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Archie Dunningham – philanthropist and innovator

29/4/2019

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​Archibald (Archie) George William Dunningham was one of the founders of modern librarianship in New Zealand. He made bequests in his will enabling two grants for librarians to be established – the VUW Nora Bateson Award (applications close May 31st) and the LIANZA Edith Jessie Carnell Grant (applications open 2020).
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Dunningham was appointed Dunedin city librarian in 1933. A fellowship granted by the Carnegie Corporation of New York enabled him to study at the University of Michigan library school and to observe libraries in the United States. On his return, Dunningham developed a programme that made the public library a model for New Zealand librarians to follow. He had inherited a sound book collection from his predecessor, W. B. McEwan, and on this legacy he built a service based on the availability of the widest possible range of books, to which the citizens responded enthusiastically. 

Dunningham was an active member of the New Zealand Library Association, and was a member of its council, off and on, from 1935 to 1958, including a term as president in 1956. His particular interests were in standards of public library service, national book resources and co-operative systems for their economical use, and education for librarianship. He was a strong advocate of regional development of the national library system.
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In 1955 the NZLA had elected Dunningham as one of its first five fellows. Almost 30 years later G. T. Alley, his old friend and sparring partner, said of him, ‘one thinks of the very many good things he gave: his presence, his attractive personality, his very, very great contribution to library thought, library education’.

APPLY FOR THE VUW Nora Bateson Award NOW.

Content extracted from Te Ara (CC BY-NC 3.0 NZ).
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NZ Book Awards Trust EOI

29/4/2019

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Are you passionate about literature for children and young adults?

LIANZA is calling for expressions of interest in the position of LIANZA representative on the New Zealand Book Awards Trust (NZBAT) for the next three-year term 2019-2021. This board position was created in 2015, as part of the transfer of LIANZA Children’s Book Awards to NZ Book Awards Trust. LIANZA and NZBAT are working actively together to enable the New Zealand Book Awards for Children and Young Adults (NZCYA) to continue to flourish. The trustee will also represent the interests of LIANZA and librarians in the other properties NZBAT governs, including the Ockham New Zealand Book Awards and Phantom Billstickers National Poetry Day.

What are we looking for?
A LIANZA member with:
·         A passion for and knowledge of great literature, particularly for children and young adults
·         Commitment to hands-on engagement with the awards
·         A strong network within the library and information profession
·         Governance or senior committee membership experience

What are you committing to?
·         Attend regular board meetings (usually three to four a year) both in person and by phone conference
·         This is an operational board and the role will require a commitment averaging 5-10 hours per month.
·         Attend two face-to-face meetings each year either in Wellington or Auckland.
·         Sit on a least one sub-committee , which will involve up to three phone conference meetings a year
·         Help with the delivery of the various properties managed by the NZBAT
·         Facilitate communications between NZBAT and LIANZA members
·         Report on a quarterly basis to LIANZA Council

Your travel costs to meetings will be paid by LIANZA.
If you are keen to assist LIANZA and NZBAT to grow the profile of the New Zealand Book Awards for Children and Young Adults and the Trust’s other properties, this may be a great professional opportunity for you!
The New Zealand Book Awards Trust was established as a charitable trust in 2014 to govern and manage the country’s two major literary awards and National Poetry Day, and to ensure their longevity and credibility. Other trustees comprise representatives of the Publishers Association of NZ, Booksellers NZ and the NZ Society of Authors, plus four independent trustees. To find out more about the work NZBAT does, visit http://www.nzbookawards.nz/.

Your expression of interest should include your CV and a covering letter outlining what you could offer the trust and be sent to officeadmin@lianza.org.nz by Friday May 3.
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If you have any questions about this opportunity please contact:
Ana Pickering
ana@lianza.org.nz
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Te Puna : Communities of readers

18/4/2019

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A grant of $1 million to Te Puna Foundation will fund a new initiative designed to connect more children and young people to reading, Internal Affairs Minister Tracey Martin announced last week at the National Library in Wellington.

Led by the National Library of New Zealand, ‘Communities of Readers’ will be funded through Te Puna Foundation, the National Library’s fundraising body. The initiative will focus on each community’s aspirations, priorities and identified needs.
National Librarian, Bill Macnaught, said unlocking the value of knowledge is the aim of the Te Puna Foundation.

