​As a member of LIANZA, you understand that access to information and a sense of community are vital components for positive wellbeing. Libraries play a significant role in maintaining feelings of connectedness in their communities, but during crises like the Covid-19 pandemic access to them is limited.
 
The closure of libraries and other community hubs during the pandemic highlights the importance of being able to access collections and resources online. Our Recollect team launched the Recollect Journey campaign in response to the GLAM sector’s evolving needs. It helps organisations reconnect with their communities, gives them the opportunity to share their collections again, and encourages community engagement even when their physical spaces are closed to the public. 
 
Recollect gives librarians the tools to maintain their collections from home by providing digital access. Staff can work on a range of tasks including collection management, accessioning, and cataloguing. New material can also be collated to tell contemporary stories — perhaps relating to Covid-19 and how our communities worked together to “flatten the curve.” Recollect makes it easy to record and preserve this knowledge, giving people the chance to learn from it and reflect on what we could do differently. 
 
Make it through this unsettling period by creating opportunities for your staff to upskill and manage collections online. Your team can empower communities through Recollect, guaranteeing they can engage with the past and share information that informs the future. Recollect helps protect cultural heritage and ensures future generations have access to the information it provides — knowledge which often gives deeper meaning to our society.
 
We can help you get your most important collections online and instantly make them accessible to your community. Your team will be able to upload content to Recollect and inspire your communities. More options become available to you the further you travel on your Recollect journey: create a unique online identity, manage a higher volume of assets, and take control of site administration.
 
As well as directly benefiting your community, Recollect can equip librarians with meaningful work to complete from home. Starting your Recollect Journey enriches your collections, allows you to capture and manage content, and gives you the opportunity to discuss new ideas from anywhere in the world.
 
Recollect is an online platform that supports digital access, discovery, engagement, management, and preservation of cultural heritage and special collections. Over the past five years Recollect has experienced steady growth within Australasia, and recently NZMS split Recollect into its own company. By “spinning out” from NZMS, Recollect can more easily raise capital and pursue overseas expansion.
 
While Recollect is now a separate company, it still aligns perfectly with NZMS’s mission: to offer excellent digitisation and preservation services for the protection of New Zealand’s cultural heritage. To this end, NZMS will continue to act as the Recollect New Zealand reseller and provide support to the wider Recollect Community.
 
Embark on your Recollect Journey by telling us about your collections and the communities you want to inspire and engage. Get started here.
 

We made the decision to close our physical library early. 
  
As one of the most beautiful spaces at Middlemore Hospital , designed for collaboration as well as respite from the stresses and challenges of working on the wards, the Counties Manukau Health Library is a popular space for all staff to work both together and alone.  A place of congregation open to staff 24/7.  Understanding that with our hospital cleaners being deployed to focus on priority clinical areas we could not guarantee the safety of the physical environment.  We could not continue to promote the physical space as a place of coming together.
 
Moreover as a staff team , some with vulnerable partners and parents and others being the primary care givers for young children, it became clear very early on that we would not be able to maintain a continuous face to face library service on site.  We needed to understand and respect the needs of our library staff and transition to a remote work environment.
 
For the foreseeable future we would offer a purely virtual library service.
 
In many ways we had anticipated this shift long before it become a matter of necessity.  Our large collections of journals and clinical texts are digital.  Our systems for access and management of our collections are cloud based.  We have had in place for a number of years digital communication channels for both the request and delivery of services such as literature searching, evidence synthesis and interloan. We have long ago enabled remote access to collections, resources and services to all of our staff and also to our partners in primary and community care.
 
The demand for our services during the COVID-19 pandemic has never been higher.  Responding with urgency to literature search requests from across the organisation has cast a spotlight on the expertise and dedication of our library team.  Examples of the types of questions that my team of information specialists have responded to in the last couple of weeks include:
 
Redeployment of the health workforce in a crisis situation (ie pandemic, natural disaster, war, etc). Is there a framework for managing risks and capacity planning in these situations?
 
What are the postoperative risks or complications identified in patients with COVID-19 and how do we prevent/manage/treat this?
 
