“Libraries play a vital role as a community hub and they can be the places where people can get real practical help during the tough economic times,” Minister Martin said. “This new money and the range of initiatives recognise the role that libraries play and that councils are going to be facing funding pressures.
 
“It’s a much-needed boost to keep these services going and support the New Zealand public through the recovery.”
 
The Minister said that the package also includes a 20% increase to the Public Lending Right fund – the money that is paid to New Zealand authors that have books available through our public libraries. The $1.6 million extra over four years is the first increase to the fund since 2008.

Matt's face-to-face workshops that were planned for this month were sadly postponed due to impacts of COVID-19 on gatherings and travel but LIANZA remains in contact with Matt and his colleague Brendan Fitzgerald about possible future virtual events.

In the meantime you can watch this one-hour video for American local government which offers a condensed version of the materials they used at the LIANZA workshop last year. Revisit the workshop to refresh your memory and help  plan your way through the pandemic and beyond.

Have you organised your National Simultaneous Storytime celebrations yet? Build on your current virtual storytime sessions and join in the fun. 

Your library must register and can obtain an PDF version of Whitney and Britney the Chicken Divas. All registered participants will receive a number of electronic resources including videos and audio recordings allowing everyone to participate regardless of where they are. There are also downloads, resources and activities available on the NSS website.

Many public libraries around New Zealand have been engaging their communities by offering ‘virtual storytime’ sessions over the last few weeks. Virtual storytimes were made possible by a unique agreement between publishers, authors and libraries. With the assistance of the LIANZA Standing Committee on Copyright, an agreement was reached with the Coalition for Books, and the agreement was made public two days into Level 4. There have been over 400 public library virtual storytimes registered, as per the agreement, showing that this initiative has been key in allowing public libraries to engage with their communities.

ALIA has some great guest readers lined up this year including the book’s author Lucinda Gifford, who will be streaming her reading from the Royal Children’s Hospital in Melbourne; Ursula Dubosarsky, Australian Children's Laureate 2020-2021; Governor-General Sir David Hurley and Lady Hurley; the Hon Paul Fletcher, Minister for Communications, Cyber Safety and the Arts; the Hon Michelle Landry MP; and Justin O'Neill from the Northern Queensland Cowboys. For the first time ever the ABC's Playschool will be joining in on the fun, with Denise Scott reading Whitney and Britney on ABC Kids. Story Box Library has also featured two NSS 2020 experiences on its website featuring Astrid Kriening AALIA, from Oberon Library and Michelle Nye from Hillcrest College. 


About National Simultaneous Storytime

Every year a picture book, written and illustrated by an Australian author and illustrator, is read simultaneously in libraries, schools, pre-schools, childcare centres, family homes, bookshops and many other places around the country.

You can read the book as part of your virtual storytimes at any time on Wednesday May 27.

Now in its 20th successful year, it is a colourful, vibrant, fun event that aims to promote the value of reading and literacy. ​

​New Zealand is about to move to Level 2 with great uncertainty as to what the ‘new normal’ will look like. There has been a wealth of inspiring kōrero about a post COVID recovery and there is an opportunity to use this experience to learn, grow, renew and regenerate. A better way already exists within the Sustainable Development Goals framework. We can have a society that prioritises our interconnections with each other and the planet.

​In 2015, the United Nations member states committed to 17 Sustainable Development Goals to achieve a better and more sustainable future by 2030. The UN Sustainable Development Goals provide an important framework, to guide our future and an opportunity to address our country’s systemic economic, social and environmental issues. The Sustainable Development Goals provide a valuable framework for making visible the wide impact of libraries, which make significant contributions across many of the SDG’s. Now is the time to recognise the urgency for this project along with an opportunity to speed up and amplify the best of what is already happening. 
 
If you are keen to learn more you can join a webinar hosted by our friends at Te Rōpu Whakakotahi Whenua o Aotearoa / the United Nations Association of New Zealand on Monday May 18 at 6pm.
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The webinar will focus on the SDGs and their role and opportunities for a post-COVID economy. 

LIANZA is one of 20 organisations who have pledged support for a digital inclusion plan submitted to NZ Government last week

Digital inclusion is about making sure everyone can make the most of the world online. In our national recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic, our collective wellbeing is more important than it has ever been. We want to be moving forward along the right path, led by our shared collective values.
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We can have a society that prioritises our interconnections with each other. We're at a juncture where we can get it right – or get it wrong. Together, let's choose the path that leads to the future we want.

The plan aims to assist the Government by setting out the priority areas where Government can best direct its efforts and investments. It identifies five areas of consideration:

1. Affordable connectivity
2. Getting devices to people who can’t afford them
3. Wrap around support for the newly connected
4. Digital skills for displaced workers and our small businesses
5. Longer term Internet resilience

It also identifies which Government agencies could be responsible for leading each action point, and emphasises the need for cross-agency engagement and coordination.

LIANZA lobbied for the plan to be shared with the Minister of Local Government, Hon Nanaia Mahuta and the Minister for Internal Affairs, Hon Tracey Martin.

