Ross Todd Registration Now Open

Great news today, registration is now open for the Ross Todd seminars.  Please go to our website for all the details and online registration.  Your organization will receive an invoice once you have registered.

I have attached the event flyer (also available online) for you to have a look at.  I always find it helpful to include documents like this with my PD request, it's good for the committee making the decision to have all the facts.

If for some reason you are unable to register online, please contact me for assistance. 

Thank you, I look forward to seeing as many of you as possible at these events. 

Lisa Salter
lsalter@ruawaicollege.school.nz

SLANZA Te Tai Tokerau representative
www.slanza.org.nz

Term 2 SLANZA update

Just a few things to mention re SLANZA :

Membership is due if you haven’t  paid it yet – at least one member per school would really strengthen the organisation – here is the membership application form (with the new address) http://www.slanza.org.nz/join.html

Honorary Life Membership has been introduced this year!
Considered to be SLANZA’s highest honour, it is conferred on a living member whose contribution to school librarianship or a closely related field is so outstanding that it is of lasting importance to the advancement of the whole field of school library service. It is intended to reflect honour upon SLANZA as well as upon the individual.
Contact Lisa Salter lsalter@ruawaicollege.school.nz for a copy of the application form (not yet on the website) and details of the application process, which closes on Thursday 21^st June 2012.

Business Memberships
Here is link to the newly established Business Memberships, FYI http://www.slanza.org.nz/businessmembership.html

Collected – SLANZA’s online magazineis at this link http://slanza.org.nz/collected.html  and the focus for this issue is “content curation” – check it out if you are not familiar with this concept, and there is lots of other good content too.
As it suggests in the editorial, you could  print out the magazine and put into a clearfile as a resource to browse and share with staff.

SLANZA Awards are coming up this year – the website still has the old dates on the forms so I’ll find them out, but you can have a look at the various awards and consider who the people are that you would like to have their contribution recognised – see this link http://www.slanza.org.nz/awards.html for an outline about the various awards - for Principals, teachers, libary staff…  and I’ll update this with the closing dates for the awards asap.

Events

Northland Term 2
Our Creative Displays “Piece of mind” event is coming up, Saturday 9^th June at Kerikeri High School Library, with Anita Vanderberghe showing us how to get creative with library displays – see this link for more information http://slanzanorthland.blogspot.co.nz/2012/04/term-2-workshop.html

Northland Term 3
Our Term 3 events-in-planning will be in Whangarei 29^th August and Kaikohe 30^th August with Mereana Tangapeau, looking at Maori resources online :

• Discover what digital Maori resources are available through Alexander Turnbull Library/National Library.
• Discover how to successfully navigate through and access Alexander Turnbull/National Library online collections.
• Learn about what other services National Library/Alexander Turnbull Library have to offer.
• Support the learning needs and interests of your students by providing the right resources.
• Discover resources showing the history and landscape of Northland that are held at Alexander Turnbull Library.

Auckland Term 3
Dr Ross Todd is is coming back to present a seminar on school libraries and evidence-based practice.  This is a fantastic opportunity to hear a world-reknowned speaker on school libraries, and to learn about how you can focus on student learning outcomes and the school library.
Thursday, July 19, 2012, 09:00am - 3.00pm (week 1 Term 3)
National Library of New Zealand 8 Stanley Street Parnell Auckland
Registration costs : SLANZA members $150, LIANZA/TRW $200, General $250

All for now, check out the SLANZA website http://www.slanza.org.nz/ or this Northland blog http://slanzanorthland.blogspot.co.nz/ for more information,
cheers, Jeannie

Dr Ross Todd is coming back

Upcoming SLANZA event - Dr Ross Todd - dates, costs and venues confirmed.

We are very happy to confirm that we have booked venues on the following dates for the Evidence Based Practice seminars in July with the fabulous Ross Todd! We are in the process of setting up electronic registration forms on our website, and will let you know as soon as that is available. There will be an official flyer released at that time with full information. In the meantime, you may like to use the following details to initiate discussions with your schools:

Auckland on Thursday, July 19, 2012, 09:00am - 3.00pm
National Library of New Zealand
8 Stanley Street
Parnell
Auckland

Wellington on Saturday, July 21 2012, 09:00am - 3.00pm
6th Floor
PSA House
11 Aurora Tce
Wellington
AGM to follow afternoon tea

Registration costs
SLANZA members $150
LIANZA/TRW $200
General $250

Bob Docherty Back up North

Hi everyone-

Dee Brooker from Whangarei Boys' High School has been independently organizing to bring Bob Docherty up North again this year.  Five schools have taken her up on the offer and the Kaipara area is holding an after school public event which will be advertised widely to schools in the area.  Last year Te Tai Tokerau SLANZA hosted Bob and all who attended felt it was a worthwhile experience.    I would like to invite and encourage you to come along if it isn't too far to drive.  Details below:

Great Book Ideas for Reluctant Readers! 
Bob Docherty is coming North to promote books and reading to students, parents, librarians and teachers.  Bob  works as a consultant to schools and  libraries.  He has been known to say… "I am too old to die young, but one of my lifelong interests has been getting children to read good literature.  For nine years I purchased fiction and picture books for the National Library's School Collection and during that time read so many books that I accidentally became an expert in children's literature."
Bob's thoughtful and enthusiastic presentation on enticing reading for Years 7 - 10 will focus on reluctant readers and will inspire both students, parents, librarians and teachers with a selection of reviews of books guaranteed to interest even the most reluctant readers! 
Check out Bob’s Blog at http://bobsbooksnz.wordpress.com/about/ for a taste of Bob’s reviews.

In Dargaville  

from 4.00pm - 5.00pm 

                                on Wednesday 20 June 
                                  at Dargaville Town Hall
                Librarians, students & teachers free, all others $2.00pp.
             Storytime Books will be on hand so you may purchase titles after the presentation.

Further details from Lisa Salter 021 116 1080 or email lsalter@ruawaicollege.school.nz

Special thanks to Dee Brooker and our supporters- Kaipara District Council, Storytime Books, Whangarei and SLANZA.

Term 2 workshop

"Piece of mind"
creating engaging displays in your library...

Making interesting displays can be a challenge - lack of time, resources and space are often reasons for not creating displays that attract the attention of students. 
 

We are fortunate to have Anita Vandenberghe coming north to present a workshop on library displays, sharing her enthusiasm, expertise and experience with us, talking about finding ideas and putting them into action to create displays that your students will love.
 

You will hear tips and tricks and how you can use materials over and again, and how to find out about and to keep track of important events during the year in order to prepare your displays
ahead of time...

Come and activate your creativity and go home with a world of ideas!

Anita Vandenberghe worked for more than 20 years at a public library in The Netherlands before coming to New Zealand where she now works at St Kentigern College Library.  As well as being a life-long learner, she is an avid reader and information-gatherer, and passionate about libraries and their pivotal role in the community. 

Anita's website http://www.CreativeLibraryDisplays.com is a fabulous resource, containing displays ideas, descriptions of how to get started, lots of photos, tips, and helpful information. 

Anita presented a workshop at the SLANZA Conference about making appealing, timely and relevant displays without spending too much money, time, blood, sweat or tears and people were inspired!

The workshop will be 

• At Kerikeri High School Library 
• On Saturday 9th June 2012 (Term 2, week 7) 
• Start 10am (or come a bit earlier for a cuppa beforehand), finishing about 12 noon.
• $5 for SLANZA members, $15 for non-members
• To register please contact jeannie.skinner@dia.govt.nz

All welcome – library staff, teachers, public library staff, student librarians… 

How to Empower Yourself to Protect Your Library and Your Position

A note from Lisa Salter - SLANZA Te Tai Tokerau National Executive Representative-

Now more that ever Libraries are under pressure to show their worth. When finances are tight or the roll drops school's are faced with tough choices. It is the department's that have hard, indisputable evidence of their worth that will best survive. As school library staff we need to learn what and how to gather that information BEFORE we need it.

As a result of much planning and negotiation SLANZA is pleased to be able to offer the following one day workshop/s with leading international school library expert Dr. Ross Todd. Please consider this VITAL professional development, and regardless of concerns about costs or dates or any other barriers, contact Fiona at the address below to show your support and interest. Once we have an indication of attendance we will be able to finalize things like cost, but be sure that SLANZA understands the limits of school budgets and will be providing the lowest cost possible and scholarship opportunities.

Lisa

The SLANZA National Executive has an opportunity to bring Dr Ross Todd to New Zealand to present his one day seminar 'School libraries making a difference: What is your evidence and how do you get it?' The seminar will:

(a) provide attendees with a range of strategies, initiatives and measurement techniques that will enable them to carefully and effectively chart and document the tangible learning outcomes of their teaching-learning activities.

(b) explore a range of existing tools and measures for charting and documenting evidence on educational and community outcomes.

(c) enable attendees to be able to build a portfolio of local school evidence of the importance and value of the school library to their school communities.

(d) provide approaches and strategies for the strategic dissemination and use of evidence

in school and communities.

We are very excited about this opportunity, but need to gauge interest in order to confirm it with Dr Todd. Please send an email indicating interest to

Fiona Mackie by 5pm Wednesday 7 March. The cost is to be confirmed and will be dependent on numbers attending. The Executive is, however, committed to providing affordable PD and will be subsidizing current members, so look out for your membership renewal notice which will be coming to you very soon!