What is the evidence to guide the telephone and virtual clinic implementation for Manukau Super Clinic?
 
What is the clinical evidence around : Faecal-Oral Transmission of COVID  ; Endoscopy and COVID-Colonoscopy; Laparoscopic Surgery and COVID ; Labour and birth care of Covid 19 women ; clinical practice / patient selection for invasive versus non-invasive ventilation and oxygen support therapies for Covid-19 etcetera etcetera
  
The evidence base to guide our searches and synthesis is growing exponentially day by day as clinicians and researchers globally grapple with new problems and seek solutions.  Identification , interrogation and curation of the highest quality evidence sources and an ability to evaluate and synthesise the research base into a coherent and digestable form is critical.
 
Twice weekly we disseminate to staff a COVID-19 evidence update that includes the latest research and clinical guidance from a broad range of sources.  Members of the library team are embedded in projects and initiatives to roll out new service responses and to create frameworks for monitoring and evaluating the impact of new initiatives.
 
The team have risen to the challenge to be important contributors to our organisational response to the COVID-19 pandemic.  As much as we are aware of the urgency of the work that needs to be done we are also aware as a team of the need to stay healthy ourselves, physically and mentally.  We meet twice each week via Zoom to touch base on work priorities and just as critically on how each of us is doing.  Members of the team participate in wider organisational virtual get togethers such as Monday morning karakia and waiata, and virtual shared lunches and Friday  afternoon drinks.
 
There is already a strong sense across the organisation that some of the ways of providing clinical care and support for patients and whanau both at the hospital and in the community will be forever changed by the dramatic shifts and changes forced upon us by COVID-19.  I have a sense that the same may be true of the library service.  The application of technology to both work remotely and collaborate across multiple teams and initiatives has proven to be highly effective and is certainly the way of the future. 
 
In a recent essay the celebrated Indian author, Arundhati Roy states that
 
.."Historically, pandemics have forced humans to break with the past and imagine their world anew. This one is no different. It is a portal, a gateway between one world and the next.

We can choose to walk through it, dragging the carcasses of our prejudice and hatred, our avarice, our data banks and dead ideas, our dead rivers and smoky skies behind us. Or we can walk through lightly, with little luggage, ready to imagine another world. And ready to fight for it."”
 
Arundhati Roy: ‘The pandemic is a portal’
Financial Times. April 4, 2020
https://www.ft.com/content/10d8f5e8-74eb-11ea-95fe-fcd274e920ca
 
 
I believe that in times such as these we must throw off the shackles of the past and embrace the opportunities to reimagine the value we can add and the contribution we can make to our organisations and communities.  In the face of massive disruption and uncertainty the role of librarians as highly skilled and trusted knowledge navigators has never been more relevant or valued.
 
 
Peter Murgatroyd
Library & Knowledge Services Manager
Counties Manukau Health
 
Peter is National Convenor of the LIANZA Health SIG.
 

I am a good listener, a great trainer/teacher and I am incredibly passionate about the work and the difference every single library makes. I think our school library shows any visitor how different a library can be and how excited children can get about one single space!

I believe the greatest need for libraries at this time is awareness, especially with the recent negative media on school libraries; awareness of what we offer in all libraries, what the community needs us to be there for, why whanau want our services, the difference libraries, books and the technology and knowledge we offer matters. Education for library staff that you do matter and providing a long term form of support, an ongoing forum for ideas and giving the chance to showcase any library, no matter how small.
​

Here is a timeline of the important dates for your reference;

• Nominations extended to Thursday May 14
• May 15, 2020: Elections open for LIANZA Council elections
• May 28, 2020: Elections close for LIANZA Council elections
• June 5, 2020: Election results announced for LIANZA Council elections

​For more information on LIANZA Council, the strategic plan, LIANZA Council handbook and the current LIANZA Council go to https://lianza.org.nz/about/who-we-are/meet-our-council/

​Do you : 
Want to know what happens with governance at a national level in LIANZA?
Want to be part of the national discussions?
Want lots  of things you can use for your Professional Registration Journal?
Want to network with a range of librarians from different backgrounds and localities?
Want to be part of a great forward thinking team?

