SLANZA Blog

A great blog post from a Principal who actively supports literacy

2012-01-25T12:28:00.000-08:00

Hello to those of you who are back on deck. This is going to be the year for school library advocacy, I can feel it in my bones! Here's a great way to start your year. Share this Principal's blog post with your Principal on the first day back.

The writer is a school principal who makes it his business to walk the talk of literacy. He is a reader, knows it and shows it, and expects his teachers to be readers, too. How can we expect kids to be readers and life-long learners if we don't ALL model those behaviours every day?

If literacy is identified as a priority in your school, you could use a blog post like this to get the conversation started, and perhaps ask that your Principal supports you by choosing something from this list that he or she could do. It might be that you make the approach by having an outline of the ways that you model your commitment to literacy and ask the Principal's advice on how that might be extended to staff, using the examples from the blog post. Or you might approach it by creating your own list of suggestions, and ask that the Principal, your TLR or a literacy leader in the school works with you to explore ways to bring staff and the school community on board.

Maybe you could use this example as a template for the first of your regular contributions to the school newsletter, offering families some ideas about how they can support literacy at home. This is the perfect time of year to explain to families that, unless their children spent time reading over the summer, they will have lost ground on their reading scores - again, the perfect start to a conversation.

Any of these methods would allow you to present yourself as a leader in your school, which is the best first step in library advocacy. So put your shy and modest self back in the closet, and choose the new, assertive, confident and professional version instead. L'Oreal says it best - You're worth it. Now show the world what you have to offer.

All the best for 2012
Our year of advocacy

Donna Watt

The Dreaded Stock Take and End of Year Reporting

2011-12-08T13:35:00.000-08:00

Since I’ve been in the library at my school I’ve been working towards streamlining the stock take process here.

The first thing l did was relabel the entire library as the barcodes were inside the back cover of the books, meaning each book had to be taken off the shelf and opened to scan, what a waste of time! I used relabeling as an opportunity to look at the collection, weed and recover those in need, so it took me over a year to complete.

Secondly I looked at the timing of stocktake. I felt that if I could get the scanning out of the way sooner, I’d be able to work on reports and trying to find “missing” books. I had heard of school’s who did theirs during break between terms 2 and 3, but my EO wouldn’t allow this as the timing would effect the stock value. So, I have slowly worked back from Week 9 and this week completed in Week 5, phew this really takes the pressure off making- me a much happier and less stressed library manager.

Now because I am not rushed or stressed I have time to actually look at all the statistics my library programme can produce. What a wonderful resource. I just looked at borrowing by year level and by sex, then I worked out the average borrowed and found that the girls borrow 62% of all issues. This is interesting and leaves me with questions and the possibility of setting targets/goals around the information. There are stats to support me in many ways now that I have time to analyze them properly and I can share with departments in a positive way. Used strategically the results could increase support from teachers and promote the value of the library and it’s contribution to student achievement.

Next I am starting on my annual report to the BOT, without the rush. I try to make my reports relevant, informative and readable. The key is to make it as short as possible but to jam pack all the information I want to share and celebrate. I use graphs, photos and try and relate to schools goals and strategic plan. I want the BOT to see how relevant and worthwhile my work is and I want them to know that the investment they make in the library is paying off in many useful ways.

This year I did research on NZ school library reporting and there were two notable things I learned. Firstly don’t write a book, no one will read it. Boards are bogged down enough with important bits to read, if you want to make an impact make it short and to the point. Secondly, no matter what your school expects do not write a short breezy letter, take the time to report properly, never complain and try to relate your information to the school’s goals.

Enough from me, I’m off to impress my BOT and make them happy to have me looking after their library and using it to improve student achievement as much as I can.

Lisa Salter
Te Tai Tokerau National Executive Representative
Ruawai College Library Manager

SLANZA Wellington Region Workshop Sept 2011

2011-11-19T11:46:00.000-08:00

She has me fired up now!

This is the comment of one of the participants who attended our annual Saturday morning professional development in September. The themes were “Advocating for your school library” and E-learning. Forty seven people attended the workshop and went away with many new ideas for how to promote their libraries (Donna Watt and Miriam Tuohy) as well as issues around technology enhanced learning (Paul du Temple, Jason Murphy and Tom Avery).

Donna Watt as a keynote speaker was a definite drawcard. Donna is the communications person on the National Executive of SLANZA and has had many years experience in school libraries. Her message was appropriate to both primary and secondary school library staff and teachers. We recommend that she is invited to share her advocacy ideas to members around the country. Miriam Tuohy (Nat Exec member) ran a workshop after Donna’s keynote and reinforced the ideas, giving relevant and useful advice for untrained library staff who are just starting out in a primary school. Remember you are not alone in this work!

Here is some more feedback on the presentations.

Lots of ideas/approaches to investigate. Change my approach – accentuate the positive. Emphasis on how I work and what I do.
So many practical ideas to take back to school.
Great speaker, have gained some good ideas to work on.
This was absolutely wonderful!
Very inspiring. Really made me think how our library is perceived by others.
Excellent speaker. Challenging.
Practical ideas for e-books in the school library environment.
Excellent. Helped a lot to understand how all this works.

Thanks again to our presenters. Contact your local SLANZA regional rep to organize Donna Watt for a professional development meeting in 2012.

Michele Whiting

SLANZA National Executive representative

Wellington region

Full report from SLANZA NE meeting 12 November 2011

2011-11-13T15:21:00.000-08:00

Report from SLANZA NE

Meeting 12-13 November 2011

Good morning everyone. The following is feedback on the content covered at the meeting held in Auckland at the weekend. If you have questions please contact your local regional representative, whose contact details can be found on the SLANZA website.

At our July meeting, we set up portfolios which relate to the specific areas of focus identified in the strategic plan : Advocacy, Communication and Professional Development. At this meeting we added another portfolio for Business, to cover the matters which do not neatly fit into the others. The following report will relate specifically to those areas of interest.

