Inclusivity: LIANZA Aoraki Weekend School 2021
Saturday 15th – 16th May
Weekend School hosted by NMIT, Nelson and Tūranga Library, Christchurch

Your LIANZA Aoraki committee presents Inclusivity: LIANZA Aoraki Weekend School 2021. This weekend is about celebrating the diversity of our communities and sharing how to reflect this in our roles as information professionals to create more inclusive libraries, particularly as we navigate our changing role post COVID19.

The two day event will consist of a range of speakers from library assistants to managers, all of whom have hands-on experience in creating collections, services, or programmes for individuals from all walks of life. They will share their knowledge of recognising and connecting to individuals and their uniqueness while providing you with the skills to do the same.

Our aim is to make the ideas, inspiration and knowledge shared during the weekend accessible to members across our region. For this reason, events will be held in both Christchurch and Nelson locations with live streaming between. Those in these cities will be able to hear from speakers face-to-face before watching live streaming of the talk happening in the other location. 

This weekend is also about LIANZA members taking the time to network and socialise with one another, so throughout the weekend there will be time for discussion and planned social events. Watching events thorough Zoom as a group also allows time to discuss and share our thoughts with other attendees after the speaker , as we want to ensure this aspect of the weekend school is not lost.

Detailed programme, registration process and fee information coming soon.

Registrations will open Monday 5th April and close Friday 30th April 2021.

CALL FOR ABSTRACTS
A call for abstracts is being made to colleagues across all library and information sectors to present during the course of the weekend. Talks will generally be 20 minutes not including an extra 5-10 minutes for questions at the end.

Please indicate if you would prefer a longer or shorter session. We are looking for the different ways in which people and organisations are celebrating inclusivity in all library sectors both pre and post-COVID19.

If you are a new professional and looking to gain some experience presenting, we encourage you to see this as an opportunity to do this in a welcoming atmosphere. 

Deadline for abstracts is 28th February 2021. Please submit abstract here!
You can also get in touch with Rosamund to ask any questions about the programme.

​Books that explore issues of identity, domestic life, war, food, our natural world and our people are among the 40 works of poetry, prose and non-fiction longlisted for the 2021 Ockham New Zealand Book Awards announced today.
The works, selected from 179 entries, range from intimate to global in scale and traverse cultural, historic, artistic and imagined landscapes.

There are 13 first-time authors among the long-listees, a testament to the vibrancy of our country’s literature says New Zealand Book Awards trustee Jenna Todd. 

“There is such vitality in this year’s longlist, demonstrated by a diverse group, and including young and first-time authors. Half of this year’s Jann Medlicott Acorn Prize for Fiction longlistees are debut novelists, which is extraordinary. They sit alongside some of our greatest living writers.

“There’s a year’s worth of reading here for those seeking considered perspectives on our modern zeitgeist, for readers wanting to be wowed by the beauty of art and nature, or for those wanting to escape into imagined realities.
“With writing and publishing of this calibre, it’s no surprise that New Zealand’s book boom continues.”

Revenue from sales of New Zealand-published adult books captured by Nielsen BookScan in 2020 was up 12.5 percent on the year before, despite the challenges of the pandemic. Submissions to the Ockham New Zealand Book Awards have increased by 16 percent over the last two years.

The Awards also attracted a new sponsor this year. Booksellers Aotearoa New Zealand has secured naming rights to the Illustrated Non-Fiction category for the next five years.

Booksellers Aotearoa New Zealand chair Juliet Blyth says the association – which celebrates its centenary this year – is beyond delighted to support the Ockham New Zealand Book Awards, and the authors and illustrators who contribute so much to our cultural life. “Booksellers around the country hold these awards in high esteem, and the impact the awards have on sales of New Zealand books is immediate.

“Throughout 2020, booksellers around the country enjoyed the support of many New Zealanders reading more and buying locally. We wanted to demonstrate our appreciation, on behalf of our members, by giving back to the industry, the writers, the illustrators and the publishers who have created so many wonderful stories for booksellers to put on their shelves,” says Ms Blyth.
 
The 2021 Ockham New Zealand Book Awards longlisted works are: ​

The 2021 Ockham New Zealand Book Awards shortlist of 16 titles will be announced on 3 March 2021. The winners, including the four MitoQ Best First Book awards, will be announced at a public ceremony on 12 May during the 2021 Auckland Writers Festival.  