Then put your hand up to be the next regional councillor.  
I have nearly completed my third term and am keen to hand the reins over to someone who is keen to take up the challenges of this truly interesting role. If you want to know more please get in contact, otherwise just go for it! 

From Anne Buck

,We have, of course, temporarily suspended many of our services in our current state of rāhui that is Level 4 lockdown. For those of you in public libraries we have suspended the APNK public internet access including the wifi that many of you valued as a way of keeping the public informed during the COVID-19 crisis. Let me briefly explain why we took that decision. We had a small but growing number of public libraries asking us to switch off the wifi service because of concerns expressed by police or local COVID-19 crisis management teams. The concern was that people gathering outside the library to get free wifi was increasing the risk of transmission. Other public libraries were still keen to maintain the wifi offer so that people could get access to information about COVID-19. In a national crisis there is a National Crisis Management Centre coordinating all the advice and instructions on how to manage the crisis so I presented that dilemma to the NCMC for them to determine which course of action would best support the effort to stop the spread of the virus. The answer was to suspend the public library wifi offer and that advice, I understand, was sent to every Mayor and CEO across all local councils. Please rest assured that I will be seeking the reinstatement of the APNK wifi service as soon as possible when the Level 4 restrictions are eased.
 
So returning to my earlier question about what else you might need from the National Library, please do let me know if there is something else we could be doing. As the restrictions are scaled down it will become easier for us to help. In the near future we will be sharing some more news of what my staff have been doing while we’ve been working from home. I don’t mean sharing photos of home baking; I mean sharing news about the work-related achievements that we have still been able to deliver while working remotely. You might be reassured to know that our collections are still being kept safely. Like most of you however, I have been really clear that the priority in this crisis is the health and welfare of people. In these uniquely strange times my message to my staff has been very simple: Stay at home, stay safe and save lives. Not original of course, but it is a message that seems to be working for the country. I sincerely hope that you are able to stay safe in your bubbles, large or small.
 
Ngā mihi, mai tōku poihau ki ō koutou poihau,
 
Bill

This is how it works:

• The writing group takes the form of a ‘virtual classroom’ within the NaNoWriMo Young Writers’ Programme<https://ywp.nanowrimo.org/> website.
• To join the WCL Teen Writers classroom, participants just need to create an account and, when prompted, enter CWRNJDZH as their classroom code. This will give them access to the WCL classroom and all the juicy resources therein!
• The classroom provides a forum for group and individual conversation, the setting and completion of writing challenges, ‘sprints,’ and prompts, as well as allowing for people to provide feedback on works in progress.
• The classroom exists within an ecosystem of fora where teens can converse with like-minded writers from around the world in special closed ‘groups’ and ‘clubs’ (e.g. LGBTQIA+ teens, teens of faith, teens who like anime, etc.).
• NaNoWriMo YWP is currently running “Camp NaNo,” which is a novel-writing challenge that takes place in April and July each year to help prepare younger and newer writers for the main, 50,000 word challenge that takes place internationally in November. During Camp NaNo, participants are challenged to write a novella in a month – they can choose their word count goal, and then the website tracks how much they need to write each day, and allows them to check in with each other and their ‘teachers’ in the classroom along the way

​You can find additional information on the WCL Teen Blog and on the NaNoWriMo YWP website.
 
If you have any questions about promoting the WCL virtual classroom to your youth community or if you wish to set up your own virtual classroom contact Stephen at e:[email protected]

The COVID-19 pandemic has produced a lot of rumours and misinformation, as worried people spread inaccurate information via social media and online.  At a time when it is important for everyone to understand the risks of the spread of the virus, and what they can do to minimise them, there has been a plethora of posts, and statements from ‘experts’, that are incorrect and dangerous. 
​
As librarians we need to encourage the sharing of accurate information that will help our users stay as safe as possible, during the spread of the virus.  Having links to reputable sites on our online pages (e.g. https://www.health.govt.nz/ and www.covid19.govt.nz) and amplifying the key self- and community protection methods is vital.  Fact checking statements and posts is also important, to allow library staff to advise users about the best resources to utilise (in person or on-line).

