SLANZA Life Membership Award - call for nominations

Life membership is SLANZA’s ultimate award and honour, recognising a SLANZA member whose contribution to school librarianship is so outstanding that it is of lasting importance to the advancement of the whole field of school library service.

SLANZA National Executive would like to call for nominations for our Life Membership Award. Information and criteria for the award can be found on the Award Page on the SLANZA website.

As always, the awards are presented at the discretion of the Awards Committee. If a recipient is selected, the Life Membership Award will be presented at SLANZA’s National Conference in Auckland this July.

Please send nominations with all the required documentation to admin@slanza.org.nz by Friday 23 June 2017.

Term 2 Google+ Discussion

The SLANZA PD team is excited to announce our second G+ discussion topic for the year. It will begin on Tuesday 6 June.

The Ministry of Education is committed to providing innovative learning environments where everyone can work together to support the best learning for everyone. What does this mean for school libraries and the way we practice?

Our G+ discussions are designed to be slow, to allow time for deep thought and to reflect on our practices. Over four weeks there will be four readings followed by reflective questions. You can dip in and out of the discussion as time allows you, and participate as much or as little as you wish.

You must be a member of SLANZA to take part in this discussion (and it’s a great year to join with conference coming up), as well as belonging to SLANZA’s Google+ Community.

We look forward to “seeing” you and hearing your thoughts – either for this discussion or one of our other professional development events planned for later this year.​

SLANZA Awards Nominations - due next week

ONE WEEK TO GO, ALL NOMINATIONS 

DUE NEXT THURSDAY 1^ST JUNE!

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.  Therefore the Slanza National Executive would like to call for nominations for our Awards of Merit  to be presented at the upcoming National Conference in July at King’s college, Auckland.  Further information about the criteria for each award can be found on the Awards Page on the SLANZA website.

As always, the awards are presented at the discretion of the Awards Committee.

Please send all nominations with all the required documentation to admin@slanza.org.nz no later than Thursday 1^st June 2017.

School Librarians of Aotearoa - interview with Julia Smith

I was honoured to be interviewed for 'School Librarians of Aotearoa' column in the The Sapling, a New Zealand website dedicated to children’s literature. 

The interview, where I was sent questions to answer on my role, philosophy, library organisation and other things, went live today. If you are interested in reading it you can find it here

New Zealand authors' panel discussion

Don’t forget, this Thursday after school we have the Storylines Festival New Zealand authors doing a panel session for us.

This is open to everyone, including students and the wider community. It will be marvellous to hear from New Zealand authors regarding their writing journey.

National Executive Communique - April #2

The National Executive met last weekend, 8-9 April 2017, in Wellington at Raroa Intermediate School. Below is Part 2 of a two part summary of some of the discussions held at the meeting, You can find Part 1 on the SLANZA website’s news page

Membership

As expected in conference year, there has been an increase in membership, as evidenced in the number of invoices issued. To date, 76% of member subscriptions have been paid. Thank you, your timely contribution is appreciated. Please note that unpaid membership fees for 2017, $60 per person, are OVERDUE.

Financial Report

We have a healthy budget and are looking at options for spending some of this on strengthening our organisation.

Conference Grants

Book Protection Products have been a substantial supporter of SLANZA regional professional development for many years. This year each region’s $500 grant will be allocated to assist members to attend the Auckland conference. In addition, National Executive will top up this amount by $1,500, therefore increasing the grant allocated to each region to $2,000. This grant money must be used exclusively for assisting members to attend conference. Please contact your regional representatives for more information or to apply for funding.

Conference

National Executive would like to acknowledge the fantastic job the Auckland Conference Committee are doing. Holding a conference is a huge task that falls to just a few volunteer members, yet it provides valuable professional development and networking opportunities for approximately a third of our members.

Have you registered yet? Too expensive for your school? Senior leadership may be more amenable if you secure a SLANZA Conference grant towards costs. Consider applying for grant money and take advantage of this quality professional development opportunity. See the conference website for the programme, speakers, registration and more.