Communication – this portfolio is led by Donna Watt, and the others working within the portfolio are Miriam Tuohy and Bharathi Char, with support from Senga White in relation to Collected magazine. The matters reported and furthered within the portfolio include:

The most recent issue of Collected was published on Friday. You can read it here. The three issues to be published next year have been discussed, with the following themes selected – Issue #6 Content Curation, Issue #7 Evidence-based practice, linking to self-advocacy and promotion, Issue #8 Blue sky thinking – next steps, innovations, what now?
Miriam shared the test site for the website redevelopments she has been working on. We are all very excited as the new stage will see more interactive features, and a bigger resource section amongst other things. It will be ready to launch in the New Year.
We have developed a shared Google website for NE representative communication, and we reviewed its functionality, and agreed on a number of new pages to facilitate our work. This is providing a platform to ensure our work continues effectively between meetings.
All members of NE will be blogging more frequently, and permissions will be set up to facilitate that.
In other areas, we have been represented by Fiona at the Educational Leaders Forum, and by both Senga and Fiona at the LIANZA pre-conference forum – our presence at these meetings allows us to further develop new and existing networks and ensure the school library voice is heard.

Advocacy – this portfolio is led by Greig Daniels and he is supported by Jude Cosson and Michele Whiting. Their area of interest received wide discussion throughout the meeting, and they have significant workloads on which they are working, including:

A formal letter was drafted, to be sent to Principals and Boards implementing cuts to library services. This will be shared with NE members today, and after feedback, will be available for them to send out as the need arises.
A thirty-minute presentation is being developed, which will be delivered at regional School Principal's meetings by local reps.
Greig has been working with NZEI to establish stronger communication links with them, and is working hard to negotiate space in their publications for articles and information about school libraries, services, staffing.
Work continues on the advocacy kit for members, including reporting templates, letter templates.

Regional representatives will continue to respond directly to members (off-list) to support them, and refer them to other supporting agencies such as the NZEI, as necessary.

Advocacy workshops have and will continue to be available to regional networks as needed – Michele Whiting will be blogging with further information about these.

Professional development – this portfolio is led by Michele Ayers, and she is supported by Michele Whiting and Bharathi Char. Michele summarized PD events held or scheduled since the last meeting, thanks to the support of Warwick Ashton from Book Protection Products :

Wellington held a very successful workshop with the theme of advocating for your school library and eLearning. They will shortly have a session with Chris Szekely – Chief Librarian at Alexander Turnbull Library, who will be talking about his new picture book.
Aoraki held a session where members who received free registration to conference fed back on their learning, Desna Wallace shared her interest in book trailers, and Paul du Temple from Wheelers spoke about eBooks.
Te Tai Tokerau had Bob Docherty speaking about teen fiction and engaging teens in reading, and Hilary Greenebaum is scheduled to share her very successful conference presentation on relationships within the school.
WaikatoBoP have hosted Vince Collins sharing his skills in library display, and their upcoming event is a tour of local libraries.
Auckland had a half day workshop with four presenters who explored the topic 'Engaging learners: Learning and reading, and the day included Dylan Horrocks as a guest speaker. They have an upcoming visit scheduled with Stacy Gregg – author.
Otago's recent session involved conference feedback, and the planning for a two-day event next year is under way.
Southland held sessions on using Twitter, and note-taking skills for students. The last session for the year was a social event, and general sharing of best finds. Planning is under way to try and engage Nathan Mikare-Wallis to speak in the region early next year.

Larger events on the PD horizon include attempting to bring Dr Ross Todd to New Zealand next year to share his presentation on evidence-based practice (we have also decided on back-up plans if this is not successful). A full day of PD in conjunction with the AGM has been outlined in principle, and this will go ahead if the Todd event cannot be secured.

Wellington region shared progress on planning for the 2013 conference which is rapidly getting into gear. The contract with the conference organizer will be signed this week, a venue has been selected, and prospective keynotes are being evaluated. Seed funding was clarified at the NE meeting.

The new business portfolio is led by Lisa Salter, supported by Jude Cosson. The matters currently on their agenda are:

Reviewing the criteria for study grants to ensure consistency
Business membership – linking to conference sponsorships, and developing levels of membership, criteria and benefits. They will be liaising with business partners to get feedback.

In other matters, we advise that study grant applications are now with the committee. Decisions will be made and applicants notified by the end of November.

If you are aware that you may be changing schools, or your other contact details need to be updated, please let Frances Gibbons at slanza@xtra.co.nz know as soon as possible. She is working to update the member database for a busy time at the beginning of next year.

We reiterate our advice that regional representatives are here to support you, in good times and in bad, so please contact us if you are in need of support or advice. If you hear of threats to other school libraries, whose staff may not be SLANZA members, we would also appreciate hearing from you. We are working very hard at a number of levels, regionally and nationally, to support and advocate for school libraries.

Kind regards

Donna Watt

SLANZA Communications Leader

National Executive meeting last weekend

2011-11-13T10:20:00.000-08:00

The National Executive met in Auckland on Saturday and Sunday. One of our key tasks was to work out ways we can support SLANZA members who are facing employment difficulties - reduced hours, restructuring, job losses etc. We will always contact the person involved, but please understand that as this is a horribly difficult situation for anyone to be faced with, we will not discuss or share it via the list-serv. If you are facing employment problems, please let your regional rep know as soon as you are able to, so you can receive the help and support we can offer you.

One important avenue of assistance is the NZEI union, but they cannot help you if you are not a member! For your own protection, join now, as you need to have been a member for at least three months to receive assistance with employment issues. The fee is calculated on how much you earn, and the online form will give you an idea of the cost. Once you join you are also covered by the collective employment agreement too - a new settlement has been reached with new pay scales. For more information on the Support Staff settlement and pay scales, go to

http://www.nzei.org.nz/Support+Staff.html

More details about what the National Executive has been working on and doing recently will be coming soon, so keep checking back. So you keep current with our postings, have you set up an RSS feed using an RSS reader? It is such an easy way to get the posts sent to you, instead of searching for the blog. http://www.squidoo.com/rss-explained is a very clear explanation, so give it a go!