A rights-respecting response to COVID-19 needs to ensure that accurate and up-to-date information about the virus including service disruptions, access to services, and other features of the response to the outbreak are accessible to all and readily available.  Governments should fully respect the rights to freedom of expression and access to information, and only restrict them as international standards permit. Governments should also ensure that the information they provide to the public regarding COVID-19 is correct, timely, and consistent with human rights principles. This is important for addressing false and misleading information.
​
Libraries are already looking at alternatives to access to print information and entertainment via our physical spaces, and increasing access to and awareness of online resources.

Cherry had a long and varied career, with over forty years’ experience of identifying, acquiring, organising, retrieving and advising on print and electronic information resources worldwide. Her roles included those of Librarian for Information Planning and Development at the ILO;  Head of Information Services, Hamilton Public Library; Senior Librarian (Information Retrieval), solely responsible for providing Massey University with specialised electronic information; Research Development Coordinator, Faculty of Business, AUT University; Research Advisor, Faculties of Business and Law, University of Auckland; Research Outputs Liaison Officer, University of New England, and consultant to IMCO, and EQC.

Cherry was an early enthusiast and adopter of online information systems. When she was awarded the Claude McCarthy Fellowship in 1991 she used it to visit overseas libraries, information services and consortia and attend information technology conferences to explore practices in CD-ROM and online information management and delivery.

Cherry demonstrated a huge commitment to attending and participating in professional conferences, seminars and workshops, where she could always be relied upon to ask intelligent and probing questions.  At these events she was a tireless advocate for the needs of libraries and was greatly respected for the depth of her research and understanding. She developed professional relationships with a huge range of people and was always ready to use these to further the cause of libraries. At events it was always amazing to see the range of people she knew and to witness the respect they had for her.

Cherry was an enthusiastic and committed supporter of LIANZA and had a long and active involvement in its activities, including membership of regional and special interest committees in Wellington, Waikato, Auckland, Central North Island. She was active in the Research-SIG and SLISS. In addition, she belonged to many professional allied organisations, presented at conferences and authored a substantial body of publications. In recognition of her outstanding contribution to libraries and LIANZA, Cherry was presented with a LIANZA Associateship in 2007.

Cherry was probably best known for her expertise on copyright and her advocacy about copyright and the TPPA.  She was a member of LIANZA’s Taskforce on Copyright and served on the LIANZA Standing Committee on Copyright from 2013 to 2017.  In this role, Cherry made important contributions to the Standing Committee’s educational, advocacy and advisory work. Cherry also participated in the wider copyright community and was an executive committee member of the Asia-Pacific Copyright Association (APCA). Cherry regularly attended copyright symposia and was known in the academic community as an enthusiastic contributor to copyright discussions.

While Cherry was known to many of you as a vocal champion of copyright reform, what you may not have realised was why this issue was so important to her. Jennifer Campion, law lecturer at Te Piringa-Faculty of Law and former Chair of the LIANZA Standing Committee on Copyright, recalls: “Cherry once told me that she was so passionate about copyright because she understood the way copyright could be used to restrict people accessing information. Cherry said that she had grown up in a small town and libraries were the places that really opened her horizons and made it possible for her to get an education.  She wanted all New Zealanders to have that opportunity, and fought against a future where education would only be available to those who could afford it.”

Jennifer adds: “Cherry impressed me not just with her passion, but also her compassion. Cherry was an incredibly helpful person, who would go the extra mile to help others.  There was no copyright query she would not try to assist with, and she contributed greatly to the Standing Committee’s work over a number of years.” 

Cherry lived with cancer from 2010. One of her sisters said that “being a librarian was what helped her”. The research Cherry did for medical students led her to attend oncology conferences and research the very rare form of cancer she had. She got to know many of the oncologists and followed their advice. One of her sisters also said that "she did not know how to stop” and this was certainly the experience of those of us who were privileged to work with her during her last years.

As Jan Rivers wrote, “her passion seemed to be driven all the more by knowing her time was limited”. Cherry could be extremely difficult to keep up with because she was so very driven, and her capacity to research an issue was impressive. She was always ready to share the results of her research and provide citations and links so that you could delve into an issue for yourself; she was hugely generous in sharing her expertise, time and support.