SLANZA Awards

Call for nominations for SLANZA awards to recognise excellence, success and achievement within school libraries are now open. Criteria for each award can be found on the Awards Page on the SLANZA website. Please send nominations with all the required documentation to admin@slanza.org.nz no later than Thursday, June 1, 2017. Awards will be presented at the upcoming National Conference in Auckland.

Professional Development

The Google+ community has grown to 165 members, up from 111 members from the same time last year. Term one’s monthly discussion entitled Self Censorship and the School Library, was instigated by the SLANZA Professional Development team in response to a Listserv discourse at the end of 2016. This pd challenged all participants to reflect on their library practices, and the resulting conversations added depth and understanding to the contentious issue. Twenty-five members actively contributed but members who followed along reading the articles and responses gained valuable knowledge to better serve their school communities. These discussion threads remain open if you would like to catch up on some professional reading over the holidays. Keep an eye out for the Term 2 discussion.

Once again, the Connected Online Learning PD team responded to topical issues and offered a module on Digital Literacy and Fake News. Thirty-four members actively participated which is the biggest cohort to date, well done those members who have taken this opportunity to further their learning through SLANZA. There was lots of stimulating discussion and critical thinking going on. In addition, these modules provide a space to build collegiality and gather like-minded learners to follow on your pln (personal learning network).

Issue 20 of SLANZA’s online magazine Collected will focus on conferences, SLANZA and non-SLANZA conferences. We welcome articles on special experiences, inspiring speakers or workshops, on how to make the most of the opportunities, professional development and collegiality of the event. Call for submissions opened yesterday and will close on May 15th. Please consider submitting articles or reviews to collected@slanza.org.nz; Collected is your magazine and we want to hear your voice.

We are also seeking volunteer book reviewers and proofreaders of articles and reviews. We would really appreciate your support in helping to edit your magazine. If you would be willing to help out, please contact collected@slanza.org.nz

Outside Agencies

Since our last committee meeting National Executive has had meetings and/or ongoing discussions with LIANZA, the Open Polytechnic and the National Library. Maintaining relationships with associated national professional organisations is important for our credibility as a professional organisation. These connections help us provide and support you, our members, with more opportunities than SLANZA alone may be able to provide.

Jackson Ertel, Open Polytechnic, discussing the iQualify platform with NE, Raroa Intermediate.

National Executive wishes you a Happy Easter and safe holidays after a long school term.

Julia Smith

Communications

National Executive Communique - April #1

The National Executive met last weekend, 8-9 April 2017, in Wellington at Raroa Intermediate School. Below is Part 1 of a two part summary of some of the discussions held at the meeting, Part 2 will follow in the next couple of days.

National Executive Personnel Changes

With no nominations for President Elect received  from members National Executive have nominated Kirsty Adam and Julia Smith to be co-Presidents-Elect.

Current President, Sandi Faulconbridge, has accepted a new job opportunity with the National Library. Due to the conflict of interest, Sandi is unable to hold any office-bearing role within SLANZA and has stood down. Sandi has been president for seven months, taking on the role in difficult circumstances. Yet her outstanding organisational skills, quick thinking and equally quick wit has helped steady the SLANZA organisation and reset forward momentum. We sincerely wish Sandi all the best in her new role.

As a result of these exceptional circumstances, co-Presidents Elect Kirsty and Julia, with the full support of the NE, move into the role of interim co-Presidents until their positions can be ratified at the AGM in July.

Kirsty Adam represents the Southland region and is the Library Manager at James Hargest College in Invercargill. She has a degree in psychology and education, is a trained teacher and worked at the Invercargill Public Library before moving to her current position five years ago. Kirsty took on the role of  NE rep for Southland in 2014 and has done an incredible job of rebuilding SLANZA Southland. Her enthusiasm and drive, coupled with a strong can-do attitude has certainly benefited both her region and National Executive. Kirsty has recently completed a Postgraduate Certificate in Applied Practice through Mindlab.