To find out more about the longlisted titles go to http://www.nzbookawards.nz/new-zealand-book-awards/2021-awards/longlist/

The Jann Medlicott Acorn Prize for Fiction, which offers $57,000 to the winner in 2021, will be judged by writer and reviewer Kiran Dass; books editor and award-winning feature writer Paul Little; and writer Claire Finlayson, former Programme Director of the Dunedin Writers & Readers Festival. They will be joined by an international judge, whose identity will be revealed in March 2021, to decide the ultimate winner from their shortlist of four.
 
Finalists and the ultimate winner in the Mary and Peter Biggs Award for Poetry will be selected by writer, poet, academic and 2018 Ockham New Zealand Book Awards finalist Briar Wood (Te Hikutu ki Hokianga, Ngāpuhi Nui); teacher and award-winning poet and novelist Anne Kennedy; and professor of English at the University of Otago Jacob Edmond.
​
The Booksellers Aotearoa New Zealand Award for Illustrated Non-Fiction will be judged by Dale Cousens (Ngāruahine) of the National Library of New Zealand; bookseller and former publisher Brian Phillips; and writer, multi-award-winning graphic designer and magazine art director Jenny Nicholls.
 
The General Non-Fiction Award will be judged by editor and associate professor of English at the University of Waikato Sarah Shieff; filmmaker and lecturer in Māori history at Victoria University Wellington Arini Loader (Ngāti Raukawa, Te Whānau-a-Apanui, Ngāti Whakaue); and Dunedin bookseller Michael Yeomans.
 
The Ockham New Zealand Book Awards are supported by Ockham Residential, Creative New Zealand, Jann Medlicott and the Acorn Foundation, Mary and Peter Biggs CNZM, MitoQ, Booksellers Aotearoa New Zealand and the Auckland Writers Festival.

Kete (www.ketebooks.co.nz) was developed in July 2020 thanks to a grant from Creative New Zealand to provide a place for New Zealand books to be listed and reviewed. It was initially conceived as we watched numerous magazines disappear, threatening to leave NZ books out of our daily lives. Thankfully, post lock-down, things are looking a little more positive for the books of Aotearoa with a number of key magazines returning to the market and new publications starting up. However, we still see value in providing a place for the books of Aotearoa to be showcased alongside the work of other authors from Aotearoa.
 
And we continue to be a place for reviews of local work. Dionne Christian (former deputy editor of Canvas and Arts/Books Editor for the New Zealand Herald) is the Reviews Editor for Kete. She is always keen to hear from people with a specialist interest in or knowledge of Aotearoa books who are keen to review or compile helpful articles directing readers to our country’s books.
 
Kete aims to translate approximately 25% of its reviews into te reo Māori, a service which may be of interest to library users.
 
The Coalition for Books – which manages Kete – is an organisation formed in 2019 encompassing a number of key organisations in literature in Aotearoa. As such, the Coalition has been successful in accessing funding to continue review work for Kete in the first half of 2021 (at least), which means that reviewers are remunerated for their work. Prospective reviewers should contact Dionne Christian at reviews@ketebooks.co.nz with a brief background paragraph, outlining relevant qualifications or experience, specific interests or expertise (e.g. specific genre of interest, science fiction, young adult fiction, etc.) and – if available – a sample (or link to a piece) of their written work.  She is especially keen to hear from those with an interest in Young Adult and science fiction/speculative fiction.
 
The Coalition has an agreement with Stuff that means reviews from Kete are reproduced in print and online by Stuff, and therefore all reviewers are asked to sign a contract outlining the standard fees for 400-600 word and 1000+ word reviews, along with acceptance that the copyright of reviews belongs with the Coalition, the moral right is the reviewers, and that the Coalition may share
the Review with other publishers, in which case the Coalition will require the Reviewer be attributed, but the Reviewer will not be entitled to further payment or royalty.
 
The parties acknowledge that there may be re-publication on social media and accept that the Coalition has no responsibility for the adequacy of attribution in those circumstances. All reviewers are paid on acceptance of the review for publication by Dionne Christian.
 
Reviews can be submitted in a variety of forms – personal response is welcome (see examples here: https://www.ketebooks.co.nz/all-book-reviews/nouns-verbs-etc-fiona-farrell and https://www.ketebooks.co.nz/all-book-reviews/navigating-the-stars-witi-ihimaera-www.ketebooks.co.nz/all-book-reviews/navigating-the-stars-witi-ihimaera-lmz9z ) and a positioning of the work in question within the NZ literary landscape is always welcome. Kete is designed for the average reader of New Zealand books – we aim to highlight new publications on a regular basis, and list all recently published books in New Zealand as per data from Nielsen. We will also add in details for self-published works if authors/publishers contact us but encourage everyone to ensure they list details of their work with Nielsen for accuracy and completeness.
 