​As Mandy Henk wrote, “the New Zealand library community was made better through her engagement and her voice”. She will be greatly missed.

​The LIANZA Standing Committee on Copyright would like to thank Cherry’s family for talking to us about Cherry and providing the lovely photograph. We would also like to thank Keitha Booth for her memories and assistance, Jennifer Campion for her sharing her memories of Cherry and the LIANZA Office for sharing with us the references for Cherry’s LIANZA Associateship.

​The library world was saddened to hear that their colleague Heather Lamond, died on March 22, aged 47 years.
 
Heather was the Assistant University Librarian - Client Services at Massey University, since 2014. Her role included Deputy University Librarian and Manawatū Campus Librarian. She led client services work across the Massey University Libraries, particularly information literacy teaching and support for research.  Heather was initially employed at Massey University as a Business Liaison Librarian in 2005 and promoted to Head of the Distance Library Service in 2007.  She had moved to Palmerston North from Takaka, in Golden Bay where she had been the Takaka Memorial Library Branch Librarian from 2001-2005.

Heather used technology at every opportunity to improve both library services at Massey University and how staff worked. She was a strong advocate for equitable access to resources and services for off-campus students and led the work at Massey University Library in online teaching including early development of reusable learning objects such as short videos. She was actively involved in distance education, and the author of a considerable number of publications and conference presentations. 

​In 2010 Heather wrote a piece for LIANZA about her library career and shared how she started in her career in libraries.

“I have been employed in the library and information industry since completing my BA at Canterbury University in 1994.  I had previous experience in libraries as after-school and summer holiday employment, and my mother was (and is still is) employed as a Library Assistant so I had a reasonable idea of what went on in libraries – yes I used to spend time afterschool putting the issue cards in order!

After completing my BA I was contemplating teaching as a career but was fortunate to be employed at the then Nelson Polytechnic as a library assistant in varying roles (processing, circulation and eventually Interloans and Reference).  I was encouraged by Chris Keyse, the Nelson Polytechnic Librarian, to undertake the MLIS, and received invaluable collegial support while working full-time and completing the MLIS by distance from a location that could be considered remote (in those days of weekly teleconferences and no online classroom!).  

​After completion of the MLIS, I had a large student loan and a level of frustration with not walking straight into the management job I thought I now deserved, and decided to move home to my parents in Takaka while I saved some money in order to travel.  I was extremely lucky that an opening came up at the Takaka Memorial Library for a part-time library assistant so I jumped at the opportunity to continue working in the industry (while also working as an orchard hand, barmaid, and scallop opener!).  About two years later the position of branch librarian became available and I was successful in my application.

​One thing I would stress is that the management experience gained as a branch librarian of a small library was one of the most useful things I could have had.  While the branch was small and rural, I still had to do all the management things you would do in a much larger library, in fact probably more as I was the sole qualified staff member!  This included staffing, budgets, collection development and management, system implementation, website development and more."
 
Heather made an enormous contribution to the profession. She was the LIANZA Ikaroa councillor on LIANZA Council from 2008-11 and LIANZA President 2012-2013.  LIANZA awarded Heather the professional recognition of ALIANZA in 2009. Her associate citation noted that; “Heather is customer-driven, an efficient communicator, able to demonstrate strong leadership and an effective teacher who continues to extend these skills through further study to expand her knowledge of education theory.   Heather is strongly committed to LIANZA being active on both the local committee and on National Council.”

Colleagues from the New Zealand library and information sector have provided these tributes to Heather, in her memory.