Sunday Star Times article

2011-09-12T15:08:00.000-07:00

I hope you've all taken the opportunity to read the article School Libraries the Poor Relation published in the Sunday Star Times on Sept 11th.

This is a good follow up to last month's article in the PPTA News about school library budget concerns for New Zealand schools.

What can you do to keep the momentum going? Share this article with your school colleagues, principals, BOT's and encourage them to write in support of suitable and appropriate funding for school libraries and library staffing.

Write something yourself and send it to either the editor of the Sunday Star Times or Imogen Neale, the reporter who wrote the article at: imogen.neale@star-times.co.nz or write to the editor of the PPTA News with your feedback.

We want this conversation to continue. If you would like to do something, but you're unsure what you'd like to say, then maybe you would find the Advocacy Template letter a useful start.

SLANZA would love your feedback on this. You can leave your coment here or you can email either myself at library@jameshargest.school.nz or our president Fiona Mackie at Fiona.Mackie@stcuthberts.school.nz

There is no better time than now with the national elections looming. Let's make sure people outside of our own profession know just how passionate we are about libraries and learning.

Senga

Collected to be in the EBSCO publishing database

2011-08-22T19:23:00.000-07:00

Kia ora

We have good news about Collected magazine. We have been approached by EBSCO who were seeking to obtain an agreement to include our magazine in their database. It was very nice to be identified as an excellent fit for their databases,and we can take this as acknowledgement of the standards we have set, and the quality of writing from all of our contributors.

Fiona has just signed off the licensing agreement and the folk at EBSCO publishing are working through the preliminary steps for getting our content into the appropriate database. This is a process which may take several months, so we will keep you informed as updates come to hand.

So now you have even more reason to consider writing for the magazine, and we look forward to being inundated with offers the next time we put out a call! Well done to all who have contributed, assisted with editing and especially to Miriam for the work she does in making it look so digitally fine.

Donna Watt
SLANZA Communications Leader

The wonderfulness of the National Executive

2011-08-09T21:50:00.000-07:00

At the recent SLANZA conference, we farewelled several members of the National Executive who have been working for you and the regions, as well as giving up their time to be on the Executive. I'd like to take this opportunity to express my thanks to Bridget Schaumann, Di Eastwood, Wendy Ballard, Kim Slack, Maree Pavletich, Cynthia Francombe, Sarah Fordyce and Joyce Richards, for all the work they've put in to the development of ways to communicate with and support you as members, as well as developing SLANZA as an organisation. Without their dedication and commitment, SLANZA would be poorer indeed.

I'd also like to say a huge thank you to our immediate Past President, Senga White. Senga has led the Executive for two years and represented SLANZA on a number of committees across the library sector, as well as managing a Y7-8 library and a Y9-13 library on two sites, and in her spare time persuading me to stand for President Elect! I'm very fortunate to still have Senga on the Executive and really appreciate her support, knowledge and experience, which continues to benefit all of us.

A very warm welcome to the new members on the Executive - Greig Daniels (Otago), Jude Cosson (Waikato/Bay of Plenty) and Bharathi Char (Auckland). I'm looking forward to working with everyone on the Executive as we look to the future of SLANZA and school librarianship in New Zealand. Joyce Valenza and Judy O'Connell gave all of us a very clear message at the recent conference - we cannot afford to be complacent about our role, services or environment, and I know the Executive is very mindful of that too.

The fabulous Donna Watt and Miriam Tuohy are working away at putting the next edition of Collected together, which will focus on conference and share lots of what went on and of course some very interesting photos... Midnight feasts in the hostel, lots of laughter and dancing at the dinner, catching up with friends and making new ones, celebrating achievements, being amazed and inspired by our keynotes and presenters - we had a great time!

Ka kite ano,
Fiona.

Library Life Article on Multiliteracy and Transliteracy

2011-07-31T14:43:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone
Hope you all did something you love to do during your term break and that you're happy to be back amongst all the bright, shiny faces today.
In case you missed it, I wanted to draw your attention to the article published in the latest LIANZA Library Life about Multiliteracy and Transliteracy by our own Donna Watt.
http://tinyurl.com/3zt4dq8
She is in a unique position of now working in the public sector with a wealth of experience in the schools sector and can see opportunities for collaboration between them. Definitely a way forward to consider.
Some of you were fortunate enough to attend at least one of her presentations at our fantastic SLANZA 11 Conference in Auckland in the first week of the school holidays. For those of you who couldn't join us and want to find out about them, plus heaps more besides, you can do this at: http://halfpintofwisdom.wordpress.com/
Our upcoming Collected magazine will be chock-full of some of the highlights from a truly memorable conference.
Cheers

Senga

How does the library profession help to grow the skills of a 21st century workforce?

2011-06-23T13:27:00.000-07:00

I am following Howard Rheingold's Infotention and the following is a series of posts discussing the skills needed within a 21st century workforce. There are five short posts, outlining two skills in each, and a quick read will get you thinking about how much influence we have, as a profession, in building many of those skills.
I have listed the headings below, and you can read the full posts here

1. Sense Making: The ability to determine the deeper meaning or significance of what is being expressed
2. Social Intelligence: The ability to connect to others in a deep and direct way, to sense and stimulate reactions and desired interactions
3. Novel and Adaptive Thinking: Proficiency at thinking and coming up with solutions and responses beyond that which is rote or rule-based.
4. Cross-Cultural Competency: The ability to operate in different cultural settings
5. Computational Thinking: The ability to translate vast amounts of data into abstract concepts and to understand data-based reasoning
6. New-Media Literacy: The ability to critically assess and develop content that uses new media forms, and to leverage these media for persuasive communication.
7. Transdisciplinarity: Literacy in and ability to understand concepts across multiple disciplines
8. Design Mindset: The ability to represent and develop tasks and work processes for desired outcomes
9. Cognitive Load Management: The ability to discriminate and filter information for importance, and to understand how to maximize cognitive functioning using a variety of tools and techniques
10. Virtual Collaboration: The ability to work proactively, drive engagement, and demonstrate presence as a member of a virtual team.