At the other end of the country, Julia Smith, represents the Te Tai Tokerau region. Julia joined SLANZA fifteen years ago, completed her BAppSci in Information and Library Studies through the Open Polytechnic in 2010, and about the same time secured a full-time job at Kerikeri High School. She has been involved with SLANZA for many years, stepping up to Chairperson in 2013, then the following year became the SLANZA Te Tai Tokerau National Executive Representative; she still holds both of these positions. Julia’s main role within NE has been Communications, though she has enjoyed moderating the Google+ community discussions and facilitating the Connected online learning modules.

Kirsty Adam and Julia Smith

The National Executive welcomed four new members at this meeting. Greater regional representation provides a stronger voice for members, encourages robust discussion and helps to share the workload.  Our new NE members are:

·         Stephanie Gibbons, library manager at New Plymouth Boys High School who takes over the role of NE rep for Central region.

·         Glenys Bichan is the new representative for the Waikato/Bay of Plenty region, Library Manager at Cambridge High School, and current Chairperson for her region.

·         Ngaio Blackwood is our new Administration Officer, the only paid position within SLANZA. Ngaio is a librarian at Tamatea Intermediate in Napier and has spent the last thirteen years in school, tertiary and public libraries. She has a Bachelor of Fine Arts (Hons) and a postgraduate Certificate in Information Studies (library). Ngaio can be contacted at admin@slanza.org.nz

·         Bridget Schaumann representing the Otago region, was warmly welcomed back. Bridget, as a past President and with many, many years experience on NE, offers a vast knowledge repository that is truly remarkable and invaluable.

The fact that two of our SLANZA presidents have so recently been employed by National Library is well worth noting. National Library has obviously recognised the work, responsibilities and leadership potential that SLANZA provides and nourishes. Although we may begrudge National Library harvesting our best people, it is with pride that we acknowledge the role that SLANZA has played in furthering both Miriam and Sandi’s careers.

The second part of our meeting summary will be shared in the next couple of days.

Julia Smith

Communications

Collected submissions closing soon

This is a timely reminder that the Deadline for Collected 20 approaches. Submissions close on 15th May,2017.

Our theme for the issue is  “Conferences and Professional Development”. We will be  promoting SLANZA Conference 2017 Fiery Futures. The theme is SLANZA and non Slanza conferences people may  have attended. Stories about special or uplifting experiences, speakers, workshops etc. and tips to navigating conferences, making the most of the opportunities, professional development and the collegiality of professional development would all be welcome. We also welcome articles of interest, reviews from members and accounts of local SLANZA or library related activities.

If you wish to submit something and have any questions, don’t hesitate to contact me at collected@slanza.org.nz or greig@tokohigh.school.nz
Guidelines for submissions can be found at slanza.org.nz under the Resources tab. Our deadline for this issue is May 15  2017

Please feel free to contact me at the above address if you have any questions or concerns
 
Greig Daniels
Editor, Collected

New Zealand authors panel discussion

SLANZA is fortunate to have secured three New Zealand children’s authors for a panel discussion after school NEXT THURSDAY, 11 May, 4-5pm, at Kerikeri High School Library.

I appreciate it isn’t much notice of the event but it is too good of an opportunity to miss while they are touring with Storylines National Festival Story Tour. It is a free event, open to adults and students. 

Come along after school at 3:45pm for afternoon tea followed by the panel talk:

• ·         Melinda Szymanik recently published Fuzzy Doodle, wonderful picture book about words, stories and writing illustrated by Donovan Bixley, as well as plenty of other titles (Song of the Kauri, Winter’s day in 1939, The Were-Nana etc), and has run workshops about getting published so if you have any questions on that front she would be a good person to talk to.
• ·         Tim Tipene is the author of Taming the Taniwha, Haere, Jack, Haere, and Warrior Kids books.
• ·         Diana Menefy is a Northland author, living in Hikurangi, and her latest books are 1915 : Wounds of War and Shadow of the Boyd

SLANZA wishes to acknowledge Storylines sponsorship to hold this event, and our huge appreciation of the authors for their time while they spend full days in schools on their Northland tour.