SLANZA is pleased to announce that a new resource for school library staff is now available from our website here: Resources | Professional Development.
Many of our members, and others working in New Zealand school libraries, take part in LIANZA’s Professional Registration scheme. Maintaining a journal as part of the process of revalidation can be very challenging, and SLANZA is keen to support our members undergoing that process. We hope that the document we have published today, which specifically targets school library staff who are revalidating their LIANZA registration, goes some way towards that. The document provides examples and practical ideas you can use to develop your skills and experience across the bodies of knowledge, and also to document evidence of that professional growth. The foundation document for LIANZA’s Professional Registration scheme, and a range of related information, is available from LIANZA's website. SLANZA very gratefully acknowledges the help of members who have contributed to this document, particularly Donna Watt (Invercargill City Libraries) and Trish Webster (Rangitoto College). We are currently establishing a network of mentors who have volunteered (via our Pool of Talent) to provide support to those working through the revalidation process. We’ll have more information about this for you later in the term. Miriam Tuohy for SLANZA’s Professional Development team
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SLANZA is part of the National Reading Initiatives Group, which is a range of organisations that are working together to map summer reading programmes across New Zealand. The group wants to establish a nationwide summer reading programme, linking schools, families and public libraries, but we need to establish a baseline first. If your library or school runs a summer reading programme or summer reading activities, we would be very grateful if you could complete the survey.
Reading for Pleasure Initiatives Survey The Reading for Pleasure Initiatives Survey is being conducted by the New Zealand Book Council on behalf of the National Reading Initiatives Group, which includes SLANZA. The aim is to map the range and spread of reading engagement initiatives in New Zealand, and to identify particular areas of need, as well as opportunities for collaboration and co-ordination. We would greatly appreciate you taking part in the survey if you manage or co-ordinate a reading engagement programme or initiative. The survey is an online questionnaire hosted by SurveyMonkey. Please read the following points before using the survey link below to begin: · Please complete the survey separately for each discrete initiative run by your school. · This is a survey of reading engagement activity and programmes across New Zealand, and its focus is reading for pleasure, as distinct from literacy programmes. · The questions refer to the way your initiative stimulates engagement in reading or an interest in books by New Zealanders. · Once you begin, your answers will not be saved if you leave the survey and return to finish it later, so it will need to be completed at one sitting. Below is a copy of the survey questions, for your reference. We recommend you review the questions in this document before beginning the survey. · If you would like further information about the National Reading Initiatives Group and this project, you can read it here: www.bookcouncil.org.nz/users/Image/General/Downloads/National Reading Initiatives Group_Survey.pdf · The survey period ends on Friday August 23. We thank you for your responses before then! Please don’t hesitate to contact us at [email protected] if you have any questions or problems with the survey. You can also contact Catriona Ferguson at the Book Council on 021 02482637 if you have an urgent enquiry or problem. To begin the survey, please click here (or copy https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/WNR69BT into your internet browser). Thank you Nadya Kooznetzoff New Zealand Book Council on behalf of the National Reading Initiatives Group National Reading Initiatives Group Reading for Pleasure Initiatives Survey - Questions This is a survey of reading engagement activity and programmes across New Zealand, and its focus is reading for pleasure, as distinct from literacy programmes. The following questions refer to the way your initiative stimulates engagement or interest in reading or in books by New Zealanders. This is the list of questions in the survey, for your advance information, but we ask that you complete the survey online at https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/WNR69BT Please don’t hesitate to contact us at [email protected] if you have any questions or problems with the survey. 