The work that we do in information literacy, critical literacy, and the diversity of resources to which we lead our clientele are crucial in building these skills. But it looks like a big job, when you put it like this, doesn't it? How many people in your professional sphere understand what you have to offer?

Have a great Friday - it was nice driving to work this morning and kidding myself that the days already seem longer!

Donna Watt

An idea to use old books and collaborate with your Art Department

2011-04-14T14:22:00.000-07:00

If you're anything like me, you're very pleased today is the last day of a very long first term! Here's a creative idea orginally posted on the OZTL_NET about how to use old books to create fantastic art! This would be a wonderful opportunity to collaborate with art teachers and/or students. http://stephenslighthouse.com/2011/03/19/book-sculptures/ Check out #2 - the painted book sculptures. I'd love to know what you think of this very novel (like the pun!!??) idea. I hope everyone has a well-deserved break to do what you like to do when you're not at work :-) Senga

Getting better work stories!

2011-03-23T19:50:00.000-07:00

We can all get bogged down in the day to day-ness of life as a school librarian ..... so smile when you picture me in my library last Friday afternoon .....

It was directly after our busy lunch break (an oxymoron in my world, where I NEVER get to eat lunch during lunchtime!) I had a plumber in my office investigating a problem with our hot water dispenser. I had just heated my lunch and was attempting to eat while the dozen or so senior students working at our computer pods were busily beavering away at the keyboards. Peace ..... or so I thought momentarily.

Peace was shattered by the sound of heavy, teenage-boy feet running into the library and loud teenage-boy voice in full volume, sounding very angry. I had only just looked up in response when I heard the yelping of a dog! Yes, a dog! You might be wondering what a dog was doing in my library! So was I. Unfortunately this young man had chased the dog into the library and was proceeding to "teach it a lesson it wouldn't forget". Fortunately I was able to diffuse the situation and refer said "angry young man" to one of our guidance staff.

On returning to my office, I stood in the doorway (glass doorway)

New National Librarian appointed

2011-03-10T17:00:00.000-08:00

This today on the NZLibs listserv from Sue Sutherland:

Kia ora

The Chief Executive of the Department of Internal Affairs, Brendon Boyle, has today announced the new National Librarian. He is Bill Macnaught, currently manager of New Plymouth's Puke Ariki. Bill is very well known to our sector and has a strong understanding of the opportunities and issues facing libraries and the wider sector. The National Library leadership team joins with me in congratulating Bill on his appointment and we look forward to welcoming him to the National Library on 2 May.

Nga mihi nui ki a Bill. Nau mai ki Te Puna Mātauranga o Aotearoa

Supplied biography:

William (Bill) Macnaught is the present Manager of Puke Ariki, New Plymouth, a position held since 2005. Before coming to New Zealand, he was the Director, Libraries and Arts and later Head of Cultural Development at Gateshead Council in the north of England. He was awarded a CBE in the UK for services to public libraries and cultural life. He was Chair of the UK Advisory Council on Libraries and was a visiting Professor (Librarianship) at the University of Northumbria

In his five years in New Zealand Bill Macnaught has led a multidisciplinary team at Puke Ariki – the flagship library, museum and visitor information centre in Taranaki.

Since 2006 he has been a Commissioner on the Library and Information and Advisory Commission (LIAC) advising the Minister for the National Library. He is the 2010/11 Chair of the Association of Public Library Managers and the Deputy Chair of Museums Aotearoa.

Bill Macnaught is a founder member of the Governance Group for the Aotearoa People’s Network Kaharoa programme which was inspired by a UK project in which he was involved. He initiated the discussions that led to the National Library supporting the current Kotui project, designed to deliver better value for public libraries through the collective procurement of library management IT services

Donna Watt
Communications Leader, SLANZA

Christchurch Earthquake - Part 2

2011-03-01T14:58:00.000-08:00

This is a wonderful piece of trans-tasman solidarity in the aftermath of the Christchurch Earthquake and has been posted on the OZTL_NET listeserve yesterday:

It is one week since the devastating earthquake that has shattered Christchurch and its people and there would be few schools in Australia that do not have a student or a staff member with a Kiwi connection.

Psychologists say that the trauma can be intensified by a feeling of wanting to help but being unable to do so, so to help overcome this a group of Kiwi teacher librarians teaching in Australia is proposing
ALL BLACK DAY

We are suggesting that on March 22, 2011 students be allowed to wear all black instead of their regular school uniform and pay a gold coin for the privilege.

If school regulations demand students remain in uniform, then an alternative could be to create a coin trail over the words ANZAC, Aotearoa, Christchurch, or Otautahi (Maori for Christchurch).

Any other form of fundraising would also be welcome. If you have ideas, please share them with us to share with everybody.

The money raised will then by donated to the Christchurch Earthquake Appeal http://www.christchurchearthquakeappeal.govt.nz/ through whatever financial procedures schools have to follow to do this.

Amounts raised would then be reported to a state co-ordinator who will tally them so we can determine the total contribution of Australian schools and share this with participants. We are planning to establish a Facebook page so state and national totals are available and even photos of students participating can be posted.

We need you to
· publicise this event as widely as possible, sending it to any network you belong to
· consider volunteering to be your state co-ordinator which will just involve receiving emails from schools with their tallies and sending the total to a central co-ordinator. We already have co-ordinators for NSW and Queensland, but no doubt they would appreciate help.
· spread the word about your school’s activities with any media connections you have

Barbara

Barbara Braxton
Teacher Librarian
COOMA NSW 2630
AUSTRALIA
barbara.288@bigpond.com
Together, we learn from each other

Christchurch Earthquake

2011-02-28T15:38:00.000-08:00

We at SLANZA are deeply concerned for our colleagues affected in so many ways by the terrible events last week. You are constantly in our thoughts, and we extend our deepest sympathies to those who have been bereaved, or are still waiting to hear news of friends and loved ones. There are fundraising efforts going on all around the country, and people everywhere are doing what they can to support the people who have been bereaved, displaced and are suffering in so many ways. What many of us feel, however, is a sense of helplessness and guilt as our lives continue on with relative normality.

