Blog Archives

A new name for LIANZA Otago Southland

19/10/2020

LIANZA President Anahera Morehu and Executive Director Ana Pickering visited libraries in Otago Southland region from October 13-15. They were thrilled to share the new name for this LIANZA region gifted by tangata whenua, which will now be known as LIANZA Murihiku

It has been a long journey for LIANZA Otago/Southland region in seeking a Māori name. This regional community had its beginnings as the Society of Otago Librarians affiliated in 1937 as the Dunedin Branch and it is the final LIANZA region to adopt a name in te Reo Māori.

LIANZA approached tangata whenua, the local rūnaka (rūnanga) and after discussion they have given us the name of Murihiku.

E kore e mimiti te puna kōrero i te tangata whenua, nā rātou i manaaki tō tātou ara whakamua, hei whakamana ai tātou katoa. Koia pū te kōrero, nāu te rourou, nāku te rourou, ka ora ai tātou.

We are indeed humbled to be part of the energy in bringing the appropriate kōrero back as provided by tangata whenua. The rūnaka said that they wanted to bring the name back into usage for the overall area and have giving LIANZA both Murihiku ki te toka (Southland), Murihiku ki te raki (Otago). As our LIANZA region is a combination of both we were grateful to utilise Murihiku in its full context.

In the article by Michael Stevens (2011), Sir Tīpene O’Regan informs that the name originated from Hawaiki and was bought by ancestors to Aotearoa. Furthermore we noted that Muriwhenua and Murihiku represented the northern and southern extremities of Te Wai Pounamu.

We thank the tangata whenua, the LIANZA members who have been proactive in helping guide us to have the opportunity not only in strengthening our relationship with tangata whenua, but also to engage with true manaaki. We also thank our beautiful region for all their hard work and the successful naming ceremony that took place at the regional gathering on Wednesday October 14 at Dunedin Public Library.

Hoi rā, ehara taku toa i te toa takitahi, erangi he toa takimano. Kia kaha tonu tātou, ka whakamanahia ngā tangata o te ao.

Rārangi Kōrero

Stevens, M.J. (2011). “What’s in a name?”: Murihiku, colonial knowledge-making, and “thin culture”. Journal of the Polynesian Society,4, 333-348.

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LIANZA Thanks Minister Martin

19/10/2020

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E ngā mana, e ngā reo, e ngā karangatanga maha o ngā hau e whā, tēnā koutou katoa.

Ehara taku toa i te toa takitahi, erangi he toa takimano. He mihi tēnei ki te rangatira e te whaea e Tracy. Nāu i toha mai ō pūkenga nui, hei manaaki ai ngā whare taonga, ngā whare pukapuka o Aotearoa, ā, o te ao nei. Nāu i puta atu ngā kōrero i te karauna, hei whakanui ai ngā mahi o ēnei o ngā pātaka kōrero i hono ai ngā hāpori i Aotearoa. Nō reira, tēnā ko koe, tēnā ko koutou, tēnā koutou katoa.

LIANZA has written to the outgoing Minister of Internal Affairs, Hon Tracey Martin, thanking her for her contribution to the library and information sector. Minister Martin understood the value of libraries to our nation.

In March 2018, she made time to meet with LIANZA President, Louise LaHatte and President-elect, Paula Eskett. This meeting led to LIANZA being involved in two hui for the Education Conversation | Kōrero Mātauranga providing the opportunity to highlight the role of libraries.

In October 2019, she was the first government minister in nine years to open a LIANZA Conference, where she joked that ‘it is a brave government that annoys librarians’. In her opening address, Minister Martin highlighted the vital role of libraries and the very significant role librarians play in the well-being of all people from children to seniors. She explained to conference delegates that the impact of libraries were vitally important across all her portfolios – as Minister for Internal Affairs, Children, Seniors, Associate Minister of Education and joint-minister with the Prime Minister, Jacinda Ardern, for the Child and Youth Well-being Strategy.