1. Initiative/ programme name: 2. Managing organisation/lead agency in the delivery of this initiative: 3. Any partnering organisations in this initiative or sponsors: 4. This initiative is administered within: · The library sector · The publishing/bookselling industry · A not-for-profit/charity/community organisation · The education sector · Other (please specify) 5. Best contact person (name and email address): 6. Please briefly describe the initiative or programme (30-50 words): 7. What is the primary objective or purpose of your initiative/programme?: 8. Which of the following best describes how this initiative stimulates reading for pleasure or an interest in books?: (please select one option) · This initiative is an event or series of events, where the primary focus is to celebrate writing or writers, illustrators and reading (including festivals) · The primary focus is to increase access to books, through owning or borrowing (this would include book distribution programmes and retail promotions) · The primary focus of this initiative is the reading experience, and increasing motivation to read, pleasure from reading, and/or frequency of reading · The primary focus of this initiative is on building capability, skills, knowledge and confidence among students, families/whānau, teachers and librarians · The primary focus of this initiative is to champion reading, writers and writing (this would include awards; mentor/hero programmes and public awareness campaigns) Comment: 9. Do any others apply? Please select one option, or 'Not applicable'. · This initiative is an event or series of events, where the primary focus is to celebrate writing or writers, illustrators and reading (including festivals) · The primary focus is to increase access to books, through owning or borrowing (this would include book distribution programmes and retail promotions) · The primary focus of this initiative is the reading experience, and increasing motivation to read, pleasure from reading, and/or frequency of reading · The primary focus of this initiative is on building capability, skills, knowledge and confidence among students, families/whānau, teachers and librarians · The primary focus of this initiative is to champion reading, writers and writing (this would include awards; mentor/hero programmes and public awareness campaigns) · Not applicable What types of readers are you attempting to reach with this initiative?: (select as many as appropriate) 10. Type/s of readers · Regular readers · Occasional readers · Non-readers 11. Age group/s · Pre-school children · School children – primary · School children – secondary · Young adults (17-20 years) · Adults (21+) 12. Other target groups (for example, families, school decile grouping/s, income level/s, ethnicity): 13. Which channel/s do you use to deliver your activity or service, or reach your target audience: (select as many as appropriate) · Retail · Media · Online · Schools · Libraries · Public events · Other community location · Homes · Other (please specify): 14. Which would you consider best describes the scale of the activity (within its field)?: (select one) · Small · Medium · Large If possible, please indicate levels of participation or reach, or budget to explain your answer: 15. Which of these options best describes your geographical reach? (select one) · National · Targeted regional · Targeted centre/s (please specify which city/cities or town/s) If your initiative targets a particular region(s) or centre(s), please specify here: 16. What would you describe as the main benefits of your initiative? 17. Tell us about your success with this initiative. How do you measure this success? We are keen to hear about successes measured qualitatively or quantitatively. Please include, if possible, such success measures as reach of the target audience, geographical coverage, growth targets Success: Means of measurement: Success: Means of measurement: Success: Means of measurement: Comments/more: 18. Is there anything that restricts or inhibits better engagement by your target audience in your initiative? Please indicate any restrictions or barriers, from a reader’s point of view: (select as many as appropriate) · geography · lack of awareness · cost of participation · cultural relevance · skills/confidence · other/comment Survey ends We are calling for contributions to our next issue of "Collected", to be published this term. This issue has a conference theme, what did you learn, what were the highlights, if your weren't there this is what you missed.
We also require book reviews relevant to school libraries and are looking for keen proofreaders, you know who you are... you never miss a mistake and it drives you crazy that nobody noticed it before publication. Further clarification for submissions regarding guidelines can be found at: http://www.slanza.org.nz/uploads/9/7/5/5/9755821/_collectedsubmissionguidelines.pdf Deadline for contributions is Thursday 5 September. If you are planning on submitting, please contact me as soon as possible so we can make space for you. Email for further information or to send an article is [email protected] or you may reply to this address. We look forward to your contributions! Lisa Salter SLANZA Communications Leader Hi everyone,
Below is my final President's report, presented at the recent AGM. Thank you all very much for coming to today's AGM. This AGM is an important one for our organisation as there are several amendments to the Constitution that need to be presented for ratification. Once the amendments have been ratified, the Constitution can be altered to reflect those and the updated Constitution will be lodged with the Companies Office. We will move on to that part of the agenda after the reports from myself and Carole Gardiner, our Administrative Officer but you need to know that if the amendments and financial reports are not accepted, SLANZA will cease to exist as an entity from July 31st as we will not have a current Constitution and financial reports filed with the Companies Office, as required by law.This is because the 2011 financial report compiled by Deloitte was not presented as it had inaccuracies, so it has had to be re-done and presented now. I hope you all enjoyed the Awards