The search function under New Books is worth playing around with as we try to tag books with as many useful identifiers as we can.
 
You can also subscribe to the Kete weekly newsletter which highlights new publications, new reviews on Kete, and new reviews elsewhere in the media of New Zealand books. Kete also publishes the latest bestseller lists for New Zealand books on a weekly basis, and this is included in the newsletter on a Thursday lunchtime.
 
Kete also houses a calendar of literary events which may be of use to local libraries.
 
We are always open to suggestions from users and contributors – and we look forward to hearing from the libraries of Aotearoa!
 
 

​The name is based on the pepeha and waiata written by Whia Bella Tarawhiti for Te Puna Matauranga o Aotearoa 
​
Kōkiri, kōkiri, kōkiri!
Whakarongo ake au ki ngā reo o te motu
E karanga mai ana
Huakina mai ngā tatau o tō whare
Kia Mahi Tahi tātou, kia inu ai mātou
I Te Puna Mātauranga o Aotearoa

The message from the people clearly asks us to open our doors so that we may work together and share the information held in Te Puna Mātauranga o Aotearoa. The title is a unique and original compound word that illuminates the role of the National Librarian as on the slide. 

A whakamana is not as formal as a whakatau, colleagues were able to come forward and talk about their hopes for the national library and for me in the role. This photo montage is of a few of those who spoke, including Anahera Morehu and Ana Pickering who spoke for LIANZA. 

It really felt like there was a change moving me from Director of Content Services into this new role. I also got a chance to speak. In my speech, I said three things: I thanked my colleagues and my family; I acknowledged the role of libraries and the importance they have in our society – the contribution they can make to our communities; and the third thing was my commitment. My commitment to being in the role and my commitment to the National Library team. I committed to working in partnership; to keep learning; and to be honest and courageous.

​Then I asked my colleagues to do the same, particularly to be honest and courageous because when you are in a role like National Librarian you can’t do your best if you are working in isolation and if people aren’t telling you the things that you need to hear.

​So, like I did at my whakamana, I am committing to those same things with the library community, with the library sector. I am committing to work in partnership; I am committing to keep learning and I am committing to being honest and courageous. I need you to do the same. I need you to work with me, because I can’t be that stalwart and mentor without help from all of you.

This photograph shows Honiana Love, Pou Ārahi of Nga Taonga Sound & Vision, and Courtney Johnson who’s the CE of Te Papa, and myself. I think it signals a change – it wasn’t that long ago that those roles were filled with a different demographic. ​

Role of the Te Puna Mātauranga o Aotearoa
​
The National Library is more than just a concrete bunker in Wellington; it’s more than just the services that we provide; it is part of a network of libraries in Aotearoa (I like to think it is a vital part); it’s part of an international network of libraries. The national Library was built in 1965. It amalgamated the Alexander Turnbull Library, School Library Services, and the General Assembly Library. It’s currently structured into five areas: Content Services; Services to Schools, DigitalNZ, Alexander Turnbull Library; and our public engagement team, who connect the knowledge in the collections with communities.
​
According to the National Library Act, the purpose of the National Library
Purpose of National Library is:

This last part in particular sets where we are. We are not just that concrete monolith; we are not just that network of services; we are part of the fabric of libraries in Aotearoa and libraries across the world. 

​Again – I am particularly interested co-operation. Because we are a small country, so we have some resourcing challenges but we also have opportunities to work together. We are not like Australia, where they have a State and Federal system, which can make things a bit difficult. We actually have some extraordinary opportunities. I said this to the national Library team, when it was announced that I had the role, “I think our time is now”. I think we can leverage things like Tāhuhu, like the NZLPP, the reading ambassador – we’ve got investment, we’ve got the certainty of a government governing alone for the next few years and a government that is supportive of libraries. Let’s work together to make the most of it! 

There will be some challenges – copyright will be a gnarly one but we can contribute to that conversation. Workforce development is an ongoing thing – we want diversity in our libraries, we want them to be reflecting our communities and that’s an ongoing challenge. We also have the National Digitisation Strategy, digital preservation as a service and open access strategies. But I also see all these challenges as opportunities. 

A new specialised storage facility in Levin will help to meet the growing needs of the National Library of New Zealand, Archives New Zealand and Ngā Taonga Sound & Vision.

The Department of Internal Affairs has purchased land for the new repository, which will provide more space for the growing holdings and collections of these three institutions.

