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Bill Macnaught, National Librarian, is one of a select few to be awarded a 2019 LIANZA Fellowship. The Fellowships provide a way for the library sector to thank and congratulate those who have served their communities. At the heart of the list are dedicated librarians doing great mahi to bring about positive change. This year, LIANZA, the Library and Information Association of New Zealand Aotearoa, is delighted to announce the following members have been awarded fellowships:
William (Bill) Macnaught, National Librarian; Rachel Esson, Director Content Services at National Library and LIANZA President; Moira Fraser, Project Lead at University of Canterbury Library; Jane Gilbert, recently retired Library Director of the Rotorua Public Library; and Pamela Jones, District Children’s and Young Adults librarian for South Taranaki Libraries. A LIANZA fellowship is the highest level of professional attainment awarded by the Library and Information Association of New Zealand, Aotearoa. Fellowships are awarded to those who have demonstrated outstanding leadership, teaching or research qualities and as a result, has made a significant contribution to the advancement of librarianship and/or information management. The selection committee says “Bill is a strong, visionary leader who works at political and macro levels to ensure an understanding of the strategic and critical importance of libraries in modern society. Bill has achieved significant successes for the National Library: completing the $65 million refit of the National Library, initiating the idea for the He Tohu exhibition providing public access to three key documents that shaped New Zealand, creating the Te Puna Foundation connecting more children and young people to reading. His support for LIANZA has been significant including advice and support for various Executive Officers and more recently with office space after earthquake issues. Bill ensures the National Library and LIANZA work in partnership. Bill’s international work includes continuing links libraries in Singapore, China and Australasia. He worked with the IFLA World Library and Information Congress bid to host WLIC 2022 in Auckland. He is currently Co-Chair of the WLIC 2022 Governing Group. Bill has made a very strong and lasting contribution to New Zealand library service.” Dovetale Press want to give people living with dementia the pleasure of sharing a great read at the public library, improving social connection and confidence. If successful, their kickstarter campaign will provide 6 sets of five Dovetale Press dementia-friendly books to 20 New Zealand public libraries. That's 600 books in all, or a set of books for shared reading in a group of six people at 20 public libraries across New Zealand. If pledging meets 200% success, then 40 libraries will benefit with 1200 books shared in groups, and so forth. Participating libraries also receive a digital resource with suggestions on how to run a dementia-friendly book group. The Dovetale Press series has been produced after years of research into reading and dementia, through the University of Otago and with support from Bupa NZ.
Despite strong efforts to reduce the stigma around dementia, many people still encounter misunderstanding, disrespect and dismissal because of their condition. They may even be treated as children, considered unable to make any decisions for themselves. Philip has been one of these people. Philip is a New Zealander living with dementia, and sometimes he feels that he is excluded from life as he used to know it. People often think that he is incapable of pursuing ordinary hobbies, such as reading. But the reality is quite different. Since he joined a book group at his local library, specially set up for people living with dementia, Philip has found that reading is not just a pastime but a lifeline. Through sharing discussions evoked by reading adapted literary classics such as the stories of Charles Dickens or Katherine Mansfield, he’s been able to talk about incidents buried in his own past, as well as articulating interesting ideas arising from the story. He considers that the book group has helped him to become much more confident and open in his connection with others. He even feels that his memory has improved. His friends and relatives have noticed this too.
While Philip’s lived experience of participating in his book club is striking, he is not alone. Dementia Auckland was approached by the Takapuna Library to help them develop a book group for people living with any cognitive impairment, including dementia. Brenda, the Dementia Key Worker for that area of Auckland, immediately set out to gather lovers of books who are also living with dementia. Through cooperation between the two organizations, the Takapuna Library now has a thriving book group that is open to all. Dementia Auckland GM of Operations, Barbara Fox, deeply believes that reconnecting people living with dementia with their beloved books in their own community library will motivate people to build connections that will flourish as the numbers of people living with dementia increases. Barbara states ‘Libraries are the centers of our communities, and books that are accessible to people living with dementia deepens that sense of community. I encourage all libraries to reach out to the dementia provider in their area for education and support to build these book groups across New Zealand.’ People living with dementia may have difficulties reading standard texts because of problems with memory, which can be particularly frustrating if reading was a favourite pastime for them. Specific challenges that they face in reading are daunting amounts of text, fonts which are too small or not distinct enough, insufficient white space on a page, and difficulty in following the thread of a plot. It can be challenging to understand a story if sentences are very long, if there is a lot of descriptive ‘padding’, or if pronouns are separated from the nouns to which they refer by a lengthy sentence or a page turn.
In the Dovetale Press series, we have addressed these challenges for readers with memory impairment. We have created versions of the classics in which text not essential to the stories has been removed, shortening them considerably and clarifying the plot. The books are lighter than standard novels and thus easier to hold. The referents in the stories have been made very clear, and the pages are designed so that each double page can be read as a single entity, which means that if a person cannot remember what happened on the previous pages, the reading can still be a pleasurable experience. In order to prompt imperfect memories, there are ‘cast lists’ for each novel, and where appropriate a summary is provided after each chapter.