As we observe two minutes of silence today, we honour the memory of those lost, and the suffering and discomfort of those left to clean up and carry on with their lives as best they can. We are with you in spirit, and you know that our collegial support network will do its utmost to help you in the coming days, weeks and months.

Kia kaha

Merry Christmas everyone!

2010-12-07T11:18:00.000-08:00

It is that time of the term/year where we are in the midst of the flurry of the last weeks of activities. I envy those of you who have closed your libraries and already completed stocktake. I still have three classes to take before the end of tomorrow, and stocktake is next week's delight to look forward to. However, we also have our Hargest Library Xmas Party to look forward to next Thursday as well, which is a really lovely way to say goodbye to 2010.

If you're anything like me, you are now hanging out for a long-anticipated summer break and I would just like to take this opportunity to congratulate you all for getting to the end of what, I'm sure has been an exceptionally busy year. I hope you are planning to spend at least part of your holiday time doing something that makes you happy and replensishes your soul so that you can face 2011 with all the vigour and enthusiasm you are all known for!

For myself, I am looking forward to spending lots of time with my family, especially my boys, doing some exploring of our lovely Southern hillsides, and of course, catching up on reading some of those books that I just haven't got to this year.

I want to say a big, heartfelt thank you to those of you who toil away on SLANZA National Executive with me. It is fantastic to have such an awesome team to work with. Your talents, ideas and enthusiasm constantly amaze me!

I look forward to hearing how everyone's summer has been when we're all back on deck for Term 1, 2011!

Cheers

Senga

Australian School Library Inquiry

2010-11-25T12:58:00.000-08:00

Australian school librarians will be celebrating today as it has just been announced by Peter Garrett, Federal Minister for School Education that the inquiry into teacher librarians and school libraries will be completed when the Australian Parliament reconvenes early next year.

There were fears that maybe this inquiry, which had received over 380 submissions, including a petition signed by more than 2200 people and had already completed hearings around the country would be shelved. However, it now seems there may be resolution for our Australian colleagues - one that we will watch closely here in New Zealand.

Our best wishes for success go out to everyone affected by the outcome of this inquiry.

SLANZA Study Grants 2011

2010-11-18T13:45:00.000-08:00

Congratulations to the successful recipients of the next round of study grants. It is fantastic to be able to support members in their endeavours to continue with their education in our profession!

Best wishes for their study for next year to:

Helen Muxlow - Karori West Normal School, Wellington
Deborah Walsh - Takapuna Grammar School, Auckland
Linda Lamb - Wanganui High School
Jayne Downes - Kaikorai Valley College, Dunedin
Pamela Lilley - Sir Edmund Hillary Collegiate, Auckland
Kirsten Nicholas - Diocesan School for Girls, Auckland

Regards

Senga

SLANZA Conference 2011

2010-11-15T18:09:00.000-08:00

Mark it in your diary right now everyone!

On The Wave - St Cuthbert's College, Epsom, Auckland: 17th - 20th July 2011

This is the one conference you need to attend next year.

Take a look at the details on our conference page and watch out over the next few months as we update you about keynote speakers and workshop opportunities. It's going to be a goody!

Senga

EPIC and New Products

2010-11-07T13:54:00.000-08:00

At EPIC we receive quite a few suggestions from schools about adding e-resources to the current collection. We welcome these suggestions and feedback. However, this is a good opportunity to explain how EPIC works…and why we are unable to immediately add new products for New Zealand schools.

EPIC is a purchasing consortium involving over 160 New Zealand libraries as well as the Ministry of Education on behalf of all New Zealand schools. EPIC negotiates consortium-licensing agreements with electronic resource vendors on behalf of these libraries. The member libraries then choose packages of these resources to subscribe to annually through EPIC. This provides the member libraries with significantly better pricing per product than they would be able to negotiate individually.

The Ministry of Education’s subscription to the EPIC resources on behalf of New Zealand schools works the same way as New Zealand libraries. Each year EPIC offers the Ministry of Education subscription and pricing options on packages of e-resources. The Ministry of Education then makes a decision based on what products are on offer, what their budget will allow and how well the existing products are being used.

We know that a lot of exciting new e-resource products have recently been released and we would love to offer them to New Zealand schools through EPIC. For this reason, we will be working with the Ministry of Education to review the current EPIC resources and assess new resources to find the best possible fit that we are able to negotiate for New Zealand schools.
So, watch this space…we may be calling on your help very soon to trial some products…

Cheers

Senga White
Schools' Representative
EPIC Governance Group

EPIC and New Zealand Content - Update

2010-11-07T13:50:00.000-08:00

International companies provide all the resources currently available through EPIC for New Zealand schools. This means that most of these resources aim to have as broad an international appeal as possible. Therefore, aside from the Australia/New Zealand Reference Centre, New Zealand content is not a primary focus.

However, as part of their licensing agreements with EPIC, these companies have made a commitment to increase and improve the New Zealand content available in their resources. Here are some recent examples of what they are doing:

Encyclopaedia Britannica – at the beginning of this year they commissioned a writer specifically to add New Zealand curriculum related content.

Oxford University Press – have hired an Advisory Editor to update the New Zealand art content in Oxford Art Online. This is scheduled to occur in 2011.

Gale Cengage – are working on sourcing New Zealand biographies to add into Biography In Context (previously known as Biography Resource Centre). Gale Cengage are also eager to hear any suggestions that you may have. If do have biography suggestions, please e-mail these to Gale Cengage’s New Zealand representative, Liza Fisher Liza.Fisher@cengage.com

Cheers

Senga White
Schools' Representative
EPIC Goverance Group

SLANZA Annual Report

2010-11-04T14:47:00.000-07:00

As well as having a fantastic celebration to mark SLANZA's first 10 years, we also had our 2010 AGM. For those of you who were unable to make it, here is a link to the Annual Report I tabled at the AGM. http://slanza.org.nz/docs/AGMreport2010.pdf

Regards

Senga

Who to contact for feedback about the EPIC resources

2010-11-02T19:22:00.000-07:00

Recently there has been some discussion about how to advocate getting material updated or added to EPIC databases. The best possible way to do this is to contact the companies directly with your feedback. This ensures that the right information gets to people that can make the changes.

