LIANZA Murihiku celebrated the mid-winter last Wednesday, immediately after work at The Swan. This is a delightful cosy café in Bath St., a little back street below the lower Octagon https://www.theswan.nz/.
We hired the venue to enjoy the opportunity to catch up with professional colleagues from around Dunedin and beyond. Those who attended, included Fiona Kerr from Waitaki District Libraries, who travelled down from Oamaru, especially for the evening. Marilyn Fordyce, from the University of Otago, and a distinguished Fellow of LIANZA, was also in attendance. Jacinta Beckwith, a member of Te Rōpū Whakahau, blessed the kai before we enjoyed the various platters that had been prepared for us. All up, there were 15 of us in attendance, and a few apologies also received.
The star attraction of the evening was the opportunity for those gathered to meet Mike Wall, the new University of Otago Librarian. Mike took up his duties in person in February of this year, having been offered the position one year earlier, just before Covid19 turned the world upside down. Mike shared with us his story of his attraction to librarianship, the development of his career, and various experiences that have been major influences on his professional development.
Mike also shared with us his experiences over the last year, of continuing to work as Deputy Librarian at Durham University Library during the Covid era. He observed that in the UK, the universities received mixed messages from the Government, making planning that more challenging. During the lockdown period, the senior library management team worked even more closely together – by Zoom – than usual. With the support of various teams, various initiatives that were being planned for roll out over the next two years, were successfully fast tracked and implemented in record time, so as to provide additional support to the University community, by way of technology.
Recently, Mike featured in the Otago Bulletin, where he was interviewed, and you can read more about him, and his journey to New Zealand:
Mike’s Linked In profile can be found at: https://nz.linkedin.com/in/mike-wall-7413b58
Mike also shared with us his experiences over the last year, of continuing to work as Deputy Librarian at Durham University Library during the Covid era. He observed that in the UK, the universities received mixed messages from the Government, making planning that more challenging. During the lockdown period, the senior library management team worked even more closely together – by Zoom – than usual. With the support of various teams, various initiatives that were being planned for roll out over the next two years, were successfully fast tracked and implemented in record time, so as to provide additional support to the University community, by way of technology.
Recently, Mike featured in the Otago Bulletin, where he was interviewed, and you can read more about him, and his journey to New Zealand:
Mike’s Linked In profile can be found at: https://nz.linkedin.com/in/mike-wall-7413b58
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