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.

​As a member of LIANZA, you understand that access to information and a sense of community are vital components for positive wellbeing. Libraries play a significant role in maintaining feelings of connectedness in their communities, but during crises like the Covid-19 pandemic access to them is limited.
 
The closure of libraries and other community hubs during the pandemic highlights the importance of being able to access collections and resources online. Our Recollect team launched the Recollect Journey campaign in response to the GLAM sector’s evolving needs. It helps organisations reconnect with their communities, gives them the opportunity to share their collections again, and encourages community engagement even when their physical spaces are closed to the public. 
 
Recollect gives librarians the tools to maintain their collections from home by providing digital access. Staff can work on a range of tasks including collection management, accessioning, and cataloguing. New material can also be collated to tell contemporary stories — perhaps relating to Covid-19 and how our communities worked together to “flatten the curve.” Recollect makes it easy to record and preserve this knowledge, giving people the chance to learn from it and reflect on what we could do differently. 
 
Make it through this unsettling period by creating opportunities for your staff to upskill and manage collections online. Your team can empower communities through Recollect, guaranteeing they can engage with the past and share information that informs the future. Recollect helps protect cultural heritage and ensures future generations have access to the information it provides — knowledge which often gives deeper meaning to our society.
 
We can help you get your most important collections online and instantly make them accessible to your community. Your team will be able to upload content to Recollect and inspire your communities. More options become available to you the further you travel on your Recollect journey: create a unique online identity, manage a higher volume of assets, and take control of site administration.
 
As well as directly benefiting your community, Recollect can equip librarians with meaningful work to complete from home. Starting your Recollect Journey enriches your collections, allows you to capture and manage content, and gives you the opportunity to discuss new ideas from anywhere in the world.
 
Recollect is an online platform that supports digital access, discovery, engagement, management, and preservation of cultural heritage and special collections. Over the past five years Recollect has experienced steady growth within Australasia, and recently NZMS split Recollect into its own company. By “spinning out” from NZMS, Recollect can more easily raise capital and pursue overseas expansion.
 
While Recollect is now a separate company, it still aligns perfectly with NZMS’s mission: to offer excellent digitisation and preservation services for the protection of New Zealand’s cultural heritage. To this end, NZMS will continue to act as the Recollect New Zealand reseller and provide support to the wider Recollect Community.
 
Embark on your Recollect Journey by telling us about your collections and the communities you want to inspire and engage. Get started here.
 

We made the decision to close our physical library early. 
  
As one of the most beautiful spaces at Middlemore Hospital , designed for collaboration as well as respite from the stresses and challenges of working on the wards, the Counties Manukau Health Library is a popular space for all staff to work both together and alone.  A place of congregation open to staff 24/7.  Understanding that with our hospital cleaners being deployed to focus on priority clinical areas we could not guarantee the safety of the physical environment.  We could not continue to promote the physical space as a place of coming together.
 
Moreover as a staff team , some with vulnerable partners and parents and others being the primary care givers for young children, it became clear very early on that we would not be able to maintain a continuous face to face library service on site.  We needed to understand and respect the needs of our library staff and transition to a remote work environment.
 
For the foreseeable future we would offer a purely virtual library service.
 
In many ways we had anticipated this shift long before it become a matter of necessity.  Our large collections of journals and clinical texts are digital.  Our systems for access and management of our collections are cloud based.  We have had in place for a number of years digital communication channels for both the request and delivery of services such as literature searching, evidence synthesis and interloan. We have long ago enabled remote access to collections, resources and services to all of our staff and also to our partners in primary and community care.
 
The demand for our services during the COVID-19 pandemic has never been higher.  Responding with urgency to literature search requests from across the organisation has cast a spotlight on the expertise and dedication of our library team.  Examples of the types of questions that my team of information specialists have responded to in the last couple of weeks include:
 
Redeployment of the health workforce in a crisis situation (ie pandemic, natural disaster, war, etc). Is there a framework for managing risks and capacity planning in these situations?
 
What are the postoperative risks or complications identified in patients with COVID-19 and how do we prevent/manage/treat this?
 
What is the evidence to guide the telephone and virtual clinic implementation for Manukau Super Clinic?
 
What is the clinical evidence around : Faecal-Oral Transmission of COVID  ; Endoscopy and COVID-Colonoscopy; Laparoscopic Surgery and COVID ; Labour and birth care of Covid 19 women ; clinical practice / patient selection for invasive versus non-invasive ventilation and oxygen support therapies for Covid-19 etcetera etcetera
  
The evidence base to guide our searches and synthesis is growing exponentially day by day as clinicians and researchers globally grapple with new problems and seek solutions.  Identification , interrogation and curation of the highest quality evidence sources and an ability to evaluate and synthesise the research base into a coherent and digestable form is critical.
 
Twice weekly we disseminate to staff a COVID-19 evidence update that includes the latest research and clinical guidance from a broad range of sources.  Members of the library team are embedded in projects and initiatives to roll out new service responses and to create frameworks for monitoring and evaluating the impact of new initiatives.
 
The team have risen to the challenge to be important contributors to our organisational response to the COVID-19 pandemic.  As much as we are aware of the urgency of the work that needs to be done we are also aware as a team of the need to stay healthy ourselves, physically and mentally.  We meet twice each week via Zoom to touch base on work priorities and just as critically on how each of us is doing.  Members of the team participate in wider organisational virtual get togethers such as Monday morning karakia and waiata, and virtual shared lunches and Friday  afternoon drinks.
 
There is already a strong sense across the organisation that some of the ways of providing clinical care and support for patients and whanau both at the hospital and in the community will be forever changed by the dramatic shifts and changes forced upon us by COVID-19.  I have a sense that the same may be true of the library service.  The application of technology to both work remotely and collaborate across multiple teams and initiatives has proven to be highly effective and is certainly the way of the future. 
 
In a recent essay the celebrated Indian author, Arundhati Roy states that
 
.."Historically, pandemics have forced humans to break with the past and imagine their world anew. This one is no different. It is a portal, a gateway between one world and the next.

We can choose to walk through it, dragging the carcasses of our prejudice and hatred, our avarice, our data banks and dead ideas, our dead rivers and smoky skies behind us. Or we can walk through lightly, with little luggage, ready to imagine another world. And ready to fight for it."”
 
Arundhati Roy: ‘The pandemic is a portal’
Financial Times. April 4, 2020
https://www.ft.com/content/10d8f5e8-74eb-11ea-95fe-fcd274e920ca
 
 
I believe that in times such as these we must throw off the shackles of the past and embrace the opportunities to reimagine the value we can add and the contribution we can make to our organisations and communities.  In the face of massive disruption and uncertainty the role of librarians as highly skilled and trusted knowledge navigators has never been more relevant or valued.
 
 
Peter Murgatroyd
Library & Knowledge Services Manager
Counties Manukau Health
 
Peter is National Convenor of the LIANZA Health SIG.
 

I am a good listener, a great trainer/teacher and I am incredibly passionate about the work and the difference every single library makes. I think our school library shows any visitor how different a library can be and how excited children can get about one single space!

I believe the greatest need for libraries at this time is awareness, especially with the recent negative media on school libraries; awareness of what we offer in all libraries, what the community needs us to be there for, why whanau want our services, the difference libraries, books and the technology and knowledge we offer matters. Education for library staff that you do matter and providing a long term form of support, an ongoing forum for ideas and giving the chance to showcase any library, no matter how small.
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