presentation last night. It was a privilege to have made the presentations both last year and this year. We have a small team who co-ordinate and organise the Awards and they do a lot of work in a very short time. Thank you to Lisa Salter for convening the Awards committee and making sure I had everything I needed to be able to present the awards. The last year has been an extremely busy one for the National Executive. On your behalf, we submitted a response to the Inquiry into 21st century learning environments. Michele Whiting and I spoke to the Select Committee about our submission, with our key messages being the absolute necessity of school libraries to support student learning and achievement and the need to fund and staff them adequately to do this, and the disparity that now exists for our schools. This message was reflected in the Inquiry's report, however it has no ability to effect change in the ways schools are funded or resourced. We also were invited to contribute to an article in the Education Gazette about the transformation of school libraries. It was wonderful to have the opportunity to outline how school libraries can support student learning and achievement as well as identifying how new technologies can make us work smarter so we can work with students and teachers far more. It is very important to us that members can access information to support them in a variety of ways. Collected continues to be an absolute stand out every issue, and I'd like to thank Donna Watt for her leadership in starting up Collected. As Donna has now stepped down from SLANZA, we owe a big thank you to Lisa Salter for taking over from Donna so capably, as the editor of Collected and also as our Communications Leader. Lisa will be calling for articles for the next issue of Collected, which is all about conference, so I hope you'll contribute something. We'd like to know what you discovered, how the conference has made a difference to your professional practice, what you thought was interesting or challenging and how that has affected you. A massive vote of thanks is due to Miriam Tuohy, our technical guru, being responsible for the crisp design of Collected. Miriam is also responsible for the update of the SLANZA website, which is a giant step forward in usability and ease of navigation for all users. Many of you will have used the SLANZA wiki, especially the reading lists. These were very useful but the format wasn't the most user friendly. I'd like to express my appreciation to Miriam, Bridget Schaumann, Karen Carswell and Carole Gardiner, for all the work they put in over the summer break, tidying up lists, collating and combining, transcribing everything over to the new reading website. I think you'll all agree that the new site is magnificent - so user friendly, attractive and current. it is a really valuable resource which I hope you are all sharing with your staff and students. And as if Miriam wasn't busy enough, she also spent a lot of time over the summer investigating badges for professional development. We were really excited when Miriam demonstrated her brilliant concept for SLANZA online PD and I am really grateful to Miriam and the test team who worked through the modules as guinea pigs, sorry - beta testers! I know that we were totally oversubscribed and that lots of you missed out, but it is going to be run again and we will work through the wait list. Some people have asked what value do you get for being a member that non- members won't have and that is why you must be a member to participate in the online PD. As your President, I've been representing you on the Steering Group for the National Year of Reading, or Word Up! as it was renamed last year. Despite trying very hard to obtain sponsorship and partners from the business world, we were unsuccessful and so a year of reading is now on hold. However the Steering Group of NL, APLM, LIANZA, SLANZA, TRW, the Book Council has not given up and we are now looking at National Reading Initiatives, because together we are stronger and able to accomplish so much more. One area of focus is the concept of a nationwide summer reading programme for summer 2014-15. The Book Council of New Zealand is investigating exactly what happens for summer reading everywhere across the country, so we can work out who is going to need what if our idea is to come to fruition. Very soon you will be sent an email from your regional representative which will have a link to a survey from the Book Council. Please fill it in if you do any kind of summer reading with your students. It doesn't have to be a big programme, as we want to get the scale of what is happening everywhere. I would love it if we had a significant response from those in school libraries, to show that we are aware of the need to keep kids reading and we are doing just that! Another focus has been strengthening links with other groups in the library sector. I attend regular meetings of the Strategic Advisory Forum, convened by National Library, which is attended by representatives from LIANZA, TE Ropu Whakahau, NZLLA, APLM, Open Polytechnic, CONZUL, Health SIG. We share what is happening in our sector and look at ways we can support each other. For example, LIANZA wanted to know how they could attract more people in school, libraries to attend their conferences, so we had a frank discussion about relevance, cost, timing etc. I previewed the reading website and the online PD modules to SAF and everyone was most impressed because