​Kate de Goldi, Te Puna trustee, kindly shares her speech from the night with Libraries Aotearoa readers below.

I count it a great privilege to be one of Te Puna’s independent trustees, to be part of a team charged with enabling the Library’s crucial work to have even greater reach and impact across Aotearoa New Zealand. It’s especially satisfying – genuinely exciting – to be able to celebrate tonight this grant of $1 million dollars for the immediate implementation of the Communities of Readers project – the first initiative in the National Library’s 10 year strategic aspiration to grow a Nation of Readers – a nation that reads for pleasure.

For myself, active support of this aspiration feels both a natural – and urgent – part of being a reader and writer and citizen in Aotearoa – because of course, I am, like all of you here, acutely aware of my extreme good fortune in this regard. I was a child comprehensively formed by language and narrative, a child that books built, to borrow Francis Spufford’s words. We’ve known for some time now that a distressing number of the nation’s tamariki, their whanau, and their communities don’t attain this fundamental right and benefit. Recent New Zealand literacy statistics paint a very concerning picture. There is increasing evidence, too, of a decline in reading for pleasure. We’re all aware of the complex interplay of economic, social, and political reasons for this state of affairs and we’ve all in our ways mourned it, knowing as we do – in our hearts – that reading for pleasure is oxygen, nourishment of a high order. But what to do? 

What I have found so galvanizing – and what buttresses the National Library’s bold ‘Nation of Readers’ strategy – is the considerable body of research now available that tells us for a fact what we feel we’ve always known: 

* Reading for pleasure is absolutely vital to sustain comprehensive literacy – including digital literacy. But the findings go way beyond the attainment of literacy –
* Reading for pleasure, the research tells us, is vital for the development of social and cultural capital, for the economic success of individuals and communities. It is a key element in busting out of the poverty cycle. Reading for pleasure is more important for children’s educational success than their family’s socio-economic status or their parents’ level of education. 
* Reading for pleasure is very important in the development of empathy.
* Reading for pleasure greatly assists the development of personal and community wellbeing.

That sounds to me like the seeds of a reading activist manifesto. A thrilling prospect. If we can now say confidently that it is axiomatic that reading for pleasure helps build a better person and better communities, then tonight’s funding announcement and the work it will enable is a highly significant development. The ‘Communities of Readers’ initiative will build on work that National Library has been doing for decades, both directly supporting literacy and reading in New Zealand schools, and working with partners across the library, education and literature sectors, and the book industry, to increase access to reading opportunities for our young people. National Library knows where the barriers to creating reading rich environments lie; it’s librarians know well that community networking and investment, particularly in the nexus of schools, families, and public libraries is foundational to the Nation of Readers strategy. Thanks to the Minister, this investment and the community-based reading rebuild begins now. 

I guess I think of tonight as a rallying of the faithful, those of us who inhabit the reading ‘faith’, those of us who – personally, and through our various organisations – will be able to spread the Word, as it were – commit reading activism. And to stretch the metaphor, if National Library – our library – is the House of Reading, then all of us in the language and narrative ecosystem are potential evangelists in this dauntless Nation of Readers mission. 

Like many writers in Aotearoa, I’ve spent a good deal of time in schools over the years, courtesy of the New Zealand Book Council, most often doing writing workshops with students and teachers. Increasingly – as reading has been nudged and displaced by devices – I think of those workshops as an opportunity to focus on reading pleasure; in any case, reading is a sine qua non for writing well. It’s always interesting to ask students – whatever their age and stage – why they think reading’s important, or at least why their teachers think it is. Hilarious how often they say it is to teach you spelling. But actually, every class will find its way to articulating reading’s many benefits, and often they express it with the simple cogency of the young: reading, they say, can describe your world; it tells you things you don’t know, it tells you about others, it shows you how story works, it builds your vocabulary. In one way or another students will tell you that reading is, at its best, both a mirror and a window. For myself, it’s the ‘building vocabulary’ bit that seems increasingly crucial. Gathering and storing language. Naming and therefore enlarging your world and what you might ask of that world.