In May, Tracey Martin announced that Budget 2020 provided over $60 million of funding to protect library services and to protect jobs through the New Zealand Library Partnership Programme – providing central government support to, in turn, support local libraries to deliver services. In August, Tracey Martin stood with the Prime Minister to announce the first New Zealand Reading Ambassador for children and young people – a role that will advocate for and promote the importance of reading in the lives of young New Zealanders, their whānau and communities.

You can read more about Tracey Martin’s views and plans for the library sector including school libraries, access to research and the contribution of libraries to the SDGs in her responses to the questions sent to government ministers, opposition spokespeople and other political candidates and shared just ahead of election day.

LIANZA thanks her for her mahi and her support of our sector and wish her well for the future.

E te rangatira, ko koe anō te toa o tātou i mahi pono, mahi tika ai i tēnei ao. Nō reira, nāu te rourou, nā mātou te rourou, ka ora ai tātou katoa.

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Message from the National Librarian regarding the OPC

18/10/2020

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Kia ora koutou

There has been more misleading information published about the National Library’s overseas published collections project over the past few weeks. It’s important that you know what is actually happening so you can correct those factual errors. Last week Paul James (CEO of Internal Affairs), Rachel Esson and I met with Chris Finlayson, Marian Hobbs, Elizabeth Kerr and Dolores Janiewski as representatives of the recently formed group ‘Book Guardians of Aotearoa’. We were able to address their concerns kanohi ki te kanohi and explain why we are doing this mahi.

Chris Finlayson questioned whether our action was legal and asked Marian Hobbs – former Minister with responsibility for the National Library - to comment on her understanding of the 2003 Act. We confirmed that, as required by the Act, Ministerial approval had been given for the removal of books from the National Library.

I also addressed the suggestion made in a recent letter written by Jim Traue – a former Chief Librarian of the ATL - that all collections of the National Library had to be treated as documentary heritage and taonga. I explained that the National Library has three main collections: the Turnbull collection, the General Collection and the Schools collection.

We repeated the point that the ATL collection is the collection that safeguards documentary heritage and taonga and it is entirely out of scope in this project – ATL content is held in perpetuity. (Addressing Elizabeth Kerr’s concern we noted that the ATL collection includes a wealth of material about European settlement in Aotearoa that will be held in perpetuity including, for example, a first edition Jane Austen title from 1811. The Library continues to buy books about topics beyond the shores of New Zealand.)
In contrast, books in the Schools collection are fully depreciated after five years as a high use hard working collection used in schools up and down the country. To describe that collection as documentary heritage, let alone as taonga, is completely misleading.
Similarly, the General Collection is a working collection that has its origins in the Country Library Service before it became part of the new National Library in 1965. Those books were important for supplementing the work of libraries across the country. The General Collection contains one copy of our legal deposit material for the purposes of lending to other libraries. Legal deposit books are not in scope for this project. It also contains books purchased to support current research interests in the ATL. I explained that the British Library has a deaccession policy that distinguishes its legal deposit and special collections from its working collections. When the British Library’s working collection items are no longer needed to support the service they can be deaccessioned. We explained that the books in the General Collection being deaccessioned have served their purpose and are no longer needed. We certainly do not consider them to be documentary heritage or taonga.

We explained that removal of the first 50,000 books was treated as a pilot which allowed the Library to move at-risk Alexander Turnbull Library collection items from unsafe storage in Wairere House, Whanganui into safe storage in Wellington. The pilot tested our processes and feedback received has informed improvements.
I shared operational and strategic context for this programme of work. We discussed the National Library’s Strategic Directions to 2030 and the importance of digitisation for ensuring wider access to books. Marian Hobbs was fully supportive of digitisation.

Chris Finlayson agreed that they are not against deaccession in principle, rather they urged more care in the process. Rachel corrected their misunderstanding that books from the National Library will be on sale at the Kapiti Pakeke Lions Club book sale on Saturday – that is not true. There is a sale planned by Lions in November for the 50,000 books that have now been transferred to their ownership.