there is a bit of a perception that we are the poor relation at the table! OK, so we are in comparative terms, but in terms of looking after our members by providing affordable targeted PD, we are ahead of the game. LIANZA convened a cross sector meeting in April which Miriam and I attended. The focus was the similarities and differences between organisations, how we can work together and not reinvent the wheel. It is an opportunity to start having closer links with LIANZA and Te Ropu Whakahau especially and we are continuing to talk to them about how we can potentially work together. The Conference committee have done a superb job. We are going to thank them properly tomorrow, but I just wanted to acknowledge them now, as part of the formal record of the AGM, as this is a truly great conference. We are now going to move to the financial reports and appointment of the Auditor Membership report (Carole Gardiner, Administration Officer) Ratification of changes to Constitution Any other business There are many people who have given a huge amount to time to SLANZA but have now stepped off regional committees or the National Executive and I'd like to acknowledge them now. I owe a huge vote of thanks to all on the National Executive, for their dedication, hard work, willingness to take on new projects, pitching in to sort out problems and good humour! We've had a difficult time recently with the administrative areas of SLANZA and have discovered that if this area isn't running smoothly, neither are we. The biggest vote of thanks goes to our new Administration Officer, Carole Gardiner, as without her persistence, digging into the difficulties, and sorting out the chaos we found ourselves in, we would not be here today. (And that isn't actually a joke....) Carole has spent countless hours sorting out exactly what we needed to do to move forward and I am very very grateful. She is the perfect person for this role and we are very lucky to have her working with us. As your President, I've tried really hard to visit all the regions and almost succeeded! Thank you all so much for the privilege of leading SLANZA. I've had so many opportunities to participate in such a range of events and projects over the last two years and intend to continue supporting SLANZA at a national and regional level. Our organisation continues in good heart, with a truly dedicated group making up the National Executive. We have new people coming on to the Executive now and I'd like to formally welcome Saskia Hill, Michelle Simms and Trish Webster to the Executive. It is time for me to perform my last duty as President and hand over to our new President, Bridget Schaumann. Bridget is the librarian and careers advisor at Kings High in Dunedin and has been part of SLANZA nationally and regionally for a number of years, as well as being a moving force in the development of the SLANZA wiki, the reading website and our social media presence. This is actually Bridget's second time on the National Executive and we are so lucky that she has generously chosen to provide her guidance, knowledge and enthusiasm to us. It gives me great joy to pass on to Bridget the official SLANZA taonga and the mantle of SLANZA Presidency because we all know she is going to be brilliant! Hi
News from the National Executive meeting over the holidays: Winds of Change SLANZA Conference 2013, the Wellington team pulled out all the stops to create a worthwhile learning experience for our members. To read more check out our blog at: http://www.slanza.org.nz/1/post/2013/07/fantastic-conference.html To read about our new life members go to: http://www.slanza.org.nz/1/post/2013/07/life-membership-awarded-at-conference.html To read about this years’ SLANZA Award winners go to: http://www.slanza.org.nz/1/post/2013/07/2013-slanza-awards-list.html Conference keynotes and workshops available at: http://www.slanza.org.nz/2013-conference.html We were grateful for the attendance at our AGM at conference as there were many important issues to discuss, the most significant was the updating of our Constitution, which we realised over the last year no longer reflected our current practice and needed updating. Things like considering working on online platforms and adding provision for Life Membership. While we needed to remove the requirement of having a LIANZA and National Library Rep on the NE as it has not been current practice, we are keen to find ways to engage with these organisations and will work towards keeping our relationships with them relevant and fruitful. We acknowledge that we are working towards a common goal and working more closely will increase all our abilities to provide relevant services to our users. At the National Executive meeting the day after conference, Thursday 18 July, opened with members buzzing about the success of the band of dedicated volunteers who provided our members with the opportunity for high quality professional development, exposure to world class key note speakers and networking with like minded professionals. We sincerely thank them for their work, the workshop presenters and all those who attended. It was pleasing to see so many faces from National Library, public libraries, international schools and LIANZA supporting our conference as well. The morning meeting started with outgoing president Fiona Mackie sharing her report and updating members on the National Reading Initiatives proposal which combines the expertise of National Library, Public Libraries, LIANZA, SLANZA, Association