It is a sorrowful fact that some children in Aotearoa arrive at school with a vanishingly small vocabulary. They haven’t been read to; they may barely have been spoken to. This is an intolerable inequity and the Nation of Readers vision seeks to address it.  You could say that at its most fundamental, the Communities of Readers project will begin the process of equipping and empowering our communities with an abundance of language, and therefore, possibilities. 
The American children’s writer, EL Kongisburg put it this way: ‘I bring all of my adulthood to my writing for children. I make every effort to help children hear the language of my culture, a culture that reaches into the past and stretches over the present. Because, language not only tells you the shape of a culture but also helps shape it. I make every effort to expand the perimeter of their language, to set a wider limit to it, to give them a vocabulary for alternatives…’

May it be so here, in Aotearoa, too.

Tena koutou.


Kate De Goldi
April, 2019
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​IFLA World Library and Information Congress in Auckland now to take place in 2022

17/4/2019

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Ehara taku toa i te toa takitahi, engari he toa takitini - success is not the work of one, but the work of many.


The International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions (IFLA) and the New Zealand National Committee announced last night that the IFLA World Library and Information Congress (WLIC) in Auckland will now take place in 13-19 August, 2022.  This postponement will enable the WLIC to be held as planned in the New Zealand International Convention Centre (NZICC).  
 
IFLA WLIC has a long established practice of being held in single-site convention centres. As the NZICC faced construction delays and no other single-site venue providing the same outstanding facilities was available for 2020 in Auckland, the decision was made to postpone the event.

Through this postponement, IFLA and the New Zealand National Committee will ensure that delegates from around the world have the best congress experience when WLIC is held in New Zealand for the first time. IFLA looks forward to coming to New Zealand in 2022, and will share information about plans for a new host city for the 2020 WLIC in August 2019.

WLIC 2022 will see more than 2,000 library and information sector managers and professionals descend on Tāmaki Makaurau from across the global community. It will be the first time the flagship annual congress of the International Federation of Library Associations (IFLA) will be held in the Pacific region in nearly 40 years.

The world congress represents an extraordinary opportunity for New Zealand, Australia and all Pacific countries to showcase our innovative library and information sector, our cultural approaches and commitment to indigenous knowledge, and the valuable role libraries, librarians and information professionals have in our societies.

We invite you to share this news with your colleagues and networks and to encourage you to ‘save the date’.
The IFLA 2022 National Committee look forward to your involvement in a world-class WLIC in Auckland in 2022.
 
Ngā mihi nui,
 
Bill Macnaught and Te Paea Paringatai
Co-chairs, IFLA WLIC 2022 National Committee
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LIANZA Credentials Committee – Expressions of Interest

16/4/2019

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​LIANZA has been awarding Professional Recognition Awards such as Fellows, Associates, Life Members and Awards of Professional Excellence since 1955. These awards recognise our members who have made significant contributions to LIANZA and the library and information profession. 

The LIANZA Credentials Committee plays an essential role in  assessing and reviewing applications and nominations for the awards. This year LIANZA is seeking expressions of interest for the Credentials Committee and for an new chair of the committee. LIANZA rules require that all members of the Credentials Committee must be LIANZA Fellows or Associates. The chair must also have previously served on LIANZA Council. Do you fit the bill?

The initial term is for two years with the greatest time commitment from June-August with a  time commitment is between 2-3 hours per week in June-August.  We are seeking individuals who are comfortable making challenging and sometimes contentious decisions, and who act at all times with personal integrity. All applicants must be at minimum an LIANZA Associate of five years standing.

The LIANZA Professional Recognition Awards open April 15 and close May 30, 2019.

Expressions of interest including a CV should be sent by Wednesday May 15 to officeadmin@lianza.org.nz with ‘Credentials Committee EOI’ in the subject line.
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Apply now for the Rua Mano Grant

15/4/2019

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The Rua Mano Grant aims to encourage and support LIANZA and Te Rōpū Whakahau members to strengthen their knowledge of te reo Māori, tikanga and Mātauranga Māori by participating in the immersive experience of the Te Rōpū Whakahau Hui-a-tau.
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​Ko te kaupapa o te karahipi nei hei awhina hei whakamanawa hoki ngā mema o Te Rau Herenga o Aotearoa me Te Rōpū Whakahau kia whakatinanahia ā rātou hiahia kia mātau ā- wheako i te hui ā-tau o Te Rōpū Whakahau.

