Welcome back National Library of New Zealand!

On Monday May 17, the National Library of New Zealand was welcomed back to the National and State Libraries Australia (NSLA). 

Rachel Esson, National Librarian of Aotearoa New Zealand shared with LIANZA her statement and the statement from Dr Marie-Louise Ayres, NSLA Chair and Director General, National Library of Australia. The NSLA logo will be tweaked to 'National and State Libraries Australasia'.

We are looking forward to seeing what exciting changes and opportunities re-joining NSLA will bring to the library sector in Aotearoa New Zealand.

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Dr Marie-Louise Ayres, NSLA Chair and Director General
​National Library of Australia

Dr Marie-Louise Ayers NSLA Chair and Director General, National Library of Australia

My colleagues and I are delighted to be welcoming back Te Puna Mātauranga o Aotearoa, the National Library of New Zealand, as a member of NSLA. We look forward to having National Librarian Rachel Esson join us on the NSLA Executive Council as of July 2021.

Our nearly fifty-year history as an organisation has seen NSLA member libraries come together in various combinations at different times, but always with the shared understanding that we can provide better library services and collections by working together. The National Library of New Zealand was a formal member of NSLA for well over a decade before taking a hiatus in 2018, and made a very significant contribution to our project activities and professional development as a sector in that time.

In the intervening years, the focus for NSLA has been strongly on Australian projects such as the National eDeposit (NED) service and Culturally Safe Libraries Program, but we have continued to collaborate with colleagues over the Tasman. We’re now well positioned to embark upon a range of projects and advocacy activities together – building on the current NSLA strategic plan – and to join forces through our many professional networks and advisory groups.

You’ll notice a minor change to the NSLA logo from July, back to National and State Libraries Australasia. Those two small additional letters signify one very big collaboration, and it’s one that we are justly proud of.

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Statement on behalf of Rachel Esson, Te Pouhuaki National Librarian
Aotearoa New Zealand

​Te Puna Mātauranga o Aotearoa National Library of New Zealand is delighted to be re-joining National and State Libraries Australia (NSLA).

Te Pouhuaki National Librarian Rachel Esson says, “My leadership-team colleagues and I see significant value in refreshing the formal links with our closest counterparts in Australasia.”

We have strong interest in the collaborative priorities NSLA has identified and look forward to working with colleagues in Australia to contribute to these priorities.

Rachel Esson Te Pouhuaki National Librarian Aotearoa New Zealand

​We believe that the National Library of New Zealand can make a unique and positive contribution to achieving these priorities. In particular, taking collections across Australasia into consideration will enhance ambitions to ensure collections reflect the full diversity of our populations.

We also believe that our experience, and continuing development, of working in partnership with Māori can contribute to the mahi (work) of building cultural and intellectual capital.

The relationships we build with our Australian colleagues through working together are invaluable and, in our current COVID context, the trans-Tasman networks are now more important than ever.

Waiho i te toipoto, kaua i te toiroa (Let us keep close together, not wide apart).