of Public Library Managers, Te Rōpū Whakahau and The Book Council of New Zealand working for a common goal. As an organization we are keen to be involved at this level working towards worthwhile programmes that support our libraries and services. We welcomed new representatives Saskia Hill for Aoraki, Michele Sims for Waikato Bay of Plenty and look forward to having Trish Webster for Auckland at our next meeting. Next our new president Bridget Schaumann shared her vision of what she would like to see SLANZA achieve over the next two years. Briefly she would like to use our combined experience and energy to provide useful resources for our members, create better networks for sharing and supporting each other and tap into our members experience creating a ‘pool of talent’ to raise the level of librarianship and share useful skills with our members. Basically Bridget would like to see the National Executive be busy, focused and active for our members. The National Executive is divided up into Membership and Advocacy, Communication and Professional Development teams to work in a focused way for members. We are working on meeting our current members needs, promoting our services to encourage new members and providing best practice for libraries with a repository of useful things to share like RLIANZA resources. We will be working towards our goals in the coming months, as well as supporting our regions. Our next National Executive meeting will be held in November. Please feel free to contact your local representative with any suggestions or requests, details are on our website. Lisa Salter SLANZA Communications Leader Awards Recipients 2013
SLANZA encourages and rewards excellence in school libraries, recognising the success and achievement of those working in and with school libraries, with a series of annual awards. These are the recipients of the 2013 awards: Award of merit for literacy and enjoyment of reading Trina Yuretich, Teacher with Library Responsibilty, Ahipara School Nominated by Jeannie Skinner and Jennifer Puckey Trina has demonstrated excellence across several areas of school library development. She has transformed the library environment with vibrant displays, and developed the library as a hub for reading, enabling a reading culture to develop throughout the school. The summer reading programme she organised over the summer holidays has significantly reduced student summer learning loss. Trina takes advantage of all the professional development opportunities available to her, as well as organising such literary events as Storylines and Kids Lit Quiz for her students to attend during the year. Pam Garry, Library Manager, John McGlashen College Nominated by Carole Gardiner and Bridget Schaumann Pam is forward thinking and solution focussed in the education world. She is always trying new things and working to improve existing things. Pam runs a range of stimulating and exciting reading programmes throughout the school such as a peer reading programme; Go McGlashan Read, and Chockywockydoodah. She is an adjudicator for the speech competition, and organises the SHRIMP holiday reading packs to ensure minimal loss of student learning through summer school holidays. Pam is an excellent colleague who keep in close contact with all departments, especially English, and creates exciting visual displays for the library. Her contributions to the reading and learning of the students are wise, well-considered and always practical. Glenys Bichan, Librarian, Cambridge High School Nominated by Linda McCullough and Vicki Stephens Under Glenys’s guidance the use of the library has increased greatly. This is the result of well-run book promotions, the creation of a welcoming environment within the library and timely promotions of current events to capture student interest. She has embraced digital technology by developing a number of digital resources, and moved the school into the area of ebooks, providing students with access to these resources from home. Glenys is always responsive to the changing learning needs of her students. Kimberley Atkinson, Librarian, Robertson Road School, Mangere, Auckland References: Ravi Naidoo and John Nicholls Kimberley works in a decile one, full primary school with 500 students and a 90% Pasifika student roll. Some examples of the innovative programmes she has initiated are the creating of Māori and Pacific collections, introducing graphic novels, a parenting library, which matches well with the Home School programme run throughout the school community, series boxes for fiction and the presentation of all fiction in face-out position. Kimberley has had great success with her funding applications to several organisations and has used the money wisely to increase the number of reading resources in the library. Her school is now a part of the Authors in Schools programme with recent visits from Kyle Mewburn, Tracey Duncan and Paula Green. Kimberley has proven herself to be a passionate advocate for her school library, with the reading and literacy interest of her students always at the heart of her work. Award of merit for promotion Tracy Westall, Librarian, Diocesan School for Girls, Auckland Nominated by Elizabeth Atkinson and Chris Arthur Tracy is acknowledged for the energy and passion she brings to her work, ensuring that her library is a vibrant and exciting place for readers to discover and enjoy a range of books and resources. Tracy has been extremely successful in promoting and