Dolores Janiewski raised specific concerns about her post-graduate students not having access to books they needed and we will follow this up. I will discuss this point with the University Librarian of VUW.

Since the meeting, some of the media coverage has given the mistaken impression that Chris Finlayson has halted our work. He has not. The plan to review 600,000 books from the overseas published collections was put to the Minister by me. Staff of the National Library have been planning this work since 2015 following a major change to the collection policy that was widely consulted on with the whole of New Zealand’s library sector. Successive Ministers have supported this work and I will, of course, brief our incoming Minister on the progress of our plan and the next steps in the process. We intend to continue with the deaccession and we continue to invite constructive input from others to inform further decisions around collection management and deaccession. No specific actions or decisions are in the pipeline for the project in the next few weeks. I will be contacting the Book Guardians group again before the end of November to continue the constructive dialogue.”

Ngā mihi nui

Bill

Bill Macnaught CBE
Te Pouhuaki o Te Puna Mātauranga o Aotearoa
National Librarian National Library of New Zealand

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Election Special: Burning Questions

15/10/2020

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Asking political parties to answer ‘burning questions’ provides an opportunity to highlight the importance of the library and information sector to our politicians.

You'll remember that back in July we put out a call, crowd-sourcing questions that our members want to ask of list or electoral candidates from any political party. We compiled a list of questions that got sent to government ministers, opposition spokespeople and other political candidates.

LIANZA received responses from the Green Party, Labour, National and Hon Tracey Martin, Minister of Dept of Internal Affairs speaks for NZ First.

Digital inclusion

Supporting digital inclusion has become everyday work for libraries and library staff (Hartnett, 2020). With public libraries in 314 towns and cities around the country, plus libraries in schools, tertiary institutions and prisons, our sector plays an essential role in facilitating digital inclusion.

What would your party do to ensure that libraries can effectively implement strategies to increase digital inclusion in their communities?

Labour is committed to working with libraries to increase digital inclusion across New Zealand. That’s why we’ve funded an extension to the National Library’s Aotearoa Peoples’ Network Kaharoa (APNK) public internet service to all public libraries to provide free access to the internet and devices for members of the public. And why we’ve recently launched a digital literacy programme to help seniors from a diverse range of backgrounds, increase their trust in using the internet, keep in contact with friends and family and adjust to rapidly changing technology.

NZ First: To some extent, I have already begun to implement the vision New Zealand First has around our libraries and how they can assist in addressing digital inclusion. Firstly, however, I would like to make a distinction discovered during Covid. We have two groups of people in New Zealand that require digital support. Those who are digitally excluded – meaning they do not have access to devices or the internet for a variety of reasons. Then we have those who are digitally willing – meaning they have access to devices and internet but require support to be enabled to use them.
I believe that there should be a partnership between Local Government and Central Government to fund our libraries to deliver digital support services – this might be through specific lessons for the digitally willing or greater provision of devices and internet for those that are excluded. The recent announcement I made as the Minister for Internal Affairs of funding 170 librarians to be trained to support digital access for their local communities is the beginning of that vision.

The Green Party wants to implement Internet NZ’s five-point plan for digital inclusion, including making internet connectivity and devices affordable for those on low incomes and ensuring accessible digital skills training for working people and small businesses. Libraries are well placed to assist in delivering this outcome; they often play an important role as community hubs where people come together to learn and share.

The five-point-plan includes:
1. Making connectivity affordable and accessible for Kiwis on low incomes and who have recently become unemployed.
2. Making devices available to low-income Kiwis of all ages and groups at low (or no) cost.
3. Ensuring there is wrap-around support for the newly connected, including help with digital skills, motivation and trust.
4. Funding digital skills training and other support for displaced workers and our small businesses.
5. Longer-term Internet resilience with investment in our telecommunications infrastructure.