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​From 2019 the Rua Mano Grant will provide an annual subsidy of $500 to attend the Te Rōpū Whakahau Hui-a-tau.
Ki te whiwhi koe, ko te rima rau tāra te wāriu o te karahipi kia haere ki te hui ā-tau o Te Rōpū Whakahau.

You must be a current personal member of LIANZA or Te Rōpū Whakahau and have been a member for three years. You must be able to demonstrate commitment to learning te reo Māori, tikanga and/or Mātauranga Māori.
Ka herea te tangata ki te ako i te reo Māori me ngā tikanga me te Mātauranga Māori.

In your application you will need to explain how you intend to improve and share your commitment to te reo Māori, tikanga, and/or Mātauranga Māori.
Ka herea te tangata ki te whakamārama me pēhea tōna whāngai atu ngā mea e ako nei a ia

Download your application form  and send to officeadmin@lianza.org.nz by Thursday, 30th May.

The LIANZA Scholarships Working Group recently reviewed all scholarships and awards. In response to current financial constraints they made the recommendation for future grants and awards to be funded from bequests only.  The Rua Mano Scholarship is one of only two scholarships funded directly by LIANZA and was granted from 2002-2014. The last time it was awarded was in 2016, despite being well-promoted by Te Rōpū Whakahau and LIANZA. 

Te Rōpū Whakahau and LIANZA Council greatly value their partnership and want to salvage the Grant. We jointly decided to re-purpose, rather than cease offering, this scholarship. The newly-named Rua Mano Grant aims to encourage and support both LIANZA and Te Rōpū Whakahau members to strengthen their knowledge of te reo Māori, tikanga and Mātauranga Māori by providing a subsidy to attend the Te Rōpū Whakahau Hui-a-tau. We encourage members to apply by the due date of May 30. 


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Paul Hayton is also No Numpty

12/4/2019

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Paul Hayton

Paul Hayton was the inaugural recipient of the LIANZA Paul Reynolds ‘No Numpties' Grant. In this blog post he tells us about what the grant enabled him to do and the impact on his work. 
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The Paul Reynolds (No Numpties) Grant is in memory of Paul Séamus Reynolds (1949-2010) inspirational, enthusiastic and a digital world citizen. This grant was established in 2010 from donations made by the National Library of New Zealand, Internet NZ and friends of Paul Reynolds.
Paul says: Experiential learning opportunities of this magnitude don’t come along very often. Apply today, seize the chance to ‘learn by doing’ in your chosen area of interest.

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As the inaugural recipient of the Paul Reynolds Scholarship ‘No Numpties Award’ I travelled in early Feb 2012 to the Powerhouse Museum, Sydney. I spent two weeks based in the Digital, Social and Emerging Technologies department.
 
I explored three complementary areas while there:
  • How the Powerhouse is embracing the rapid growth of the mobile Smartphone market.
  • What types of digital content are being created by staff, their rationale for doing so and the measurements of success employed.
  • How and what content (particularly multimedia) is being deployed via location aware mechanisms and what impact this has had on customer engagement and reported satisfaction levels.
What are some of the things you learnt during your time?
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I learnt the importance of an empowered team culture. Teams embraced key values that were clearly communicated across all levels of the organisation and aligned with strategic thinking. This in turn played a big part in the success of the digital ventures I observed being undertaken. There was an underlying culture of openness, engagement, and experimentation between Digital, Social & Emerging Technologies team members and the wider community of museum stakeholders.
 
Whilst not shy of outsourcing some projects, the drive was to build in-house capability and staff were being trained and employed to do just that. Various mobile apps had been created using third party developers. Each app had a specific use case. Lessons were learnt with respect to cost/benefits of ongoing post launch support vs. starting over and developing something new from scratch. Google analytics and other in-app metrics were proactively reviewed and used to report on the success or failure of projects. Metrics provided useful feedback for iterative development of digital offers.
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How has your internship benefited your career?
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I’ve been able to take some of the lessons learnt and use them to offer feedback to GLAM organisations I have worked with across Dunedin City Council. This has usually been in the form of strategic planning guidance or advice sought concerning specific digital projects under consideration.
 