The EPIC Manager, Paula Banks, is happy to pass any of your suggestions on to the company representatives for you. All you need to do is send her an e-mail at epic@epic.org.nz, including the name of the resource and the feedback you would like to provide.

You can also cut out the middleman and contact the company representatives directly. Contacts for the EPIC resources can be found on the general EPIC website http://epic.org.nz . A list of all the EPIC resources (including those available through the Ministry of Education subscription on behalf of New Zealand Schools) can be found through this link http://epic.org.nz/the-databases/all-databases . If you click on the link to the database you are interested in providing feedback about, you will find the General Support contact for the product.
Also…the database pages on the EPIC website are a good place to go if you are looking for links to training, promotional and support material on each of the EPIC resources.

As always, if you have any questions about EPIC feel free to contact me as well.

Senga
Schools' Representative
EPIC Governance Group

10 Years of SLANZA - the celebration!

2010-10-31T14:48:00.000-07:00

What an awesome time those of us in Auckland - and via video conference in Christchurch - had on Friday afternoon at the 10 year celebration party for SLANZA. A big thank you to the organising team who did a fantiastic job of organising a really lovely event.

It was very special to have all the past presidents speak about their time in office and share their highlights. What a fantastic, enthusiastic bunch we are who make up the SLANZA family and this was very evident from the group who gathered together on Friday and of course listening to the reminiscences of all.

Watch out for a full report of the event, photos and what the speakers had to say in our upcoming edition of the SLANZA Collected magazine.

Good luck for the local celebrations that are still to happen in some of our regions.

Happy birthday SLANZA! Now - bring on the next 10!!

Senga White
SLANZA President

Announcement of new President-Elect

2010-10-27T13:16:00.000-07:00

I’m thrilled to be able to announce that Fiona Mackie, Library Manager at St Cuthbert’s College in Auckland has been elected unopposed as the next President-Elect of SLANZA . No other nominations were received. So, congratulations to Fiona, who will become the next president of SLANZA at the 2011 AGM. Fiona is a professional, experienced and well respected librarian and SLANZA will be in good hands with her at the helm.

I wish her all the best as she takes on this challenge of National Executive for the next four years.

Senga

Nominations for SLANZA president-elect

2010-10-17T13:34:00.000-07:00

Nominations are now being sought for the position of SLANZA President-Elect for the 2010-11 term of office. This person would become SLANZA President at our bi-annual conference in July 2011 till July 2013. Previous experience at National Executive level is considered desirable.

The SLANZA constitution requires the National Executive to call for nominations from our membership. Nominators and Nominees must be current members of SLANZA. As there are no current National Executive members able to take up this position, National Executive wish to nominate Fiona Mackie, Library Manager at St Cuthbert’s College, Auckland and she has consented to this nomination.

Nominations are to be made on the form attached and close with the Returning Officer, SLANZA, PO Box 631, Palmerston North 4440 at 5pm on Friday 22nd October 2010. These should also be emailed to slanza@xtra.co.nz.

Regards

Senga White
SLANZA President

IASL Conference

2010-10-11T13:20:00.000-07:00

Well, IASL conference was a fantastic experience! The venue was amazing, the speakers were diverse and interesting, it was well organised and it was great to be able to share the experience with so many New Zealanders.

This is Donna and myself enjoying the trade stands and superb morning tea on day 2 with Jane, Adaire and Joanna.

Having now attended my first international conference I have gained a new-found respect for all of our members who over the last 10 years have been involved in making our SLANZA conferences a reality. You are all awesome and should be very proud of your acheivements. They are truly world-class events and would stand up to anything being offered internationally. In some cases we would be leading the field. It was brought home to me again just how fortunate we are here in New Zealand with the calibre of people we have working in our school libraries.

Watch out for the article on the IASL conference which will appear in our next SLANZA Collected Magazine where there will be tidbits from everyone who attended - their highlights and must-do's.

This next picture is just for Gerri and Fiona!! You know how much I loved making this little "bunyip\avatar". I wonder if it sold at the auction table!!

Hope to see lots of you at the 10 year SLANZA celebration at the end of the month!!

Senga

Notice of Annual General Meeting 2010

2010-10-06T02:25:00.000-07:00

The Annual General Meeting will be held on Friday 29 October at the Auckland premises of the National Library of New Zealand, 8 Stanley Street, Parnell.

The meeting will begin at approximately 6.30pm, at the conclusion of SLANZA’s 10 Year celebrations being held at the same venue.

F M Gibbons
Administration Officer

Study grant applications and award nominations closing soon

2010-10-06T02:18:00.000-07:00

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 awards.

SLANZA also offers study grants each year, to those working in school library teams. Each study grant will cover the cost of a paper, course or module (up to $550.00) offered by an approved library education provider. For more information about education providers, visit the SLANZA wiki.

The closing date for submitting study grant applications is Friday 22nd October 2010.
The closing date for nominations for SLANZA Awards will be notified shortly.

Good news for RLIANZA members

2010-09-14T19:46:00.000-07:00

Memorandum of Understanding between LIANZA and CILIP on Reciprocal Qualifications.

If you are a registered librarian then read on!

LIANZA and CILIP (Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals), the United Kingdom’s largest professional body for information professionals have signed a reciprocal agreement at the IFLA World Library and Information Congress 2010, Gothenburg, Sweden.

This means if you hold an MCLIP or RLIANZA you are assured of reciprocal recognition in New Zealand and the UK respectively. This enhances your employment prospects should you be on a working holiday or wishing to migrate.

RLIANZA holders will remain accountable for ensuring that their qualification is current to LIANZA requirements to continue practising in UK roles requiring Chartered Membership of CILIP, and vice versa.

This is great news and indicates the value of the RLIANZA beyond our shores.

Senga White
SLANZA President

To our Canterbury School Library Colleagues

2010-09-09T16:29:00.000-07:00

To our colleagues working in the earthquake-affected areas of Canterbury

SLANZA wishes to extend our thoughts and good wishes to you all as you return to your schools and assess the damage created by the earthquakes experienced in the past week.

