The National Executive met last weekend in Wellington at Raroa
Intermediate School. Below is a summary of some
of the discussions covered at the meeting. This communique is to keep members
up-to-date with the work being done on their behalf by the National Executive.
News
Due to unforeseen circumstances, SLANZA President Karen Clarke
has resigned. National Executive would like to acknowledge all she has done for
SLANZA. During the last five years on NE Karen worked hard as Treasurer to
balance the finances, and in her position of President Elect and President, she
initiated many projects to improve the role of library staff. Thank you Karen
for all you contributed and we wish you well.
Likewise, Jacky Reid has stepped down from her position as
SLANZA Administration Officer. Jacky has been with SLANZA for a year and we
wish to thank her for all her work.
Vacancies
Therefore, SLANZA National Executive is calling for nominations
for the position of President. This position requires an in-depth understanding
of the workings of SLANZA and its stakeholders so it is preferable that this
person should be either a current member of the National Executive or someone
with previous National Executive experience. Nominations are open from
Wednesday 19 October until Friday 18 November 2016. Nomination forms are
attached.
Sandi Faulconbridge has accepted the National Executive’s nomination
for President. Sandi has been involved in school libraries for twelve years and
is currently Library Manager at Taradale Primary in Napier. She has been
Chairperson of the Central region and represented that region on NE since
September 2014. Last year she took on the role as Team Leader for Professional
Development and has run that admirably.
NE will be calling for nominations for the position of President
Elect early next year.
In addition, NE are looking to fill the role of the
Administration Officer. This is a paid position of up to ten hours a week,
responsible for the day-to-day administration of SLANZA. This position will be
advertised shortly.
Special Meeting
A special meeting needs to be held to ratify
the changes required to the SLANZA constitution and to confirm election of a
new President. We will be sending a form out to our regional committee members
shortly asking to hold a special meeting. We need to gather sufficient member
numbers (twenty) in order for this meeting to be called. Following this, an
on-line Special Meeting will be held.
Fee-free offer from The Open Polytechnic
We have been overwhelmed with the positive response from the
free fee study opportunity offered to our members in association with The Open
Polytechnic of New Zealand. Being strongly committed to raising the
professional standing of school library staff, NE are very grateful to TOPNZ
for their willingness to offer some Level 6 papers free of cost to SLANZA
members. Read the announcement on the
SLANZA website for
details. Don’t forget that enrolments for trimester 3 close on 23 October. We
encourage members to take advantage of this amazing study opportunity.
Conference
SLANZA Conference 2017, Fiery Futures: Igniting and Inspiring
Libraries, is now seeking abstracts for presentations at the conference. Do
consider presenting a session, 15, 30 or 60 minutes long. For more information,
see the conference website. Abstracts
need to be in by October 31.
Collected Magazine
Thank you to all the members who have submitted articles for
Collected magazine. The theme is ebooks, although we will be treated to other
articles of interest as well as book reviews and business member submissions.
Currently in the editing stage, the nineteenth issue of Collected will be out
soon.
Ebook Library
While we are on the topic of ebooks, don’t forget our ebook
library of professional development books. We appreciate Wheelers support in
providing our eplatform for free, as well as giving us some additional titles.
You may register here anytime although this
offer is only available for members of our organisation.
Connected Librarians
Congratulations to all those members who completed the Term 3
Connected Librarians online learning module. The topic was Content Curation,
where participants explored how they could support students and staff by
providing great digital resources. Connected online courses are free for SLANZA
members and are another option for school library staff to extend our learning.
Watch out for the next module in Term 1.
Google+ Community
The discussion topic, Transforming Your
Library based on the ideas of Rachel van Riel, is due to finish this
week. However, you may watch the videos and add to the conversations anytime.
Rachel shares valuable insight into library management with her reader-centred
library approach and the discussion questions aim to spark conversations and
debate.
Readers Survey
Expect to see the annual SLANZA Readers Survey out towards the
end of next month.
SLANZA National Executive would like to take
this opportunity to thank you for your ongoing commitment to SLANZA and wish
you all a great term 4. We will continue to work on your behalf and ensure that
the voice of school libraries from all over the country are heard.
Julia Smith
Communications