While working in the Dunedin City Council web team, I also applied Google Analytics learnings from my Powerhouse experience to implement more refined ways of how council tracked and measured success across its web portfolios.
There was also the professional exposure within the GLAM sector and more widely within local government circles that came with undertaking such research.
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Would you recommend for others to apply for this opportunity and why?
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Yes. Give it a go! If you harbour a curious mind and seek answers to a line of questioning you just can’t seem to shake from your consciousness — it’s well worth applying.
 
There are few opportunities in life to be able to dive deep in to something that is important to you and reflects the value of the Internet and the digital world for New Zealanders. Being able to focus on your lines of enquiry and spend time with people who are working in your area of digital interest is invaluable to getting the answers you seek.
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The LIANZA Paul Reynolds (No Numpties) Grant is worth $5,000.
​Applications close May 30, 2019.

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APPLY NOW
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LIANZA Elections

5/4/2019

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LIANZA’s vision is People and communities connected and empowered by information.

Do you want to play an essential role in enabling this vision to be realised?

LIANZA is seeking nominations for President-elect and three regional councillors. Nominations for these positions are now open and close on Wednesday May 1, 2019.

Are you or a colleague ready to step into a new leadership role? 

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Download a nomination form here.

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LIANZA PRESIDENT-ELECT
LIANZA President serves a three-year presidential term, with consecutive one-year terms as President-elect, President, and Immediate Past President. The three Presidents work closely together to deliver on LIANZA’s strategic mission: Strengthening our members to be innovative and responsive to future information needs and five-year strategic plan. Over the three-year term the ideal next President-elect would be confident to represent LIANZA and be passionate about the place of libraries and information services in making Aotearoa New Zealand a better place where everyone can thrive and grow and participate in communities, in education, and in employment.

This role provides many leadership opportunities – representing LIANZA at hui, forums and conferences, working alongside national and international stakeholders, leading the Council and championing our partnership with Te Rōpū Whakahau.

Paula Eskett shares with us what being LIANZA President means for her:

Public speaking
Relationships
Educational
Strategic planning
International connections
Dynamic
Energizing
Networking
Team building
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As LIANZA President you lead LIANZA Council who have a collective responsibility to our members, supporting mahi of LIANZA Office and the strategic direction of our organisation. You work closely with LIANZA’s Executive Director, who runs the office, manages key strategic relationships and is the consistent contact point for our vendor and international relationships.

Personally, I didn’t feel career ready to be LIANZA President, but my networks, relationships and passion overrode this feeling. Behind every LIANZA President is an incredible collective of previous LIANZA presidents – you are never alone – you always have passionate and loyal past presidents to test ideas with and ask for support and guidance. They are an amazing and very special group to be able to learn from.

Over the last two years we have developed a 3P model – President-elect, President and Past President – essentially the tuakana teina model without the age differences! This ensures we have others to step in when the President is not available and this has created regional representation, reducing LIANZA’s travel costs.

You need to be able to commit regular time to the role and it is much easier with a supportive workplace and manager. Much of what we work on is learnt on the job, but it’s essential you’re preloaded with positivity, energy and a possibilities mindset. LIANZA helps turn member ideas into reality.

Being LIANZA President has been a privilege and an opportunity that has allowed me to grow personally and professionally. I’ve had opportunities, experiences, conversations and challenges that have taken me in positive directions I never believed possible.

You’ll never regret stepping into this role.
I’m happy to talk and share more if you’d like to know more. #justdoit #you'vegotthis


