| We are very pleased to announce the inaugural LIANZA Regional Community Conference Grant Recipients. These grants are funded through the newly-established LIANZA Community Contestable Fund. Thank you to everyone who applied and to the LIANZA regional community representatives who were on the selection panel. The recipients are: Chelsea Renshaw – Hikuwai; Mel Chivers – Te Whakakitenga aa Kaimai; Sinead Carroll – Te Upoko te Ika a Maui; and Fiona Kerr – Otago Southland |  |
The recipients have shared with us why they want to attend LIANZA Conference 2019 and what they are looking forward to learning from the 2019 Conference Programme.
 | Chelsea Renshaw, MOTAT’s Walsh Memorial Library. I have been working in a special library for three years as an Assistant Librarian and I am about to complete my MIS specialising in Library Science, Archives and Records Management. With the exciting culmination of my studies I have been thinking about the next steps in my library career. I’d like to hear more about leadership and strategy in the library sector to help create this opportunity in my career. I am particularly interested in attending ‘Mind-the-gap: or why a library needs a manager’; ‘Ma tini, Mano, Ka rapa te whai’; and ‘Co-design: Kotahitanga with our community’. These three talks have all been tagged with either leadership or strategy. I see these as highly related – strategic thinking needs effective leadership to realise a vision. Leadership to me is about looking at ways to excite and motivate the people around you and helping them achieve their vision for library, whether they are a staff member or member of the community. I would love to hear more from my cohort to see what challenges and opportunities we are facing. Ultimately, I want to be inspired by the work being done by people around me because I believe that it has a domino effect that furthers our community ethos of learning and sharing! |
As an information professional I value a learning style of sharing with the people around me. I see a synergy between the LIANZA vision and mission which speaks of connectedness and empowerment, and developing a cohort that is responsive to information needs.
 | Mel Chivers, University of Waikato Library The last conference I attended was LIANZA 2015, which opened my eyes to the amazing things happening in libraries, and reinvigorated my excitement in our profession. The networking opportunities of attending a multi-day conference really helped me to develop real connections with colleagues around the country. I am currently working to update my professional registration and I believe attending conference would help pull me out of a little professional rut. Some of the sessions that most excite me:
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- ‘It's Party time! Social Research Consultations for Postgraduates’ – we held a similar “meet & eat” with doctoral students with variable success so I’m eager to hear the experience and advice from Ceire Hopley.
- ‘What are research-librarian skills and how do we get them?’ – this issue is very pertinent to the challenges me and my team are currently facing and I’d love to hear this talk and engage in this debate with colleagues from other universities.
- ‘It takes a community to raise a reader’ – on a more personal level as a parent of a very young lover of books I would love to attend this session to learn how we can support her to grow up as a reader.
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Looking through the conference programme, I am certain that I will be able to implement innovations from other libraries into my own practice, and in wider library support and services. I feel that by attending conference I will better be able to strengthen my own network and connection to the wider library community – in my workplace, my region, and across Aotearoa and beyond.
 | Sinead Carroll, Taita Library I work as the Manager for Taita Library which is part of the Walter Nash Centre, a multipurpose community facility in the north east of Lower Hutt. My job is exciting and diverse, and I get to be part of a bustling centre, which hosts major events such as Regional Awards, Basketball tournaments, and musical performances, as well as offering traditional library services and a range of community programmes. However working in a non-traditional library means that I sometimes feel somewhat disconnected from my profession – operating a busy community library (open 8.30am till 8pm) means that keeping the place running is the priority, and PD plans don’t always go according to schedule. This year, I am so thrilled that Selina Tusitala Marsh is one of the keynote speakers – her poetry is astounding and relevant, and I am eager to hear about her journey to become our Poet Laureate. At Taita we are always looking for tips about working with our rangatahi – Monika Nair from Auckland Libraries discussing the practical applications of principles for youth engagement sounds very relevant. |
I would also like to hear Miriam Tuohy from services to schools about helping to empower tamariki to become lifelong learners, and how libraries across all sectors can collaborate to achieve this.
I am interested in how to best make use of integrated services, and how unconventional partnerships can help a community to thrive. I am therefore keen to hear from Rotorua libraries about their health hub, as well as Hastings Libraries partnership with corrections.
I am keen to learn more about professional registration from my colleagues in the profession, so the panel focussing on the benefit or registration will be great for my own interests, and so I can advise my team members.
While I am a member of LIANZA, my interactions with fellow members from the Wellington region are often limited to library events and training. I hope to form new connections while at conference, and will endeavour to foster these relationships by sharing knowledge, talking through ideas, and supporting each other to empower our communities.
I am interested in how to best make use of integrated services, and how unconventional partnerships can help a community to thrive. I am therefore keen to hear from Rotorua libraries about their health hub, as well as Hastings Libraries partnership with corrections.
I am keen to learn more about professional registration from my colleagues in the profession, so the panel focussing on the benefit or registration will be great for my own interests, and so I can advise my team members.
While I am a member of LIANZA, my interactions with fellow members from the Wellington region are often limited to library events and training. I hope to form new connections while at conference, and will endeavour to foster these relationships by sharing knowledge, talking through ideas, and supporting each other to empower our communities.
 | Fiona Kerr, Waitaki District Libraries Every time I have been fortunate enough to attend LIANZA conferences, I have found myself re-energized and full of enthusiasm for the library profession. Having an opportunity to attend the LIANZA 2019 conference will benefit me professionally in a number of ways. As Youth Librarian at Waitaki District Libraries, I support an increasingly diverse community. There are a number of conference sessions that focus on libraries collaborating with diverse communities. Since 2014 I have been supporting our Pacific communities to share language and cultural activities as well as supporting young people with information needs, resources and planning for the future. |
Sessions that I am particularly interested in attending are: ‘Value Pacific Youth place on librarianship as a potential career’, and ‘Vā Pasifika: cultural engagement from the old plantation’. In addition, sessions that look at co-designing with communities such as ‘Co-design – kotahitanga with our community’ and ‘Harnessing collaboration and co-design to create positive community change’ are of particular interest to Waitaki District Libraries future direction.
On a personal level I am a fledgling ukulele player and am excited to attend the ‘Pasifika ukulele workshop – learn a Pasifika “Omni-Action-Song”. It will also give me another avenue to interact with the Waitaki District’s Pasifika communities.
In terms of my personal career path I am becoming increasingly interested in leadership and management. The session called ‘Mind the Gap: or why a library needs a manager’ is one that is particularly relevant to my needs. This session will also support my future study of The Graduate Certificate in Library and Information Leadership through the Open Polytechnic of New Zealand.
On a personal level I am a fledgling ukulele player and am excited to attend the ‘Pasifika ukulele workshop – learn a Pasifika “Omni-Action-Song”. It will also give me another avenue to interact with the Waitaki District’s Pasifika communities.
In terms of my personal career path I am becoming increasingly interested in leadership and management. The session called ‘Mind the Gap: or why a library needs a manager’ is one that is particularly relevant to my needs. This session will also support my future study of The Graduate Certificate in Library and Information Leadership through the Open Polytechnic of New Zealand.
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