Using the Dovetale Press series, we have initiated an international study on dementia-friendly book groups in collaboration with Bupa Care and the Universities of Otago (Wellington), La Trobe (Melbourne) and Liverpool (UK). Dementia-friendly book groups using the Dovetale Press series are being set up in communities globally, and there have been many positive reports, like the account of Philip. On October 1st Dovetale Press launched a Kickstarter campaign to strengthen New Zealand’s dementia-friendly stance using an exciting new initiative: by creating dementia-friendly book groups at public libraries throughout New Zealand. We are working hand in hand with LIANZA, Alzheimers NZ and Dementia NZ and local associations, to ensure that when the book groups are set up, community support is offered to ensure success for the readers with dementia.
If the Kickstarter campaign is successful, the books will be in libraries by Christmas. People like Philip, living with dementia, will get pleasure out of joining a shared reading group, and because this will take place in the public library, libraries will take centre stage in creating dementia friendly communities: the best possible outcome.
Sally is a Consultant Old Age Psychiatrist working at the Mental Health of Older Persons Service (MHSOP) at Capital and Coast District Health Board. She is a co-convenor of the Stage 1 Psychiatric Training Programme for the Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists (RANZCP), through University of Otago, Wellington campus. As a Senior Research Fellow, she is clinical lead for an international programme on the value of facilitated book groups for people living with dementia. She and linguist Dr Gillian Claridge have published five dementia-friendly books, adapted from classic literature for use in this programme and for individual sale. After completing a qualitative study on how people living with younger onset dementia view facing aged care, she is the founding Board Member of the Younger Onset Dementia Australasian Trust (YODAT), a charitable trust developing age appropriate services for people living with younger onset dementia. She contributed to a late-life suicide research project, through University of Auckland, with results published with merit in the International Psychogeriatric Association Journal. She too enjoys family and grandchildren, who live near her in the Wellington area.
 Tēnā koe, Fakaalofa lahi atu, Kia orana, Ko na mauri, Mālō e lelei, Mālō ni, Ni sa bula, Tālofa, Talofa lava, Warm greetings to you. Wondering how to make the most of social media while at LIANZA 2019 Conference? Never fear, you can follow the tips on this handy cheat sheet!
How to create twitter threads If you are making multiple tweets from one conference presentation you can create a ‘thread’ of tweets by replying to each of your previous tweets. This means people can click on ‘show this thread’ and then read all the tweets in chronological order. We will also be able to ‘unroll’ the threads using https://twitter.com/threadreaderapp and use them a bit like blog posts summarising parts of the conference.  Networking Conference is a great time to meet people in real life that you follow on social media. Definitely go and say hello to people and create connections. The LIANZA Conference Code of Conduct is an easy way to make sure you keep networking productive and fun. Promote free speech and open access Support others to be safe Offer to help Tell people what you like Respect people’s space Remember no means no Honour all perspectives Treat everyone with kindness and respect
Bragging rights and a beautiful trophy will be awarded to the winner by Andy Fenton at 3:35pm on Wednesday 23rd October before the closing of the conference. Special mention prizes are up for grabs too for the most creative and engaging selfies taken against the NZMS feature wall. We look forward to seeing your smiling faces in the NZMS Lounge soon!
Courtney Johnston, Director of Audience and Insights at Te Papa, was a former colleague of Paul Reynolds and spoke about Paul at the presentation. You can read Courtney's speech notes here.
The panel also felt that there is more for the sector to learn in relation to increasing access to our digital collections, and dealing with language diversity (i.e. dialect or mita in the Māori context) and our contribution to the revitalisation of Te Reo through digital collections and discovery. We are sure that Paul Reynolds would have agreed that this is an area that our sector needs to make a step change in.  Paul Reynolds In his acceptance speech Gareth said: Paul Reynolds was a Scot who found a home in Aotearoa. In his work Paul challenged the digital GLAM community to bring value to the citizens of the internet. To help this community to meet this challenge I hope to bring together information about how indigenous communities overseas are sharing digital taonga, and the way that they do this differs or is similar to how we share taonga in Aotearoa. As with other projects funded under the Paul Reynolds Scholarship – The No Numpties Award, we celebrate how valuable it is to share taonga in contemporary times, in a way our tūpuna probably never imagined – I say probably because one thing we learn from our collections is that the kaumātua didn’t talk about limits, but about what was possible. Our collections have kōrero about matakite and ngā tāngata ka mate, ā ka ora ake anō one week later – in short our collections talk about mātauranga and Māori knowledge. When we share them digitally we help to revive them, and sharing is an important function we have as an AV archive. You can read an interview with Gareth about his plans in the October issue of Library Life magazine.
Applications opened this week and will close on November 4. They are open to all those with suitable qualifications and experience. 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.