Ngā mihi,
Paula
021 622 972
paula.eskett@wmk.govt.nz
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LIANZA REGIONAL COUNCILLORS
LIANZA Council is made up of regional councillors elected from each of our six regions. LIANZA is seeking nominations for regional representation from Hikuwai, Te Upoko te Ika a Maui and Aoraki. If you are already involved in a LIANZA region or if you are looking for a new challenge and want to make a significant contribution to the library sector at the national level, then consider nomination to LIANZA Council.
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Aoraki Regional Councillor, Kelsey Johnston shares with us what being a councillor means for her:
Being a LIANZA Councillor enables you to develop your leadership skills regardless of your position in the information and library sector.  
As a Councillor you get to learn about and practice governance, strategic thinking, communication and much more – all valuable tools for your professional and personal development.When starting out you are part of a supportive and collaborative team where all questions are welcome and are, in fact, encouraged! Along the way you get to learn from and draw on all of the experience and expertise of the members of the LIANZA Council and Office. Applying to become a LIANZA Regional Councillor is one of the most valuable things to do if you want to contribute to the wider profession and give back to the sector.
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Te Whakakitenga aa Kaimai Regional Councillor, Amanda-Jane McFadden shares with us what being a councillor means for her:
On Council we all have different skill sets and library backgrounds so one thing I have enjoyed is getting to understand more about the different sectors and their needs. We get to read the findings of Working Groups (The Rules Committee, SIGs and Regions, Copyright, Registration Board) and it has given we a wider perspective on the library world and the challenges that Council faces to keep LIANZA up and running for its members. Being on Council has given me an overview on high level proceedings, such the LIANZA financials.
We also worked together to develop new mission and vision statements for LIANZA, the process was really interesting and I feel we came up with statements that really reflects who and what LIANZA stands for. I would recommend that if you get the chance to be a regional councillor then go for it, it has certainly helped to grow my leadership skills.
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For more information read our Guide to LIANZA Council. 

NB: Nominees for all positions must be personal members of LIANZA and hold LIANZA professional registration.

Remember to send in your nomination form by Wednesday May 3.

Nāku noa nā,
Ana Pickering
Executive Director
LIANZA
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Virginia is No Numpty

5/4/2019

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​Virginia Gow was the 2013  LIANZA Paul Reynolds Grant recipient. In this blog post she tells us about what the grant enabled her to do and the impact on her work.
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The Paul Reynolds (No Numpties) Grant is in memory of Paul Séamus Reynolds (1949-2010) inspirational, enthusiastic and a digital world citizen. This grant was established in 2010 from donations made by the National Library of New Zealand, Internet NZ and friends of Paul Reynolds. 


​Left: Virginia Gow receiving her grant from Laurinda Thomas
​Virgina says: Having a chance to step outside of your day job and be part of another organisation's reality is an incredible learning opportunity. If you get a chance to apply for a Paul Reynold's scholarship, do it!

It was inspiring to learn from a museum attempting to become a 'resource' for people to use, rather than to educate or story-tell... I came away with a conceptual toolkit to think about how digital and other media could be used to really carry out an organisation’s mission.  
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I was working at the Ministry for Culture & Heritage at the time. I applied to study the work Seb Chan (now at ACMI) and his team at the Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum in New York City were doing to shape digital technologies for learning and creativity around cultural heritage collections.

The Cooper Hewitt was closed to the public as it was undergoing a major building renovation and transformation of galleries and visitor experiences (including online) – so I got to be right in the thick of a big project for change.

As well as diving deep into Cooper Hewitt's work, I also got to meet with people doing digital work in organisations all over the city and visit other major institutions to experience their work firsthand. Seb and Aaron were teaching an evening course at Pratt Institute on 'Museums and the Network', so I got to go to those classes too and even gave a guest lecture (see below re outside my comfort zone!).

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​What are some of the things you learnt during your time?

Where to start? You can see some of my learnings fresh off the back of the experience in my write up and a blog post I wrote while still in New York.

As someone skilled in 'publishing' cultural content (e.g. we put images and content on the web or on screens, you access and consume it) I wanted to get a better understanding of how we can use digital media to support diverse people to actively engage with and use collection-based stories, knowledge and information. 

Being immersed in an organisation right in the middle of this transition meant I got to see beyond theory, directly into the challenges and practicalities. It was inspiring to learn from a museum attempting to become a 'resource' for people to use, rather than to educate or story-tell.


I came away with a conceptual tool-kit of sorts for being in a given organisation and thinking through how digital (and other) media could be used to really carry out the mission of that organisation. I learnt a whole lot more as well, but this deep insight into an organisation attempting a radical transformation – and not viewing digital as something that happens 'over there' but as core to the mission and integral to the entire 'design' of the visitor experience – was hugely valuable to me.

It sounds silly, but it was also a relief to travel so far and find that digital teams at Smithsonian institutions are people just like us who struggle with similar issues we do, albeit in different cultural contexts and fiscal circumstances. And that we also have a lot to offer them in exchange. ​​
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How has your internship benefited your career?
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My professional career took a domestic turn after my time as the Paul Reynolds scholarship recipient because my daughter was born a bit over a year later. But one of the biggest benefits was the confidence boost.