National: New Zealand’s libraries and other public places are vital for community development and engagement, particularly for the most vulnerable and digitally excluded. National is committed to reducing the digital divide through growing digital literacy engagement, better connectivity solutions and ensuring all from our most dynamic business to the most vulnerable in our ageing communities can be a part of our changing digital nation without being left behind as the technology changes. As your members may know, National recently released its Tech Strategy for New Zealand which will work to get more New Zealanders connected. We have also committed to ending the cost for kiwis accessing Government online by working to zero-rate the data cost associated with accessing government websites whether someone is in Thames or Manapouri. We’ll have more announcements in this space during the campaign and it is also important to acknowledge once the current digital infrastructure rollouts end, new questions must arise how we as a nation support the next round of connectivity to close the digital divide through better-targeted education on safety and technological innovation to show more of the amazing ways it can benefit and shape lives. Our local libraries and other community establishments such as CAB and SeniorNet institutions will be an integral part of these discussions. You can see more on National’s Tech strategy here and National will be further releasing policies in this space over the coming days.

Economic downturn

Libraries are integral to lifelong learning with events, creative spaces, programmes and information sharing that can make more of an impact on the community than just lending material. As the last non-commercial space available to many people, libraries play an incredibly important role in engaging with and meeting the needs of their local community. Libraries help connect people to information on literacy, health, job applications, computer and internet training, resume writing, housing and everything else, all for free (Balchin, 2019). Libraries play a vital role as community hubs where people can get practical help during tough economic times, providing spaces where people can meet, relax, exchange ideas, learn, share and read, regardless of their income, faith, employment or housing status. Post-Covid-19 there is an increase in angry, scared, grief-filled people who have never needed to access government and social services before and shame, embarrassment and despair are key reactions. Libraries are experiencing an upsurge in people needing support to move ahead with their lives.

How would your party ensure that all NZ public libraries are enabled by local government to support the increase in need in their communities?

Labour believes New Zealand’s librarians and public libraries play an incredibly important role in our communities, providing vital services to New Zealanders, particularly during difficult times. That's why we’ve waived the National Library’s subscription charges to libraries for two years to help protect their services and to protect jobs,
In addition to boosting the incomes of low income New Zealanders and rolling out new front-line mental health services, we're investing $30 million over two years to protect 170 librarian jobs and upskill librarians in public libraries so they can provide greater support for library users and help bolster reading and digital literacy.

NZ First: Again, I would point to the recent investment of $60 million dollars, which is how we see central government being able to support local libraries to deliver services that we know the need for will increase over the next few years. Libraries are safe places for our communities and an obvious go-to for informed friendly advice.

The Green Party: We know that adequate funding for our public libraries is hugely important to their ongoing success and the Green Party wants to make sure libraries can continue to develop and respond to the increasing need in our communities. In the wake of COVID-19, it is important that public and social services are still accessible and the Green Party will ensure there is funding available.

National: No response.

Community support

Young people in New Zealand are facing a mental health crisis, with unique challenges faced by young Māori and Pacific people, particularly girls (Menzies et al., 2020). Our youth suicide rate is the second-worst at 14.9 deaths per 100,000 adolescents, more than twice the average among the 41 OECD countries surveyed (UNICEF, 2020). Again, the children most at risk are Māori, and children living rurally and in low-socioeconomic areas.

How would your party leverage and support the role that school, public and tertiary libraries play in providing safe community spaces and support for our youth?

Labour is committed to improving the mental health of New Zealanders, with a particular focus on young people. We’re already rolling out new mental health services to ensure people struggling with mental health or addiction issues get the help they need as early as possible. Already, we’ve put mental health support in all primary and intermediate schools in the Canterbury region through Mana Ake, and free support for 18-24-year-olds in Wellington and Wairarapa through the Piki programme. We’ll continue this important work by making mental health support available to all primary and intermediate school-age students in the country and continued roll-out of nurses in secondary schools.

We’re also establishing a new role of New Zealand Reading Ambassador for children and young people to advocate for, and promote the importance of, reading in the lives of young New Zealanders, their whānau and communities, helping create a ‘nation of readers’. The Ambassador will complement activities in schools and the community to increase reading for pleasure by children and young people. We know from research that reading for pleasure makes a huge difference to a child’s wellbeing and their potential for life-long success.