While I have spoken to a couple of librarians in the region in recent days, it is very difficult to get a full picture of the situation individual schools are facing. In order for SLANZA to be of practical help and support I would appreciate hearing from those of you affected that feel you will need outside assistance or advice. As you will be aware from my previous posting, the library leaders across the sectors are most anxious to assess specific needs in order to make sure support and assistance is provided where needed.

This may not be something you are necessarily able to do immediately as the situation continues to change and develop on a daily basis but I would appreciate hearing from you all and sharing your stories and journeys as you deal with the days, weeks and months ahead of you.

Regards

Senga

National Library Christchurch office closure

2010-09-09T14:46:00.000-07:00

The National Library have published some information to support Canterbury schools, and to let South Island schools know what's happening in the period following the Christchurch earthquake.

So far they have had very good feedback from schools about the information - and the free-phone service 0800 LIBLINE is also taking enquiries.

For more information, please visit this page on the National Library's website for schools:
http://schools.natlib.govt.nz/christchurch-office-closed

Have you ever had one of those days!!??

2010-08-16T19:50:00.000-07:00

Well, I am!!
My day started with an interesting discussion with a member of senior management about online games .....
Then Lisa, the ("Robin" to my "Batman" - just kidding!!) wonderful librarian who works with me had to go home to sick children
Then I had the lovely man from our local glass firm come and check out our library doors (yep - you guessed it - they're all made entirely of glass!!) ..... a loooong, sad story .......
Then I had to deal with a heating problem in the library (not good when it's still winter and we are in Southland after all, where it can get brisk)
Then I had to let our property manager know that the staff toilet in the library block is .... well .... blocked!!
Then I had to deal with a shipment of books that a courier had obviously left sitting in a puddle somewhere
Then I needed to deal with a laptop that wasn't working
All this - and I hadn't even made it to morning teatime yet!!
Sigh .....
Tomorrow will be better - It's Dress Up Day!!

Senga

Library Week 2010 .... It's so exciting!!

2010-08-10T17:20:00.000-07:00

I have spent quite a bit of my morning (in between teaching two Y10 classes about notetaking techniques and citing sources for bibliographies!) on designing posters promoting next week's Library Week celebrations.

I'm really excited about this year's activities and, as well as some of the old "tried and true" favs like Dress Up Day and Guess the Photo competition, we're branching out and trying a few more new ideas this year.

I've finally settled on my book character for this year's Dress Up Day. I never disclose who my character will be (drives the students nuts trying to guess!!) but previously I've been Mary Poppins, Bad Jelly the Witch, The Mad Hatter and The White Queen from Narnia (I know, I know - there seems to be a theme developing - but I'm determined to break it this year!!) Gold star to anyone who can guess before next Wednesday when all will be revealed!!

Now, off to work on setting up our Blind Date with a Book Day, which is our promo for Tuesday ........

All the best to those of you who are working hard on your own Library Week preparations :-) Isn't it fun!!??

Collected Magazine - a real collective effort!

2010-08-08T14:27:00.000-07:00

It is so exciting to see all the hard work, brainstorming and creativity coming together in our new-look, new-format SLANZA Collected Magazine. I am a firm believer in collaboration and this new magazine is definitely a fine example of the success this brings. Bringing together talented, committed professionals is a very powerful way of making things happen. Remember - if you have a good idea, a burning desire or a project you want to see happen, talk to others about it. You just never know what might happen!
All of us on SLANZA National Executive who have been involved in this latest project now eagerly await your feedback. After all, this magazine has been conceived with our fellow colleagues working in school libraries in mind, so we want your input to keep it both fresh and topical and a resource you can continually refer back to.

Senga

Welcome to the SLANZA blog

2010-06-07T19:02:00.000-07:00

I have today set up a new blog for SLANZA. As discussed at our last National Executive meeting in March, it was agreed that we should have a blog to communicate with our members on a more frequent basis than the newsletters and magazine publications which are currently under way. So, here it is people.

Well done Donna!!

2010-06-07T18:14:00.000-07:00

Good work! Great to see this off and running.

Australian School Library and Teacher Librarian Inquiry

2010-05-14T12:11:00.000-07:00

Download SLANZA's submission

This is a copy of the submission sent to the House Standing Committee on Education and Training from SLANZA in support of the current inquiry into school libraries and teacher librarians in Australia.

The committee is overwhelmed with the number of submissions received – 359 in total – and we wish our Australian colleagues well in their endeavour to have the Australian Government acknowledge and support the role, adequacy and resourcing of school librarians and teacher librarians in schools.

Those of us in the profession here in New Zealand will be keenly watching the process and outcome reached as this inquiry continues.

News from the President, May 2010

2010-05-06T12:15:00.000-07:00

The EPIC Governance Group has just announced that The Ministry of Education has generously agreed to fund the subscription that allows all NZ schools free access to the EPIC e-resources for another year through to March 31, 2011.
Most New Zealand Schools have now registered to access EPIC through the portal on the TKI website, however, if your school has yet to do so, then check out the registration link for further information or contact Senga White, schools’ representative on the EPIC Governance Group.

By registering to access the EPIC e-resources, the students and staff at your school are able to access a wide range of quality information in 19 fantastic databases from 5 of the world's leading e-resource vendors. These resources are:

EBSCO

Australia New Zealand Reference Centre
MasterFile Premier

Encyclopaedia Britannica

Encyclopaedia Britannica Online (School Edition)

Gale Cengage

Biography Resource Center
Books & Authors
Business Reference Suite
Contemporary Women's Issues
Discovering Collection
General OneFile
Health & Wellness Resource Center
History Resource Center
Literature Resource Center
Opposing Viewpoints Resource Center
Student Resource Center
Virtual Reference Library

Oxford University Press

Oxford Art Online
Oxford Music Online
Oxford English Dictionary

Proquest

Science Journals

By following this link on the EPIC website you can find out more information and access user guides about each of the databases.

Remember, the more schools use these valuable resources the better position the EPIC Governance Group is in to renegotiate with the Ministry of Education.