Seb was a very generous mentor, and he and his colleague Aaron Straup Cope really pushed my thinking. Neither ever made me feel like a 'numpty' (as Paul Reynolds would put it) while I learnt from them or went outside my comfort zone. I learnt a fair bit about leadership and change management from them both as well.

I now work as a consultant/contractor to GLAMs (Galleries, Libraries, Archives, Museums) and am stronger in my conceptual and strategic development skills as a result of my time at Cooper Hewitt. 

One of my recent contracts was for a multi-agency project led by the National Library to co-develop resources for schools using Aotearoa New Zealand heritage knowledge and content and I carried the 'conceptual tool kit' I mentioned earlier right into that work.
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Would you recommend for others to apply?
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Absolutely, yes! No matter what stage you're at in your career. 

I'd wanted to apply during the previous round but was so busy in a new job at Auckland Museum that I couldn't even contemplate taking the time to pull together an application. I promised myself if I found myself in the right space the next time, I was definitely going to apply -- even just for the sake of going through the process and clarifying my career development goals. 

I was lucky that my Director at the Ministry for Culture & Heritage recognised that career development is a long game. Just because it's not immediately relevant to your current job, doesn't mean that you won't benefit from it in other ways.

I found the entire experience both challenging and inspirational. You definitely get out of it what you're prepared to put in (and have to be quite self motivated at times). Time out of your 'everyday' job and in a new culture or city, as well as the organisation you are based within, is a real luxury and heightens your senses.
The LIANZA Paul Reynolds (No Numpties) Grant is worth $5,000.
​Applications close May 30, 2019.


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New Special Interest Group for Librarians working with customers with disabilities

4/4/2019

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Hi my name is Katie Lumsden, and I seem to have become the coordinator of LIANZA’s newest SIG for librarians serving customers with disabilities.
It is amazing what one short email to Ana Pickering at LIANZA head office can result in. Because that is all it took for the SIG to form. The idea for the SIG had been bouncing around for a couple of years, but never seemed to actually happen. By November last year, I got frustrated as the idea just won’t go away. So I wrote, I think, a one line email to Ana. Almost by return of mail, back came a very positive and supportive email from Ana saying what a good idea and why not? So the rest, as they say, is history. Hopefully a more detailed history to be presented at the LIANZA conference in October. So if anyone else has any other good ideas for our profession, I strongly recommend an email to Ana!
The first thought of the group came up at the last LIANZA Conference in 2017. I found myself presenting a paper as part of an impromptu panel of four speakers all talking about supporting customers with different disabilities in libraries. One of the other speakers was Robyn Wilson, Senior Service Guide, Library and Community Services in Palmerston North. It was while chatting after our presentations the idea for a special interest group was mooted. Robyn and I were both enthusiastic about the idea. We have met several times since and always said that this idea must be made into something. Robyn was one of the first people to get intouch when the idea was first posted in Kōrero.

Another key person was Philip Clarke, Head of Library and Information Resourcing at IHC New Zealand Incorporated. He was the first Librarian I knew was a specialist in this area that I discussed the idea for the group with. He was very supportive of the idea, keen to participate, and encouraged me to go ahead. 

Since those initial emails and phone calls, the group now has 12 members from across the country and from a variety of libraries, although none from a school or university library if anyone is interested?

The group now has the proposed aims. Proposed is an important terms as these will develop as the group develops, so are not set in stone. 
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Proposed Statement of aims:
  • To develop the knowledge and skills of New Zealand Aotearoa library staff and enable them to provide people with disabilities an equitable and inclusive library experience.
  • To promote libraries as accessible and inclusive spaces.
  • To develop online resource lists and training sessions/discussions to be held in libraries or at conferences, online or face-to-face for New Zealand Aotearoa library staff.
  • To work in a supportive, sharing and inclusive environment.
  • To develop an understanding of how these aims are impacted by our obligations under Te Tiriti O Waitangi.

So what next for the group?
To start on developing the list of online resources, to present at the LIANZA 2019 Conference (fingers crossed the paper is accepted), and to welcome all new members.
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