NZ First: By ensuring that local libraries remain open and running education programmes to ensure that our young people understand that they are free safe places. I also believe that if we can empower our young people to “take a breath” in the calm environment that our libraries can provide through quiet time (it is not as it used to be but still more than many other places). Enhancing the offerings of libraries such as listening books, music and reading for pleasure – all ways to escape from one’s life for a small period of time.

The Green Party: Our education policy recognises that our schools can act as community hubs and learning centres, with integrated community services, such as health, welfare cultural and library services. We want our libraries and schools to be able to participate in collaborations so that wrap-around services are available to our young people. We would provide additional funding to foster and resource this in our communities.

Libraries are neutral, safe public spaces that provide opportunities for our young people to grow intellectually, emotionally, and socially. Libraries need support for a broad mandate to create community spaces that cater to the needs of our young people.

National recognises the importance of community and school in supporting our youth and in preventing suicide. National will establish a Mental Health and Wellbeing Commission, and a Suicide Prevention Office tasked with addressing New Zealand’s mental health challenges.

With a global trend of increasing psychological distress in young people, there is a need for understanding the underlying causes so that the next generation of mental health services are able to address these causes through prevention and intervention. With New Zealand following this international trend of increasing psychological distress in our young people, National believes the way to address this trend is by taking an evidence based approach.

National is committed to undertaking research in mental health to build an evidence base of
what works in New Zealand. Some say that mental health is 50 years behind physical health. With all the developments in physical health over the last 50 years, mental health has a long way to go to catch up.

National will fund a new, fit for purpose baseline study of children and young people. This will enable us to understand the context and conditions underpinning the mental health of New Zealand’s youth and help inform the next generation of mental health services. National will be responsible for implementing the recommendations of this review, including any recommendations around the roles of school, public and tertiary libraries.

School libraries

There is no requirement for New Zealand primary and secondary schools to provide library spaces or services. This results in a lack of equity for students; some have access to a school library led by a school librarian and many do not have a library at their school or access to a library service. A recent international report shows that only 64.6 percent of 15-year-olds in NZ have basic proficiency in reading and maths (UNICEF, 2020). A survey of all New Zealand schools in 2018 and 19 highlighted that a school library is essential for promoting and supporting reading for pleasure, supporting the achievement of literacy standards, strengthening inquiry learning and teaching and enhancing students’ social and emotional learning and well-being (National Library of New Zealand, n.d.).

What will your party do to address the inequitable access of NZ primary and secondary students to a school library staffed by a qualified librarian?

Labour: School libraries and librarians contribute significantly to the development of the reading habits and literacy skills learners need to succeed in education. It is important children and young people can access reading materials and resources that engage their thinking and support their learning.
Schools are responsible for deciding how they use their funding to best meet their students’ educational needs, including the size, location, resourcing and staffing of library spaces. Therefore, a key priority for Labour will be to ensure that schools get enough funding and that it is fairly distributed. Our Fiscal Plan has set aside enough money for each Budget for us to be able to continue to meet cost pressures in education, health and other public services. And we will scrap the blunt and outdated decile system and implement an Equity Index for schools and early learning services, and increase the proportion of funding that is allocated on this basis. This is a huge step towards addressing the inequities in our public education system.
We have also ensured that school librarians are also now paid at least the living wage.
It’s also important that New Zealand kids have a warm, dry, fit for purpose library that they can enjoy reading in. Schools around New Zealand had been putting off urgent property improvements because they couldn’t afford it. That’s why we announced the biggest capital injection for school maintenance funding in at least 25 years, with almost every state school receiving up to $400,000. Already through that, we’re seeing that money being spent on school libraries.

NZ First: I do believe that there needs to be a full review of the provision of qualified librarians for our compulsory schooling sector. There will require an urban and a rural solution to this issue as some of our more rural schools are too small to require a full-time librarian but a cluster of small schools could be funded to employ one say one day per week at each school.