encouraging use of the library, in ways that are centred on students, and foster a sense of ownership and belonging for them. Michelle Simms, Librarian, Te Totara Primary School, Hamilton Nominated by Jude Cosson and Linday McCullough Michelle is acknowledged for her innovative and proactive promotion of her library to members of her school community. Michelle’s sharing of new ideas and information reaches beyond her school into the wider school library and education communities; she is a role model for the ways technology can be used to enhance library services and develop community connections. Award of merit for Library Manager Clare Giesbers, Library Manager, Northland College, Kaikohe Nominated by Jeannie Skinner and Jennifer Puckey Clare is acknowledged for her unflagging commitment and enthusiasm, despite difficult circumstances, to the development of her library as a relevant and engaging environment that is positive, welcoming and inclusive for all students and staff at her school. Award of merit for Information Literacy Clare Forrest, Library Manager, Raroa Normal Intermediate, Wellington Nominated by Jason Ataera and Janet Hart Clare is acknowledged as a valuable member of her staff who has successfully developed and implemented an effective approach to improving students’ literacy, and has been able to share these approaches with the wider library/school community. Principal’s Awards Sandy Hastings, Beckenham Primary School, Christchurch Nominated by Glenda Fortune and Paula Eskett Sandy is recognised for providing inspiration and actively demonstrates how highly valued the library and it’s services are in the school community. Patrick Drumm, Aorere College, Auckland Nominated by Anne Rolinson, supported by Bharathi Char and Kaaren Hirst Patrick is acknowledged for his sustained support of the library team and consistently promoting the importance of the library to the school and the wider community. Lee Whitelaw, Ohaeawai School, Kaikohe Nominated by Jeannie Skinner and Jennifer Puckey Lee is recognised for placing the library at the heart of literacy and learning at Ohaeawai School creating enthusiastic, fluent, engaged readers and writers. Lee sees the library as integral to achieving that goal. Philip McCreery, Cambridge High School, Cambridge Nominated by Glenys Bichan and Richard Carter Philip has supported the creation of the library as the hub of learning in the school allowing it to consistently demonstrate innovation; fostering high morale among staff and promoting community use of the library. Certificates of Appreciation Awarded to retiring regional chairs and National Executive representatives Kaaren Hirst - retiring Auckland regional chair Bridget Schaumann - retiring Otago regional chair Donna Watt - retiring Southland regional chair Bharathi Char - retiring National Executive Representative, Auckland region Di Eastwood - retiring Te Tai Tokerau chair Michele Ayres - retiring National Executive Representative, Aoraki region Jude Cosson - retiring National Executive Representative, Waikato / Bay of Plenty region Donna Watt - retiring National Executive Representative, Southland region Paula Eskett - retiring National Executive Representative, Aoraki region Michele Whiting - retiring National Executive Representative, Wellington region Certificate of Appreciation awarded to Past President Fiona Mackie Certificates of Appreciation awarded to members of the 2013 conference committee Michele Whiting - Corinna School Karen Clarke - St Patrick's College, Kilbirnie Katrina Young-Drew - National Library of New Zealand, Services to Schools Clare Forrest - Raroa Normal Intermediate School Robbie Wathne - Rongotai College Christine Cross - Worser Bay School Joanna Ludbrook - Houghton Valley School Anne Keenan - Sacred Heart College, Lower Hutt Judith McGhie - Hutt City Libraries Marianne Dobie - Chilton Saint James School Jane Shallcrass - Wellington High School Rosalba Finnerty - Samuel Marsden Collegiate School Archives Jenny Carroll - Wellington Girls' College Susan Arthur - Mana Education Centre Angela Ryan - Mana Education Centre As one of my last acts as President, it gave me great pleasure to be able to announce who had received Life Membership of SLANZA during last week's conference.
We were delighted at the calibre of the nominations for the people who received Life Membership as they exemplify all the qualities and attributes of best practice in literacy, advocacy, promotion, professional development and also a very evident willingness to be involved on a local and national level. The recipients are as listed: Pauline McCowan In recognition of Pauline’s contribution to the formation of SLANZA, her long term role on the National Executive and SLANZAK and her promotion of SLANZA nationally. Her participation on conference committees and her constant support of school librarians and their value over the last 12 years. Pauline’s involvement with SLANZA dates from the very earliest meetings of the organisation. She was part of the Auckland School Library Association (ASLA) for many years and then contributed to the creation of SLANZA, was on the National Executive for several years and was a member of the IASL and Auckland conference committees. At the local level, Pauline was actively involved with SLANZAK until her retirement in 2011, organising professional development and events as well as presenting at SLANZA conferences nationally. Pauline also trained as a teacher-librarian and has shared her knowledge of information literacy programmes and love of literature with others through her work at National Library. John Fowler In recognition of John’s long term role and contribution to the ASLA and SLANZAK committees over the past 34 years, his involvement in the provision of professional development in the Auckland region and his participation in the organisation of the IASL conference and the Auckland conferences. 