Catherine Robertson, chair of the children’s awards sub-committee of governing body the New Zealand Book Awards Trust, says the Trust welcomes expressions of interest from experienced members of the public as well as the literary community. “We’ve been fortunate in the past to have been able to attract fantastic judges from all over the country, with a wide range of backgrounds. They’ve included ardent readers of children’s literature as well as librarians, teachers, booksellers, reviewers and authors. It is a commitment, but previous judges have told us how rewarding it is to celebrate reading and honour the absolute best of New Zealand books for young readers.” Crissi Blair, a highly respected reviewer and librarian, was the convenor of the 2019 judges and says of the experience, “This is definitely an experience I’d recommend to any of you who think you have the background and knowledge to apply. It’s a lot of work, but it’s a big learning experience and total thrill to see the look on the faces of the readers and the creators of the amazing finalists and winners.” The English language judges will deliberate over an expected 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 2020 New Zealand Book Awards for Children and Young Adults will go out to publishers on 20 November 2019. Finalists will be announced in early June 2020, and the awards ceremony will be held in Wellington in August. 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 Monday 4 November, 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, Te Papa and Nielsen Book.
Matt has given us tools to deflect harebrained ideas for unusable metrics and urged us to try and get involved with council planning as early as possible. "Planning and measurement inform each other – what gets measured gets managed," says Matt. Further reading:
Strategic Reframing: The Oxford Scenario Planning Approach by Rafael Ramírez and Angela Wilkinson The value of everything: making and taking in the global economy by Mariana Mazzucato Public Value: How can it be measured, managed and grown? Nesta (PDF) The Mission of the Librarian by José Ortega y Gasset, James Lewis and Ray Carpenter Scenario planning in public libraries: a discussion by Matt Finch and Rafael Ramirez The National Librarian and Te Puna Foundation announced today that applications for the 2020 Helen Zwartz scholarship are now being requested.
The Helen Zwartz Scholarship provides $3,000 funding to enable a librarian or staff member working in a public library serving one of New Zealand’s smaller communities, to undertake an internship at the National Library of New Zealand. The internship gives the recipient of the Helen Zwartz Scholarship the opportunity to experience working at the National Library and receive mentoring from National Library staff. The programme is tailored to the recipient’s professional development requirements and can either be of a general nature, covering the range of work carried out at the library or focused on an area of interest to the recipient such as cataloguing, digitisation, conservation, digital preservation, literacy promotion. Please visit https://natlib.govt.nz/about-us/scholarships-and-awards/helen-zwartz-scholarship for more about Helen and to read the criteria and download the application form. Sandra Haigh, recipient of Helen Zwartz Scholarship 2019, says: “I was the fortunate recipient of the Helen Zwartz Scholarship in 2019, which enabled me to work alongside professional staff from the National Library of New Zealand (NLNZ), the Alexander Turnbull Library (ATL) and Archives New Zealand (ArchivesNZ), and learn from them over a period of three weeks, starting on Monday 29th April and finishing on Friday 17th May 2019.  Register now for the WILD Imaginings Children’s Writers’ and Illustrators’ Hui!
WILD Imaginings promises a scintillating programme delivered by some of the country’s most celebrated children’s book creators and influential industry professionals. Check out the WILD Imaginings programme here:https://tinyurl.com/yxdbasv8 Discounted early bird registration is now open for this national hui, which takes place in Dunedin on the weekend of 8-10 November, in association with Storylines. Enjoy an invigorating weekend immersed in the world of children’s books, in the heart of New Zealand’s UNESCO City of Literature! Register for WILD Imaginings: https://tinyurl.com/y3pmyes8 Follow the WILD Imaginings Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/wildimaginings2019/ Read more about the hui at: https://hail.to/dunedin-public-libraries/publication/eKPYDjC/article/53fWEh7
Organised by VOLUME, the 2018 New Zealand Bookshop of the Year, the festival will enable attendees to hear from authors whose books they have enjoyed and discover authors whose books they will go on to enjoy. The intimate scale of the festival will also enable readers to meet and talk with authors and other literary enthusiasts. “The VOLUME Mapua Literary Festival will emphasise the same qualities that we emphasise in our bookshop,” says Thomas Koed, co-owner of VOLUME with Stella Chrysostomou. “The festival will be small but of a very high quality. The speakers will be so interesting that we imagine attendees will want to attend all sessions.” A percentage of all ticket sales will benefit the Mapua Community Library, who have held literary fundraising events in previous years. The Library are organising a quiz evening and a schools’ programme as part of this year’s festival. "There is a natural synergy between bookshops and libraries in fostering reading in the community. VOLUME is very pleased to be donating a portion of ticket sales to support a library that serves its community well and would not exist without donations. We are grateful for the library's practical assistance and support" says Thomas.
Writers attending the festival this year include Lloyd Jones, Ashleigh Young, Carl Shuker, Paula Morris, Annette Lees, Gregory O’Brien, Jenny Bornholdt, Thomasin Sleigh, Lynn Jenner and Eirlys Hunter.
Mapua is a delightful coastal settlement with a village feel, half an hour’s drive from Nelson. It is well provided with cafés and restaurants and accommodation, making it perfect for a literary weekend getaway. The full programme for the VOLUME MAPUA LITERARY FESTIVAL is available on-line at www.volume.nz, or from VOLUME, and libraries and bookshops around the country. |
AUTHORLibraries Aotearoa Archives
November 2019
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