The Green Party: Libraries are a crucial part of school communities and foster curiosity and ideas in the minds of Aotearoa’s future generations. The Green Party is committed to ensuring Aotearoa’s schools, both primary and secondary, have access to a school library staffed by a qualified librarian. We support adequate and targeted funding so primary and secondary students have access to library services.

National: We will ensure more schools have the funding they need for dedicated school library facilities through our $4.8B commitment to additional school infrastructure. We know that too many schools are currently forced to sacrifice their school library due to roll and property pressures and our additional funding will ameliorate this for many.
Our commitment to additional resourcing for school teacher aides, additional school teachers and for responding to children with additional learning needs will reduce the current pressure on operational budgets that leads to so many schools feeling forced to sacrifice their resourcing of library resources.
We have committed to studying and replicating measures that successful schools take to lift student achievement rates. As you point out, library access is often identified as one such driver and by studying this more carefully we will better be able to replicate the practices of successful schools.

Digitisation of local knowledge

Libraries play a role in ‘telling stories of the now” for our future generations; collecting, preserving and providing access to the documentary heritage of their local communities. Libraries are playing a key role in documenting the national and local response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Digital preservation of heritage information and making it available in digital form is expensive and lack of funding, resources and time are challenges facing libraries. Without accessible documentary evidence of where a society has come from, it cannot understand itself or move forward.

What will your party do to enable more libraries to digitise the documentary heritage of their local communities?

Labour: Protecting New Zealand’s taonga, including increasing access to information through digitisation, is a priority for Labour. That's why we're making a significant investment in the work of Archives New Zealand and the National Library, including a new purpose-build Archives facility in Wellington. This will mean that we will have a single campus that holds and preserves our unique documented history and taonga. This investment included specific funding to support the digitisation of high-risk audio-visual collections that are such an important record of New Zealand’s society and history in the second half of the last century.

NZ First: I would like to pursue a conversation with Archives New Zealand and the National Library about how central government could fund initiatives to support the digitisation of local communities heritage – I see an added bonus to this proposition the opening up of this as a career possibility for some of our students knowing that there is a large amount of this work that is required in many nations around the world and a shortage of these in New Zealand.

The Green Party recognises that the arts and cultural heritage have an inherent value to our communities. We will ensure there are resources available so that documentation, heritage collections that are important historically and culturally, can be digitised.

National is supportive of moves to digitise New Zealand’s heritage and the roles libraries play in this. We will consider future initiatives to support libraries (and other bodies) in this role based on relevant evidence. National has supported the uplift given to the digitisation of New Zealand’s literary history and audio visual taonga during this Parliament across our national archival institutions such as Nga Taonga Sound and Vision, Archives New Zealand and the National Library and it is clear that as more content is being sent to these institutions we also have to look at what needs protecting at the grassroots in our local communities. Some local government authorities have been taking a proactive effort in this space and other institutions have sought funding from different Crown entities as well as private and NGO resources but others haven’t had the opportunity and it could see heritage, particularly in our smaller centres, lost to time. National will commit to ensuring constructive engagement takes place to grow community initiatives to digitally archive their heritage and ensure the memories of Aotearoa’s past are preserved.

Sustainable Development Goals

Libraries play a key role in helping the New Zealand government to fully engage in its commitment and obligations to the global UN 2030 Agenda and the Sustainable Development Goals (Greer & Morris, 2019). Libraries play a vital role in helping our country to make progress on many SDG’s including:

SDG 3 – Ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all at all ages
SDG 4 – Ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all
SDG 5 – Achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls
SDG 11 – Make cities and human settlements inclusive safe, resilient and sustainable
SDG 16 – Promote peaceful and inclusive societies for sustainable development, provide access to justice for all and build effective, accountable and inclusive institutions at all levels

What will your party do to ensure that New Zealand makes progress to the UN 2030 Sustainable Development Goals and would you appoint a lead agency for this work?

