FROM THE PRESIDENT

NĀ TE TUMUAKI

Kia orana kōtou katoatoa,

Firstly, I want to acknowledge the passing of one of the stalwarts of our profession, the inimitable Mary Ronnie. I remember when I first came into libraries that she was referenced often and with great admiration and awe. We invite you to read about Mary and the incredible impact she had on our sector over many decades later in Library Life Te Rau Ora.

The call for nominations for LIANZA Council are currently open. Please have a think about standing as a council member or president-elect. We are looking for people who represent the sector’s diversity and bring skills and enthusiasm to these strategic governance roles. President-elect Richy and I or any members of Council, are happy to have a conversation if you would like to know more. Please think about getting involved and learn more here.

LIANZA has an important role in advocating for the sector. A submission was made in late February to The Review into the Future for Local Government. To the working group, especially Chair Allison Dobbie, meitaki ma’ata. There was a significant amount of mahi from this group on this important submission which you can read more about in this issue.

Other LIANZA mahi includes the draft strategic plan which has now been sent to key stakeholders and the 2023 LIANZA conference which provides an exciting opportunity for our sector to come together. Again, please think about participating. You could submit a proposal or come as a delegate and network with your colleagues from around the country. The keynote speakers have been announced. Thankyou to the conference committee who are busy creating our conference, I hope to meet you very soon.

So, 2023 – cyclones and floods bringing library skills and climate change kōrero to the fore. As I spoke about in my last column, I’m still thinking about the many ways that connecting or ‘networking’ across the profession is a great thing. In the recent weather events, I heard

of many instances where library and information professionals used their skills to work in welfare information or recovery sites in Tāmaki Makaurau, Hawke’s Bay and the East Coast. Members of our profession worked alongside or as part of emergency management teams. We also offered help and expertise in collections disaster management and recovery. My heart goes out to all the whānau affected by these events and to those who were able to help. The effects on everyone are profound.

In late February, LIANZA Council and LIANZA Office met at Tūranga in Ōtautahi. Thank-you to Maia, Erica and Carolyn for the manaaki during our visit. The next day Richy Misilei (LIANZA president-elect) and I met with Paula Eskett (LIANZA past president and Libraries Manager Waimakariri District Council) to explore how to progress the Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) work in Aotearoa and also engage with our Pacific networks around our Libraries Map of the World presence https://librarymap.ifla.org/.

This was part of the follow up mahi I was tasked with as the LIANZA representative at the IFLA Asia Oceania hui in Bangkok in November.

The three LIANZA president team were also invited to Te Ara Ātea in Rolleston. Kia ora to Nicki Moen and team for your manaakitanga and enthusiasm!

I have just returned from speaking at the IFLA LBES (Libraries Buildings and Equipment Section) mid-year seminar at the University of Sydney. I was privileged to be able to visit some interesting university and public libraries in Sydney and surrounds and to network with other librarians from all over the world.

Besides the Te Ara Ātea team, I have had the pleasure of visiting Te Mātāpuna ki Manukau (AUT South) team, another awesome group of librarians super enthusiastic about their mahi and professional registration! Kia ora to Troy Tuhou and team.

Richy, Ana and I have also spoken to the INFO 520 class at Te Herenga Waka Victoria University of Wellington. Our kōrero with them was about the value of joining professional membership organisations like LIANZA and IFLA and the lifelong relationships and connections you can make.

Finally, many of you will have seen the media reports about the drag storytime protests during 'Pride Fest Out West'. An interesting article here in the Spinoff. Just one more example of our fabulous library community working together and of libraries supporting community.

I’ll end with a quote from the storyteller Hugo Grrl from the Spinoff article:

“All we’re about is teaching kids that it is cool to be different and diverse. That’s valuable messaging for literally every young human on the planet.”

Kia manuia,

Kim Taunga

Te Rau Herenga o Aotearoa LIANZA President