LIANZA President, Rachel Esson says, "Not sending the plan to the Minister of Local Government seemed a lost opportunity, since public libraries play an essential role in digital inclusion in their communities. We also considered Internal Affairs was a key department as it is the home of the Digital Inclusion Blueprint, Office of Ethnic Communities, the Central/Local Government Partnership Office and the National Library of New Zealand who all have a strong interests in this area. We are delighted that InternetNZ added these two key Government ministers to the call to implement this digital inclusion plan."

LIANZA thanks all the members who took time to add their response to the draft plan, and to highlight the role that libraries play in digital inclusion.

The COVID-19 pandemic has increased the reliance of New Zealanders on the Internet for work and study, information, and social interaction. InternetNZ Chief Executive, Jordan Carter, says ensuring every New Zealander can access the Internet is now more important than ever. 

“We need to ensure no one is left behind as New Zealand works to recover from COVID-19.”

“We especially need to focus on groups in society that need different kinds of support, including Māori, Pasifika, older people, people with disabilities, those on lower incomes, rural users, and the homeless."

“It’s important we take a holistic approach. When people think of those digitally excluded, they often think about infrastructure or cost limitations. But it’s much more than that,” says Carter.

“Kiwis also need to have the skills, motivation, and trust to be online.”

The Government released its vision for digital inclusion in New Zealand, The Digital Inclusion Blueprint, in March 2019. 

“Our plan builds on the Government’s blueprint by setting out a concrete and achievable set of actions,” says Carter.
“Now is the time to step up our digital inclusion efforts, not just as part of our national response to COVID-19, but also as a foundation for New Zealand’s economic recovery and ongoing wellbeing.”

The full plan can be found on the InternetNZ website. 

Ana Pickering and Helen Heath from the LIANZA Office were just two of hundreds of people that gathered to watch the live stream of the Ockham New Zealand Book Awards last night. We were on the edge of our seats as the winners were announced! Ana was excited to see Auē win as she had bought a copy the day before lockdown. Helen, a past winner of the Mary and Peter Biggs Award for Poetry was delighted to see her long-time friend and publisher, Helen Rickerby, take out the poetry category.

​If you missed the live-streaming last evening, you’ll find the recordings of both the 6pm presentation of the MitoQ Best First Book Awards and the 7pm presentation of the Ockham New Zealand Book Awards on our YouTube channel. There you can also enjoy the series of Ockhams Out Loud finalist author readings, recorded and aired in the four weeks leading up to the winners’ announcement.
 
Resources to help promote all the winners can be found on the Trust’s website. 

After gaining her Diploma in Library and Information Studies from Victoria University of Wellington in 1986, Michaela was a judge for the LIANZA Children’s Book Awards from 1987-89. She travelled to London where she worked for Westminster City Libraries 1989-1991 and was awarded Library Association (now CILIP) Associateship. Michaela has written and presented papers for numerous conferences: LIANZA; NDF; SLANZA; SOLGM; GOVIS; IFLA and VALA from 1999 to 2016. She was awarded the LIANZA/Yankee Book Pedlar award for Collection Management – for advances in electronic collections and was awarded a LIANZA associateship in 2001.

Michaela led the 2001 launch of the Wellington City Libraries library management system – the first public library catalogue in the country with a customised online interface for children and te reo Māori and Samoan language interfaces. In the early 2000s she co-wrote (with Jenny McDonald and Moira Fraser) the case to the then National Librarian, successfully requesting funding for a staff member to lead the sector in collaborative purchasing of electronic resources. This resulted in the birth of EPIC, which is still in existence today.

Also in the early 2000s, Michaela proposed to LIANZA Council (together with Moira Fraser) a LIANZA initiative to help prepare the profession for electronic resources. The training series was successful and self-funding. She was twice a recipient of the LIANZA 3M Award for Innovation in Libraries. She has been an active submitter to LIANZA on subjects such as professional registration. Michaela drafted (together with Sue Sutherland) the initial proposal for a national collaborative approach to funding free internet at public libraries, which Sue Sutherland and contributors then developed into the funding bid for the service which eventually became Aotearoa People’s Network Kaharoa (APNK). She was convenor of the LIANZA conference organising committee in 2006 – Next Generation Libraries.

But wait, there’s more! Michaela was a working group member on the first national and highly successful Public Libraries Summit, which gave birth to the first iteration of the Public Libraries Strategic Framework. She has held LIANZA Professional Registration for 10 years and was awarded a LIANZA Fellowship in 2008. From 2013-16 she steered the development of Online Cenotaph, a national collaborative approach to community building, eliciting community content and sharing documentary heritage using a social media-based platform. From 2016-2019 she was a member of the LIANZA Credentials Committee, evaluating nominations for the professional wards. This year, 2019, Michaela chaired the committee. 
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As this list of achievements attests, Michaela has made an outstanding contribution to her profession and to LIANZA, she has truly earned her retirement! LIANZA Office and Council wish her all the very best for whatever the future holds. 

Michaela says:
​On a personal note, my areas of passion have always been around the power of reading and digital inclusion for all. I am also very grateful for the talented professionals I have been able to work with during their careers. I’ve actively encouraged many young professionals to share new thinking and practice and submit conference proposals, and I have supported those selected to prepare for and attend conference.