Fiona Mackie

President SLANZA

Network Meetings and a SLANZA Planning Session

Hi,

Welcome back to the school year and welcome to new school library staff.
Our National Library adviser Jeannie Skinner has been busy organizing network meetings with interesting and useful topics to consider and learn about. I always find these meetings well worth the time and as well as having up to date knowledge I enjoy seeing recommended new books and catching up with my 'flock' (you guys who do the same stuff as me!)

All the date and details are available at Northland Networks on the National Library site . If you haven't joined the online community now is your chance, it's free and easy and will keep you up to date on school library information relating to Northland.

After the Whangarei Secondary meeting I am hoping those interested will stay for a little while and help plan how SLANZA Te Tai Tokerau can support school libraries this year. We would like to plan one event for each term that are interesting, relevant and you will come along and support. If you have ideas but are unable to attend the Whangarei meeting please contact me, details below.

I will be attending the National Executive are meeting the first weekend of March and I can raise any concerns, suggestions or ideas that come out of the meeting (or you can contact me directly).

Whangarei Secondary-
Wed 22 Feb 1.30 – 3pm at Whangarei Boys’ HS

Whangarei Primary / Intermediate-
Wed 22 Feb 3.30 – 5pm at Morningside School

Far North-
Thurs 23 Feb at Kaitaia REAP Kauri Room

Wellsford-
Wed 29 Feb Rodney College

Dargaville-
Thurs 1 March at Arapohue School

Mid North-
Thurs 8 March at Kerikeri High School

I look forward to catching up with you all throughout the year. Please feel free to contact me any time especially if you have any concerns or questions.

Lisa Salter
RLIANZA
Library Manager- Ruawai College and Community Library
lsalter@ruawaicollege.school.nz
w 09 439 2216 - h 09 439 2208

Plans for 2012

What would you like to see happening with SLANZA Northland in 2012 ?

This is one of the places you can suggest topics or speakers for the committee to investigate - just add comments below or else email me jeannie.skinner@dia.govt.nz or contact any of the SLANZA Tai Tokerau committee : Lisa Salter, Di Eastwood, Julia Smith, Liz Christensen, Elaine Shields, Kaye Neely, Angela Margison, Dee Brooker, Maria Quin...

You might want to look at what is happening around the country with SLANZA for inspiration, eg this September workshop in Wellington reported on the SLANZA blog , or Waikato Bay of Plenty's wikispace with their programmes over the years... http://slanza.wikispaces.com/

(I wish each region had a blog like we have now and we could have links to them on the sidebar!)

All suggestions welcome - think about topics, speakers, workshops, areas of interest and need... and also preferences for day of the week /time of day etc too.

A couple of suggestions so far - a workshop / panel discussion on organising a bookweek for a Term 1 meeting, and a request for help with creating promotional posters and displays.

Please add your ideas below or get in touch and we'll try to see what we can do to make it happen.

Swimming with Hilary Greenebaum

Last Thursday we were fortunate to have Dr Hilary Greenebaum come visit us in the north to present her conference workshop "Do you swim with sharks or dolphins?" Hillary has much experience and wisdom to share, and I was delighted to hear her talk about effective library management, development and communication in such a practical way.
The message that resonated most strongly for me was that I need to understand senior management better and find ways to promote a positive partnership rather than just expecting it to happen. I have to plan, do, reflect, evaluate, learn and share in a focused way that supports student learning and achievement.
As often is with workshops there was some new learning and some reinforcing of prior knowledge. It's always good to be reminded that you are on the right track, even if sometimes you are running and sometimes stopping for a chat.
Thank you Hilary for taking the time to come and talk to us, we appreciate your visit.

Term 4 2011 meeting with Dr Hilary Greenebaum

Just a reminder about the SLANZA meeting this Thursday afternoon - 17th November, after school at Whangarei Boys' High School Library with Dr Hilary Greenebaum - see post below . The Wednesday meeting at Taipa Area School will not be going ahead this term - we are looking to offer this workshop in the Far North in 2012.

Hilary is coming up from Auckland for the meeting. I have heard her and think she has important messages about effective library management, development and communication, and her workshop at the SLANZA Conference was very well received.

I hope we can develop the culture in the North of making the most of library professional development opportunities as part of our performance planning / review / appraisal process - library staff and TLRs need to request it and do it when opportunities arise, Principals need to expect it of their staff and support it… and the organisers need participants in order to keep on creating events!