I first got to know Heather when she was a participant at Aurora in Thredbo and I was a mentor that year. Two things were immediately obvious to me. Firstly, what a lovely person she was and secondly, the commitment she had to her future career in librarianship. Heather was determined to improve library support for distance learning and she certainly achieved that at Massey University. I was delighted when Heather stepped up her professional leadership to become President of LIANZA. It was such a shock to hear of her death at such a young age. Please pass my sincerest condolences to her family, friends and colleagues.
Bill Macnaught, National Librarian
 
Heather had such a bubbly, energetic and honest way about her. I always felt energised by her presence! We worked on the LIANZA Council together for several years, so we spent a lot of time talking together about the library profession about which she was so passionate and so insightful. She was always so determined, and I was (and still am) in awe of all her achievements and the impact she had. I will miss her hugely.
Laurinda Thomas, Wellington City Libraries

I te aituā o tō tātou hoa e Heather, he mihi aroha ki te whānau pani i noho i raro i te korowai o te kapua pōuri.  Hotuhotu te manawa, maringi tonu ngā roimata me ngā hūpē. I hoea e tō tātou hoa tōna waka wairua ki tōna kāinga tūturu, okioki pai ai.  Haramai, haere, haere atu rā. Kaua mātou e warewaretia.
 
It is with sadness that we hear of our esteemed colleague who has left us all bereft.  Heather was a respected colleague who had a huge impact on the information sector.  We give our condolences to her whānau and friends that grieve at her passing. Her beautiful singing voice will be missed.
 
Ehara taku toa i te toa takitahi, erangi he toa takimano.  Rātou ki a rātou, tātou ki a tātou, tēnā koutou katoa.
Anahera Morehu, LIANZA President-elect
 
I was so sorry to hear the sad news about Heather Lamond what a loss for the Massey whanau and the library world. Heather was a lovely person and a true professional who loved her work. I always appreciated and enjoyed my interactions with her and I always learnt from her. The work she did at Massey with the distance library service was exceptional. And of course she will always be remembered as the singing guitar playing LIANZA President. She was an inspiration to many and she will be missed enormously.
Rachel Esson, LIANZA President
 
I worked quite closely with Heather during her Presidential period and it was a fabulous time.
Her bubbly fun nature meant spending time with her was an absolute pleasure. I still treasure many of those moments.
Huge aroha to her family, where I know she will leave a massive hole.
Pamela Jones, South Taranaki District Libraries
 
My deepest sympathy to Heather’s family, friends and colleagues. I also had the pleasure and privilege of working with Heather on the LIANZA Executive for several years. Heather was a wonderful person, inspiriting many of us with her energy, intelligence and positivity. As others have said, she has left this life far too soon.
Carolyn Robertson, Christchurch City LIbraries

​Today tertiary librarians and library staff in New Zealand Institutes of Technology and Polytechnics or ITP’s have a new employer. At midnight last night, all staff became employees of the new limited liability crown companies that are part of the new national New Zealand Institute of Skills & Technology (NZIST) (working title) under the provisions of the Education (Vocational Education and Training Reforms) Amendment Act.

Lee Rowe, Toi Ohomai Library Manager explains, ‘Our staff are longer employed by Toi Ohomai Institute of Technology, but are now employed by Toi Ohomai Institute of Technology Limited’. There is no change to any employment terms and conditions.

​What are tertiary library staff doing to support students and staff during the present COVID-10 Level 4 lockdown? Lee explains what has been happening at the Toi Ohomai:

​My lockdown experience in New Zealand
 
I sit within my chalet in the sun,
It's time to rest now the cleaning is done;
It was an extra task to do as my cleaners normally make this place new.
 
I am now working full time from home,
On Skype and Zoom and often Chrome;
My workload has not dropped at all,
I must be available if students call.
 
It's lucky I'm an introvert
If I wasn't, this lockdown would hurt.
It's not too bad, though it's not a hoot,
At least I'm loving my short commute.
 
I have a class to teach this week
to guide students on their searching technique,
To help them find the info they need
And so to see them all succeed.
 
Teaching online is now the way
And I'm learning to do that everyday,
I must now record myself to screen,
(I must make sure that I look pristine!).
 
To meet online is a new thing too,
To meet up with my friendly crew;
To share ideas and discuss new knowledge
That's coming from managers at our college.
 
Stay inside, save lives is the message here,
And make sure that no-one is near.
We can only go out to exercise,
Or go to get essential supplies.
 
We will get through, I'm sure of it,
although to some fear I will admit;
But until that time back with everyone,
I'll stay here in my chalet in the sun.
 
©Adrian Jenkins, March 2020.