News from the President, April 2010

2010-04-20T12:25:00.000-07:00

The SLANZA National Executive team had its first meeting for 2010 in Christchurch during March, and this is an update on areas of interest to our members:

Strategic Plan 2010-2011
We began drafting a new strategic plan which includes the following major areas of interest:
Promotion of school libraries to improve student achievement
Professional development to improve the quality of teaching and support to students
Representation of library staff
Communication and visibility
This document will be finalised at the upcoming NE meeting in June.

SLANZA 10th Anniversary Celebrations
Planning continues, at sub-committee level, for the 10th anniversary of SLANZA to be held in Auckland, at the new National Library building on 29th October. There are plans afoot to share celebrations from the regions in a visual format i.e. power points, video clips etc., at that celebration, so put your thinking caps on at regional level, and begin planning the party and how you might share it with your colleagues.

There will be special updates as more planning is finalised.

Communication
As part of our strategic planning, Donna Watt, current Southland representative has been appointed to the role of Communications Leader for SLANZA, a role which will encompass responsibility for media liaison, newsletters and other forms of communication with members. Part of the new communication package will be a blog which will sit on the new SLANZA website. This is in the development stage at present, so look out for further information early this term.

If you have news of interest to school librarians that you would like to share via the blog, or newsletters, or you would like to contribute an article for the planned magazine-style publication (to be published 3-4 times per year, electronically), please contact Donna – the membership would love to hear about the great things happening in school libraries around the country. Her email is dwatt@auroracollege.school.nz.

The SLANZA Newsletter is to be re-invented as the SLANZA Magazine and given a complete revamp. This type of communication you are now reading will be the Newsletter. Miriam Tuohy, who has enormous expertise in all things digital and has been the driving force behind our new website has agreed to take over the editorship of this Magazine and will take it forward to the future with a new sleek look, tied into the look of the website and the wiki.

There has been lots of positive feedback about the new website and the wiki is still being well used by our members.

People changes
We warmly welcome Frances Gibbons, who has been appointed as our Administration Officer for SLANZA. She has made a smooth transition to our team at one of our busiest times of the year and has already become indispensable. She can be contacted at slanza@xtra.co.nz

Two members of the National Executive have advised that they will not be re-standing for their positions at the upcoming Annual General Meetings. They are Cynthia Frankcombe from Taupo, and Pat Bellhouse from Palmerston North. We thank them for their contributions, and sincerely hope that their links to school libraries and SLANZA will remain strong. We hope we will have equally enthusiastic, willing people to step forward for their regions.

National Library
There has been much in the media in recent weeks about the merger of National Library and Archives New Zealand with Internal Affairs. SLANZA has been lobbying on behalf of members to be given a voice in the process, and we will continue to monitor any decisions made that may affect services through National Library.

Dyane Hosler, National Library representative on our Executive spoke to a power-point presentation put together by Geraldine Howell, Director of Services to Young New Zealanders, previewing the new programmes being designed for schools. She outlined the background of the changes and how positions have now changed; statistics on how schools are supported; explained the four goals; the key challenges; the three key structural shifts in 2009 (the fact that there will be a national approach to services, rather than the regional approach as in the past, their Three Horizons Framework; and the roles of the two delivery teams); outlined how the service will be delivered through curriculum & advisory services; new & on-going services; the 0800 LIBLINE service and the Auckland centre’s re-development and design for the future. There was a long discussion and Dyane answered many of the exec’s questions. We hope that the presentation can be made available to schools and principals so that everyone in our sector can be bought up to date.

Global news
In March, Minister for Education in Australia Julia Gillard called for an inquiry though the Committee on Education and Training into school libraries and teacher librarians in Australian schools. Submissions closed on the 16th April and a submission was forwarded on behalf of SLANZA by Senga. As soon as we receive permission to publish this submission it will be able to be viewed on this website. This should happen after the committee meets at the end of April. We will keep you posted with respect to any response we receive and the eventual outcome of this government inquiry.

There is a ground-swell of organisations around the world making a stand on the status of school libraries. In November last year The Strengthening Kids’ Interest in Learning and Libraries Act, or the SKILLs Act, was re-introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives. This legislation is intended to ensure that all students will have the support and resources they need for a quality education by establishing a goal that all public school libraries employ no less than one highly qualified school library media specialist.

And in March the Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals (CILIP) in the UK published their Library and Information Manifesto which sets out six priorities for the next Westminster government. The first of these is to: Make school libraries statutory and develop an action plan for bringing this about within the lifetime of the next Parliament.

Work is continuing at a national level here in New Zealand through the efforts of the Strategic Advisory Forum to address the status of school libraries and the issues directly effecting New Zealand school libraries and staff. There will be more news on this front for us so watch this space!

Strategic Advisory Forum
The Strategic Advisory Forum (SAF) to the National Library is a federation of cross-library and information sector leaders whose objective is to provide independent advice to the Chief Executive/National Librarian on strategies, challenges and emerging opportunities to benefit the wider New Zealand library sector and to shape the policy agenda of the National Library. Senga is SLANZA’s representative on this forum, which meets usually once every two or three months, but is meeting more regularly at the moment due to the changing nature of National Library.

This forum is a chance to work with other library professionals and bodies and to make our presence and issues known amongst a wider sector than has previously been possible.
A discussion document about the state of school libraries in New Zealand is a current project and progress on this will be updated.

Professional Registration
At our meeting it was noted that there are 1375 professionally registered librarians in NZ;
of that number, 159 work in schools of which 152 are SLANZA members. The numbers are really encouraging, and it will be interesting to watch these numbers over time.

Standards for School Libraries
The working group for Standards has been continuing progress on this enormous job. A comprehensive survey will be conducted to acquire data across the school library sector and currently National Exec members are finding out the costs associated with data analysis.

Your National Executive team voluntarily work very hard for our membership and I look forward to updating you on those things of interest to all of us working hard in the school library arena.
I hope everyone enjoyed their holiday break and that you return refreshed as the second term is set to be a long one at eleven weeks!