Virtual Storytimes Aotearoa during COVID-19

​Kia ora, Kia orana, Malo e lelei, Ni sa nula, Talofa lava! Warm greetings!

Today, LIANZA is delighted to inform you that an agreement has been reached enabling public libraries to offer virtual storytimes to their communities. This has been achieved through collaboration with the Coalition for Books.

LIANZA approached the Publishers Association of NZ (PANZ) and Copyright Licencing NZ (CLNZ) on Thursday March 20th to see if an agreement on copyright could be made to enable New Zealand public libraries to provide virtual storytimes during the pandemic.

Our thanks to the LIANZA Standing Committee on Copyright; Mandy Henk,Tohatoha; Paula Browning, Copyright Licensing New Zealand, Catriona Ferguson, Publishers Association of NZ and Jill Rawnsley, Coalition for Books who have pulled out all the stops to make this happen. 

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Virtual Storytimes Aotearoa - Guidelines for Public Libraries

​​Public libraries are keen to ensure that New Zealand children are still able to enjoy all that a good book has to offer during these unsettling times. Providing storytimes for children through online platforms is something that New Zealand authors, publishers, librarians, and the cross-sector organisation, The Coalition for Books, are committed to supporting. We aim to make the process as easy as possible for publishers, authors, and librarians.

​The Coalition for Books is coordinating the relationship between publishers, authors and libraries and have created a webpage  www.coalitionforbooks.nz/storytime which will be available from March 31 and updated regularly. Here you will find a list of publishers who have given their permission for librarians to create online storytimes (in accordance with the guidelines below). The web page will also share links to New Zealand children’s book authors’ own readings and content that can be linked to; this means you may not need to create your own readings.

If you come across an author who is doing their own reading and which isn’t listed, please do let us know via  ellie.coalitionforbooks@gmail.com and we will add it to the list. In this way, we can create a new online storytime community – a positive outcome from COVID-19!
 
There are copyright implications with this kind of initiative, and with the support of Copyright Licensing New Zealand we have created guidelines below which publishers, who are offering their books through this process, ask libraries to follow.

​Guidelines

1.    Please use technology that does not allow a live-streaming or recording to be downloaded by the public. You can use Zoom, Facebook Live, Vimeo, and YouTube as well as others. It may be necessary to adjust the default settings to prevent users from downloading your broadcast.
2.    If you upload a video or host a live-stream, please ensure that you designate the content as ‘Unlisted’ not ‘Public’ when uploading. You can point users to your content via your own website or through your library’s social media
3.    If you use an open-platform (one that isn’t only available to your customers)  please log the following details of the stream or recording into this spreadsheet:

•    Your library name
•    Book title
•    ISBN
•    Author/s and Illustrator/s
•    The link to the reading online

4.    If you make a recording, this should be removed from the platform when we return to Level 3 at which point the scheme will be reviewed.
5.    Please acknowledge the book’s title, author and illustrator and the publisher at the start of your reading.
6.    When you’re streaming or posting, please tag authors and publishers where practical so that they can connect with your audience too.

These special arrangements are temporary and will only remain in force whilst COVID-19 Government Lockdown Level 4 is in place. The scheme will be reviewed when we move to Level 3.
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​If you have any questions about how this guide applies to your particular circumstances, please contact the LIANZA Standing Committee on Copyright at lianzacopyright@gmail.com