‘Freedom to Read’ in her 80s for which she received the John Harris Award. Mary became a LIANZA Fellow in 1975 and was made an Honorary Life Member in 1986 in recognition of her distinguished service to the association.

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Mary was a crusader for libraries, believing they needed to be made more attractive to all sectors of the community and she had no time for the librarian who hid behind a desk and piles of books.
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St. Hilda's Prizegiving. Image credit: University of Otago
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Ronnie is pictured here at Ōtara Library, South Auckland in 1978. Image credit: Te Ara - The Encyclopedia of New Zealand
​She used these words on the centenary of LIANZA in 2010 using a comment from her presidential address in 1974: “It seemed clear then, and still does, that “unless the librarian is accepted as an authoritative professional figure, freedom to act will be restricted to the most trivial matters rather than extended to areas where knowledge and experience have outlet”.  

And a word of warning from a Luddite – don’t get too firmly behind a computer screen or your muscles might atrophy. People are better understood when visible and audible. Energy is still essential.”

​​LIANZA President Kim Taunga has this personal note about Mary. “She left a legacy for all LIANZA presidents to aspire to. A legacy of service and library professionalism and moving the profession forward. I absolutely remember as a library assistant the respect and awe the profession held her in, she would have been in her early 60s then and in her prime.”

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Mary Ronnie will be remembered as a pioneer in the library world.
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Mary Ronnie receiving the John Harris award
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Bernie Hawke with his wife Kathleen and Mary Ronnie at the refurbished Blueskin Bay Library in 2013
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Support Kolovai Public Library in Tonga

15/3/2023

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​In 2018 Mangere Bridge local, Kahoa Corbett, and husband Brendan, established the Kolovai Library,
 
The very first public library in the Kingdom of Tonga. Since then, it has been packed with books donated from Auckland Libraries. Now that they are well-stocked for books, Kahoa would love to have more volunteers to help at the library, offering free accommodation near the library for people able to stay for several months or longer.
 
Volunteering includes cataloguing and shelving books, running activities like reading programmes, and helping with registering new customers especially children, mothers and babies, people from all walks of life.
 
The idea was borne from the devastation of Cyclone Gita in 2018, when Kahoa and Brendan were in Kolovai, Kahoa's home village, and saw that local schools needed books. They began to collect and donate books to the schools and when they discovered an unused whare ( fale ) in the village of Kolovai, it sparked the idea to turn it into a library.
 
Kolovai library was officially opened in 2019 by the New Zealand Acting High Commissioner Peter Lund and Prince Ata, the youngest son of the current King of Tonga.
 
Kahoa visited the library just a couple of months ago, and it is 'really going well' and is a great source of books and community where people gather for tea and coffee, which provided at the library along with free WIFI.
A second library planned
 
The library has enough books and shelving in storage in Tonga to fill a second library, which they hope to build in the capital Nuku'alofa, on land next to the Tongan Royal Palace and offered by the Queen. Donations are being sought to build and furnish this second library.
Volunteer with the Kolovai Public Library in Tonga
 
Come and enjoy working in the friendly TONGAN LIBRARY. Help encourage children, youth and adults to join up and borrow books or try your hand at cataloguing. Organise reading programmes, and different activities eg. art day, weaving day, cooking, and crafts 
 
Kolovai Library's Ben and Kahoa Corbett can offer you free accommodation, free WIFI and computers and 10 laptops already in the library, landline and mobile phone to use, free coffee and tea, lemon grass drink available fresh from the garden, lots of beaches and fresh fruit nearby and bicycles to use. It's 10-15 minutes biking to any of those beaches locally in Kolovai.
 
The library is very well secured and people of Kolovai and nearby villages are popping in and out to Kolovai Public Library Monday - Saturday. 
​"My experience working in the first Tongan library in Kolovai was extremely rewarding. I met some new friends and was able to contribute to this incredible initiative by Kahoa and Ben. I assisted categorising books ready to go on shelves and developed some signage for the new library. It was an interesting experience meeting other volunteers and locals. I look forward to helping out with the next Tongan library." Janine Gillions volunteer
Want to volunteer or support Kolovai? 
  • Email kahoacorbett@gmail.com
  • Register to be a member nor donate to Kolovai Public Library
  • Support Kolovai Public Library by making a donation www.kolovailibrary.wordpress.com
  • People can also donate towards the Tongan library projects via the library's Kiwibank account 38-9000-0114295-01
  •  find them on Facebook facebook.com/kolovailibrary
 
The Kolovai Library has been supported with donated goods and service from Auckland City Council, Auckland Libraries, Sky TV, Bunnings Mt Roskill, and Catalyst NZ. All of the books and equipment are shipped for free by Onehunga-based Freight Company CFR Line NZ.
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He whakamāramatanga a te tohu nei – Explanation of our logo for LIANZA 2023 Conference

6/3/2023

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Gifted by Maatakiwi Wakefield (Kāi Tahu whānui, Ngāti Mutunga, Te Ati Awa, Ngāti Toa, Ngāti Raukawa, Ngāti Maniapoto)
this image is of a piece of work created by her in 2017 for her Maunga Kura Toi - Bachelor of Māori Art (Weaving).

The whenu represent the different libraries within our sector that are woven together through LIANZA, represented by the aho. The patterns created through this style of weaving, are reflective of the variety of resources and services offered by the sector. The emiemi decorative strip represents the durability and resilience of the sector. Thus, as a collective piece, it symbolises the enduring value of libraries.

The colours are reflective of the whenua (earth) connecting us back to Papatūānuku (Mother Earth), upon which our sector stands.
 
  • The white threads are whenu (warp or lengthwise threads) and aho (weft or cross threads used to bind/weave the whenu together). They are made from muka – flax fibre which has been specially prepared for the purpose of this type of weaving.
  • The brown fibres are mountain emiemi or more commonly known as mountain neinei. It is a native plant that grows along Te Tiritiri o te Moana in Te Waipounamu. Emiemi is harvested after the snow melts, as this causes the older leaves to shed, and it is these leaves that are used in weaving. Because of its durability and resilience, Kāi Tahu traditionally used emiemi to construct pākē which they used as rain capes when crossing the Alps. 
 
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