34 years - what an amazing contribution to school libraries John has made. He joined ASLA in 1979, quickly becoming the secretary and was the Chair for seven years. John helped to form SLANZAK, was part of the the IASL and both Auckland conference committees, and has contributed greatly to providing professional development opportunities in the Auckland area too. John has just stepped down from SLANZAK and has signalled his intention to retire from Kings’ College at the end of the year, where he has been a teacher-librarian for 20 years. His quiet manner and institutional knowledge will be greatly missed. Jeannie Skinner In recognition of the tireless effort Jeannie has put into the development of Te Tai Tokerau as a region, for her advocacy and passion for the promotion of literacy and reading, and the unstinting support Jeannie has provided to all involved in school libraries across Northland. Jeannie’s nomination was accompanied by several heartfelt testimonies, outlining the dedication Jeannie has shown to SLANZA and the invaluable support she provides to all people involved with school libraries across Te Tai Tokerau. Jeannie is known for her love of and advocacy for all forms of literature and has been instrumental in assisting schools to apply for grants to improve their libraries and collections. She is a moving force in ensuring Northland has author tours and the Storylines festival, to the envy of other areas. She has served on the committee for since it began and one of the testimonies said: Since Jeannie returned to Northland, she has always been on the SLANZA committee, and it will be a sad day when this is not so. Linda McCullough In recognition of Linda’s work on behalf of the SLANZA members of the Waikato/Bay of Plenty region, her continuous service to the schools in the area and her dedication to fostering the development of people on the regional committee, and for her efforts to provide excellent PD and support to members in the Waikato/Bay of Plenty. Linda has worked tirelessly for the Waikato/Bay of Plenty area and has put a huge amount of effort into growing the talents and abilities of those on the Waikato/Bay of Plenty committee, ensuring the stability and development of the committee. Linda has been involved with SLANZA since the steering committee meetings in 2000 and has been on the Waikato/Bay of Plenty committee since the beginning. She has played a crucial part in ensuring many others are recognised for their achievements and her nominators have quite rightly pointed out that it is time Linda was recognised for all she has done for others. Adaire Hannah In recognition of Adaire’s advocacy for all involved in school libraries across New Zealand, her advocacy to people in very high places and to other organisations on behalf of SLANZA, her work in ensuring students have the information literacy skills necessary for success and her participation in SLANZA in Wellington and nationally over the past 12 years. Adaire’s dedication to SLANZA and her advocacy for all working in school libraries is legendary. She is renowned as someone who is forthright and direct and has used that to promote the cause of SLANZA and school libraries everywhere, as part of National Executive and as a SLANZA representative on committees such as TPSAC and the PPTA ICT taskforce. Adaire was part of the Wellington SLANZA committee since its inception and she also has been part of the very successful Wellington conferences too, both as a convenor of conference committees and as a presenter. Adaire’s work as a teacher-librarian was recognised nationally by SLANZA and LIANZA, for the whole school information literacy programme she created and has run in collaboration with other staff throughout Wellington High. Glenda Fortune In recognition of Glenda’s contribution to the formation of SLANZA, and her long term role on the Aoraki committee. Also for her support in so many ways of SLANZA and the work it does, but especially for the outstanding support she has provided to all in Christchurch during the last two years. Glenda was part of the original group who discussed the possibility of a national organisation for those interested in school libraries, and she has been part of the Aoraki committee since then. as well as organising professional development on a local level, she has has been on both the Christchurch conference committees, and has presented at conferences too. One of the most touching parts of Glenda’s nomination was reading about how Glenda has supported, helped and lead people who have been affected by the Canterbury earthquakes and they say: Glenda remains our quiet peaceful harbour giving us wisdom and support throughout. Congratulations to our new Life Members and thank you for the dedication you have shown to SLANZA. We were promised 'Winds of Change' at the SLANZA 2013 conference in Wellington. What we hadn't bargained for was 'high winds close airport on Sunday"! Some of us were at airports around the country on Sunday rescheduling our flights and taking refuge with local 'flockmates' to ride out the storm.