Labour remains committed to the implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and achievement of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals and will continue working alongside our international partners to achieve those goals. New Zealand has already started work on a number of goals, through a combination of domestic action, leadership on global issues and support for developing countries.
New Zealand’s Voluntary National review outlined challenges and successes, identified areas where work needed to be done and provided a baseline for future reporting. We will continue working to advance the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, both at home and around the world.

NZ First: As co Minister for the development of the Child and Youth Wellbeing Strategy I would continue to work across all government departments to deliver on that strategy – Rt. Hon. Jacinda Ardern and I have created the Child and Youth Wellbeing Unit to lead that work. As the Minister for Seniors I have developed the Better Later Lives strategy for the wellbeing of our older citizens – as the lead Minister for that delivery on the multi-Ministerial group I would continue that work. Education and the understanding of diversity is the key to creating a peaceful and inclusive society – I would continue my work as Associate Minister of Education around anti-bullying and discrimination – I would continue my work as the Minister of Internal Affairs around violent extremism and the support of community programmes to grow understanding.

The Green Party: Sustainable development is crucial to the protection and restoration of our natural environment and the realisation of a fair Aotearoa where everyone can get by – two principles which underpin the Green Party’s key policy priorities. For too long, successive governments have put short term profit before our people and the planet, risking our future. They have prioritised economic growth at the expense of community wellbeing and the environment.

The Green Party strives for climate, environmental and social justice in everything we do and we know none of these goals can be achieved in isolation from each other. We think all arms of Government should be leading Aotearoa towards meeting the UN 2030 Sustainable Development goals. We need to take action on all of these goals because they work best in unison. We would be open to consideration of a lead agency if a need for greater coordination were demonstrated.

National recognises the importance of the UNSDG and the role of libraries in supporting some of those goals. National would continue to support reporting against these goals and will support our Pacific neighbours in reaching them, but sees no reason to appoint a lead agency at this point in time.

Access to research

New Zealanders deserve access to publicly funded research and our researchers require access to international research, but most research information is hidden behind international paywalls. This limits access to information and innovation that underpins our economy. Students, researchers and the general public require access to this content and access is their right, as citizens and taxpayers, for purposes of education, historical research, development of government policies, for innovation in science and technology (Greer & Morris, 2019).

Would your party support a move to “open access” publishing for publicly-funded research?

Labour will continue with a review of the whole Copyright system. The last significant review of the Copyright Act was completed more than a decade ago, and much has changed in that time. The digital environment has created new opportunities to disseminate and access works. We expect that any changes to the accessibility of publicly funded research will fit within this wider review. Kiwis are increasingly using digital content over the internet, sharing platforms and streaming services, so our copyright regime must be robust enough and flexible enough to deal with the challenges of technological advances.

NZ First: We would be very interested in pursuing this concept further and at first blush would be supportive.

The Green Party: Yes. We are committed to open data and data sharing and have all the results of publicly funded research published and held in the public domain, with proceeds from patents, licensing, etc. being reinvested in the funding pool.

National is apprehensive for this proposal due to the myriad of other concerns that may be attached to such a proposal. Many Universities and Tertiary institutions have very supportive access provisions available to students and academics due to an international agreement in this space but there is a sizeable cost involved for those institutions as well as a need to ensure our research reaches around the world for the benefit of all, the cost being associated with the publication and dissemination of that research as well as the time and commitment a teaching institution, organisation or other entity has put into the proliferation of new and innovative academic content. We would believe firmly that any decisions around this would have to be led by the industries primarily involved in the dissemination of the information due to the sizeable financial commitment such a decision could unwittingly invoke as questions related to copyright of the institutions, and the creative rights of the content creators also have to be carefully considered in light of an open access publishing model which could see significant revenue impact as a result of a mandated open access regime. We are willing to continue the conversation in this space with the appropriate stakeholders.