“The purpose-built facility will provide the level of protection and care our documentary heritage needs. The development will also provide employment opportunities for the local construction workforce,” says the Department’s Deputy Chief Executive and Tāhuhu Programme Executive, Peter Murray. 

The construction of the new repository is subject to further funding decisions; however, design work will commence immediately, and the building is scheduled for completion in 2025. 

The new facility will hold low-use documentary heritage, including collection items that have been digitised and are accessible online, it also covers audio-visual material, government records, books, microfilm, films and much more.
​
The repository will provide specialised lighting, temperature and humidity control storage space, and security and protection from risks such as water damage, fire, earthquakes and pests.

“This documentary heritage and taonga are treasured possessions of the nation and represent a unique and authoritative source of our history,” says Peter Murray. 

This storage facility is part of Tāhuhu: Preserving the Nation’s Memory – a larger programme of work that also includes a new Wellington Archives building which will be connected by an airbridge to the National Library to enable co-location and greater collaboration between the National Library, Archives and Ngā Taonga. 

An esteemed academic, a noted author, an experienced bookseller, a school librarian and a public librarian, as well as three respected proponents of te reo and te ao Māori, have been selected to judge entries in the 2021 New Zealand Book Awards for Children and Young Adults. 

​​Palmerston North school librarian Alan Dingley, who was also a judge in the 2020 awards, will convene the English language panel. He will be joined by senior lecturer in Children’s Literature at the University of Waikato, Nicola Daly; award-winning author and educationalist, Pauline (Vaeluaga) Smith; longtime children’s bookseller, Mary Sangster; and public librarian, composer and performer, Stephen Clothier. 

Anahera points to the upcoming International Decade of Indigenous Languages (from 2022) and the increasing number of books being published in te reo as an opportune environment in which to participate in the awards. “The future looks exciting for literacy and for encouraging reading in te reo Māori,” she says.
 
The judges will read and appraise an expected 160 or so entries in six categories: Picture Book, Junior Fiction (the Wright Family Foundation Esther Glen Award), Young Adult Fiction, Non-Fiction (the Elsie Locke Award), Illustration (the Russell Clark Award) and te reo Māori (the Wright Family Foundation Te Kura Pounamu Award). They will select up to five finalists in each category, as well as up to five finalists for a Best First Book Award, and then a winner in each category. The overall winner, the Margaret Mahy Award for Book of the Year, will be decided from the six main category winners.
 
Submissions for the 2021 awards are now open to books published between 1 April 2020 and 31 March 2021. The first deadline, for books published up to 30 November 2020, is Tuesday 15 December 2020. More details about how to enter can be found here: http://www.nzbookawards.nz/new-zealand-book-awards-for-children-and-young-adults/how-to-enter/
 
Category finalists will be announced on 10 June 2021 and the awards ceremony is due to be held in Wellington on 11 August 2021, preceded by a programme of finalist author events under the Books Alive banner.
 
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.
 
For more information about the 2021 judges, see below or go here: http://www.nzbookawards.nz/new-zealand-book-awards-for-children-and-young-adults/2021-awards/judges/
​

Te Puna Mātauranga o Aotearoa National Library of New Zealand and our partners are calling for nominations for Te Awhi Rito New Zealand Reading Ambassador for children and young people.

Te Awhi Rito Reading Ambassador is a new role that will support and champion the importance of reading in the lives of young New Zealanders, their whānau and communities.

 “We’re looking for the right person to inspire, empower and mobilise powerful, positive reading experiences for children, young people, whānau, and communities in Aotearoa New Zealand.” says Kate De Goldi, chair of Te Puna Foundation.

As a national reading role model, the Reading Ambassador will increase the visibility and awareness of reading across all sectors, helping to create a nation of readers. They will make connections between the many organisations involved in reading, literacy, literature and the wellbeing of young people.

The Reading Ambassador will also build the appreciation and growth of stories and literature that reflect Aotearoa New Zealand, including increased creation of and access to reading resources in Te Reo Māori and the diverse languages and cultures of Aotearoa.

For more information about the role of Te Awhi Rito New Zealand Ambassador and how to submit a nomination online, follow this link.

Nominations close on Friday 22 January 2021.
​
The National Library of New Zealand leads the initiative, Te Awhi Rito New Zealand Ambassador in partnership with Te Puna Foundation, Read New Zealand Te Pou Muramura, Creative New Zealand Toi Aotearoa and Storylines Children’s Literature Charitable Trust Te Whare Waituhi Tamariki o Aotearoa.