Fortunately the storm did not dampen the spirits of those who arrived in time for the "meet and greet" at the conference venue. The conversation, food and wine flowed freely into the evening as members caught up with old friends and made new ones before setting off to enjoy the well known eateries of Wellington. Monday morning started with Professor Tara Brabazon "Learning to Leisure? Why Google is not a library and Facebook is not a classroom" enlightening delegates with her thoughts on digital medium’s place in education and the blurred line between generational understanding and use. Workshops followed each keynote throughout the conference with delegates following their own interests and passions to a variety of high quality opportunities for insight and engagement. Professor Erica McWilliams’ keynote followed lunch on Monday "Library Pedagogy in the Era of Big Data'. Although delegates had just enjoyed the high standard of fabulous food which the caterers consistently provided throughout the conference, nobody suffered from 'after lunch fade out’ due to Erica’s fascinating and engaging advice on assisting our users with information management in learning. Monday evening after cocktails and Awards (see website page for full list) many delegates chose to join flockmates of similar school types ie; boys schools, primary schools etc. This initiative was suggested on Listserv and captured the attention of many participants who enjoyed sharing with those in similar situations. Tuesday started with a keynote from Dr Cathy Wylie, a Chief Researcher at the NZ Council for Educational Research, ‘How reading matters in Children’s development’. She drew together findings from her own research and other comparative projects to give the audience a broad yet clear understanding of how literacy, home life and school experience effect children’s ability to learn and be productive. Keynote Andrew Fiu, author of Purple Heart a story of his teenage years spent in hospital, spoke of his own learning journey and how his elderly hospital mates inspired him to open his mind to education by sharing their newspapers and life experience with him. On the social side, the author breakfasts at the Iconic Backbenchers bar were well attended. Tuesday evening gave us an opportunity for a private viewing of the Andy Warhol exhibit followed by dinner and dancing in the stunning Te Marae on the top floor of Te Papa Museum. Wednesday started with Dr Susan Sandretto’s “(Re)considering information literacy through a critical literacy lens’ as the final keynote of the conference. She shared an overview of the rapidly evolving multi-literacy landscape and where information literacy practices might go next. Her practical handouts gave participants a starting point for their own info lit approach. The author panel with Kim Hill, Bernard Beckett, Glenn Colquhoun and Kate de Goldi was a highlight for many and a great way to finish the conference. Their open discussion was interesting and enlightening. Delegates were invited to join in the conversation, this lead to some humorous moments with good advice and ideas from all involved. All our thanks go to the conference committee and their dedication to providing a positive learning experience for all who took their offer to examine ‘The Winds of Change’ in our industry and our lives. Lisa Salter - SLANZA Communications Leader SLANZA is disappointed that the Herald on Sunday published an article and editorial about Ted Dawe’s award winning young adult novel ‘Into the river’ that demonstrated a lack of understanding of the nature and purpose of young adult fiction and of the role library staff have in creating rich, responsive collections.
School librarians choose books based on sound criteria when developing their collections, but in all cases we consider the audience the book might have, the kind of readers a book might attract, the reputation of the author and the needs of our community. It is impossible for a librarian to read every book in their collection but if a book provokes controversy we would be likely to take it home to read for ourselves. If it proves to contain matter which we feel might not be suitable for younger or more sensitive readers we might restrict access to that item. School library staff do not act as censors but instead introduce students to a range of material, as well as ensuring students know how to determine if a book is the right one for them to read at that point in time. We want our students to read widely and deeply, to find new ideas and to read across a wide variety of genres and subjects. Part of the joy of reading is finding new things to take you to new worlds, new places and to read of experiences other than your own. But there is also the thrill of finding the familiar in a book, recognising the setting, finding lives which you connect with on a local level and this is why reading literature by New Zealand authors is encouraged, promoted and celebrated in schools. Book awards are important. They recognise excellence in writing and they do much to encourage readers to try new authors. The judges are not censors either, but are reading with a focus on excellence. Books with great writing are often recognised with awards but these books are not necessarily going to be the most popular in school libraries, however good writing must be identified and many schools will purchase the awardees because they wish to stock quality books. There are of course many excellent books which do not receive awards and school library staff make purchasing decisions every day using a number of tools such as reviews, the author’s past work, recommendations from other librarians and also their knowledge of their readers and own experience when choosing books. Ted Dawe told Kim Hill that he wrote Into the River for a 15+ reader. Our schools have a responsibility to extend older readers while being thoughtful towards younger readers. The New Zealand Post Book Awards determine criteria for the awards, but it is for school library staff to ensure that any book purchased meets their school’s collection development needs. For some schools that would mean suggesting that the student visit their public library and for others the book would be available with or without restrictions. SLANZA respects the ability of school library staff to build collections to meet the needs of their community. It would not assume that any school library would stock a book for its shock value, because it could be considered to represent a particular ethnic group or because of a perceived need to portray a view of society, as incorrectly reported by the Herald on Sunday. The 2013 Annual General Meeting for the School Library Association of New Zealand Aotearoa is to be held at 1pm on Tuesday July 16th, during the SLANZA conference at Wellington Girls' College.
All members are invited to attend the AGM. This year's meeting will include changes to the SLANZA constitution*, and welcoming incoming president Bridget Schaumann. A full agenda will be available to members prior to the meeting. Apologies may be sent to SLANZA's Administrative Officer ([email protected]) by 5pm, Friday July 12th. * SLANZA's current constitution can be found on the "About us" page. |
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