References
Balchin, J. (2019, September 12). Our public libraries play a vital role. Otago Daily Times. https://www.odt.co.nz/opinion/our-public-libraries-play-vital-role

Greer, J., & Morris, M. (2019). The People’s Report on the 2030 Agenda and Sustainable Development Goals: An alternate report for Aotearoa New Zealand. https://www.sdg.org.nz/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/Final_PeopleReport-2019-Dec-2019_for-web.pdf

Hartnett, M. (2020, January 26). Libraries as spaces for digital inclusion – an update. Equity Through Education. https://www.equitythrougheducation.nz/latest-news/2020/1/26/libraries-as-spaces-for-digital-inclusion-an-update

Menzies, R., Gluckman, P., & Poulton, R. (2020). Youth Mental Health in Aotearoa New Zealand: Greater urgency required. Koi Tū: The Centre for Informed Futures, University of Auckland. https://informedfutures.org/wp-content/uploads/Youth-Mental-Health-in-Aotearoa-NZ.pdf

National Library of New Zealand. (n.d.). Importance of the school library in learning – the research. https://natlib.govt.nz/schools/school-libraries/understanding-school-libraries/importance-of-the-school-library-in-learning-the-research#nzresearch

UNICEF Innocenti. (2020). Worlds of influence: Understanding what shapes child well-being in rich countries (Innocenti Report Card 16). UNICEF Office of Research. https://www.unicef-irc.org/publications/pdf/Report-Card-16-Worlds-of-Influence-child-wellbeing.pdf

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Call for judges of the 2021 New Zealand Book Awards for Children and Young Adults

7/10/2020

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The organisers of the New Zealand Book Awards for Children and Young Adults are calling for expressions of interest from members of the children’s literature community who may like to be considered as judges of the 2021 awards. LIANZA urges librarians to apply.

Applications are now open to all those with suitable qualifications and experience, and will close on 30 October. A total of five judges will be appointed for the English language categories and will begin their reading in mid-December. The Wright Family Foundation Te Kura Pounamu Award, for books entirely written in te reo Māori, is judged by a separate panel appointed by Te Rōpū Whakahau, the national body representing Māori within the Library and Information profession in Aotearoa New Zealand.

Nicola Legat, chair of the New Zealand Book Awards Trust, which governs the awards, says the Trust welcomes expressions of interest from both the children’s literature community and members of the public with relevant experience. “Our past panels have included authors, publishers, academics, reviewers, critics, bloggers, booksellers, teachers and librarians. It’s a big commitment but over the years our judges have told us how rewarding they have found it. After all, what could be more satisfying than becoming deeply involved in assessing the best New Zealand books of the year for young readers and celebrating the importance of books and reading?”.

Convenor of the 2020 judges, poet, writer and bookseller Jane Arthur, says of the experience, “Being a judge involves taking an intensive, deep dive into one full year of local children's literature, and coming up for air a few months later with sharpened skills in critiquing and articulating what makes the best books great – and why others might miss the mark. It's a truly terrific, enriching experience and I can't recommend it more.”

The English language judges will deliberate over what is expected to be at least 150 entries in five categories: Junior Fiction (the Wright Family Foundation Esther Glen Award), Young Adult Fiction, Non-Fiction (the Elsie Locke Award), Picture Book and Illustration (the Russell Clark Award). They will select up to five finalists in each, and also up to five Best First Book finalists, then a winner in each category.

The call for entries in the 2021 New Zealand Book Awards for Children and Young Adults will go out to publishers on 18 November 2020. Finalists will be announced in early June 2021, and the awards ceremony is planned for early to mid-August in Wellington.

Expressions of interest forms and background information on the judging process and judges’ responsibilities can be downloaded from the New Zealand Book Awards Trust website or supplied on request by emailing childrensawards@nzbookawards.org.nz. Applications must be submitted by 5pm on Friday 30 October, and should include a brief resume demonstrating the applicant’s experience for the judging role. The judging panel will be selected by the New Zealand Book Awards Trust, which comprises industry stakeholder representatives.

The New Zealand Book Awards for Children and Young Adults are made possible through the generosity, commitment and vision of funders and sponsors Creative New Zealand, HELL Pizza, Wright Family Foundation, LIANZA, Wellington City Council and Nielsen Book.

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Call for judges of the 2021 New Zealand Book Awards for Children and Young Adults

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