Professional development adds to your kete of knowledge, sparks new ideas, confirms existing practice, challenges you to raise your game, provides opportunities to network with others and to contribute your point of view and expertise to the school library community of which you are an important member…

Come and share some afternoon tea, hear a warm and engaging speaker, think about your library and strategies to make it more effective, and flock together with your library colleagues...

Report to National Executive

This weekend I am off to a SLANZA National Executive Meeting.

Most concerning to our profession is the future of School Libraries and who manages them. Some around the country are under threat and the government and ministry aren't yet prepared to make a stand regarding a 'national standard' for school libraries. I emailed all members last month asking for any information regarding threats to services or hours in our area, and have had no response, therefore assuming that things are settled at the moment. It is important for the National Executive to have concrete evidence when working with such a vital issue. Please do not hesitate to contact me if you have any concerns at all lsalter@ruawaicollege.school.nz.


Below is my regional report for Te Tai Tokerau for your information. Any questions or suggestions are most welcome. Thank you to everyone who has supported SLANZA this year. I look forward to seeing many of you at our last event of the year next week with Dr Hilary Greenebaum from Softlink to giving us her presentation "Do you swim with sharks or dolphins ?!"

Te Tai Tokerau Report 2011

Professional Development

Our region was well represented at Conference this year and we are grateful to the National Executive for sponsoring two members attendance. All felt it a very worthwhile experience and commend the committee and St Cuthbert’s for the great atmosphere and smooth running of the event.

In Term 3 we invited Bob Docherty http://bobsbooksnz.wordpress.com/ to speak at two after school sessions and made him available to schools during the day to assist with costs. As it turned out, Bob’s plane was unable to land in Kerikeri or Whangarei and after some scary landing attempts, the plane went back to Auckland and he was bussed up. Because of this Bob was unable to keep his appointments in the far north. He did attend his Whangarei engagements and I was fortunate to attend a packed after school session at Whangarei Girls’ High School. Bob’s enthusiasm is contagious and his recommendations are spot on, making for much discussion and book shopping afterwards. Thank you to the National Executive for making money available for the regions to host speakers of this quality.

We have an event planned in Term 4 with Hillary Greenebaum repeating her conference workshop “Do you swim with sharks or dolphins?” in Taipa and again in Whangarei. We felt that her session was well worth sharing with those who were unable to attend in July and Hillary has been gracious in combining her visit with other work to keep costs down.

Communication

As well as emailing everything to our membership mailing list we are using the Te Tai Tokerau blog Te Tai Tokerau blog share information. The blog is growing and with encouragement has been updated by various members who have found this a useful and friendly introduction to blogging and this new ownership has impacted on their following of the blog. With Jeannie Skinner’s direction we also have four online communities at National Library Services to Schools Northland Networks, Northland PD Day, Northland registered librarians and Moving on : young fiction. Jeannie is promoting these every chance she gets throughout the region.

Advocacy

The Northland Secondary School’s PD day in August had a strong focus on Advocacy with links to documents and resources posted on our Online Community. The clear message was that we must consider the future and how we can best provide services that keep our libraries relevant in changing times.

2011 has been an active year in our region, although our numbers are small our enthusiasm to provide the best service we can to our schools is huge. I am grateful to Jeannie Skinner, secretary, the local committee and the National Executive for their support and guidance.

Lisa Salter

Te Tai Tokerau

SLANZA NE

2012 Auckland Writers and Readers Festival Line Up

International authors, local authors, songwriters all in one place ready to impress your students. $10.00 per person and a programme that caters to schools and school hours. Inspire and reward your best readers. This is a wonderful opportunity for the School Library to take the lead - don't let the English department steal this from you!

I talk to the English teachers and chose a select group of students who had earned the privilege of attending. This trip an opportunity to extend and encourage our Gifted and Talented students. I gathered the students well in advance to offer them the opportunity and asked them to have read at least one book by one of the authors (I support this by ordering additional copies from National Library and our local public library). This is an excellent tactic as we discovered that we really loved the author’s books and connected much better to the presentations.

One thing that really supported our school this year was our successful application to the Festival’s generous Schools’ Transport Fund. They paid for our transport!

So start planning now. Get approval from whoever you need to and get your teachers excited. I just take the school van, but Auckland schools fill the isles. Let's see Northland filling a few seats as well.

Check out their website: www.writersfestival.co.nz

May 9 & 10 2012 at Aotea Centre

LOVE, LIES, GHOSTS, JOKES AND BOMBS: A ROLLERCOASTER OF WRITING AND READING

We're pleased to announce the following authors for the 2012 Programme: Emily Rodda (Aus), Mal Peet (UK), Roddy Doyle (Ire), Oliver Jeffers (US), Eoin Colfer* (Ire) and local luminaries Fleur Beale, Ben Sanders, DJ Connell* (NZ/UK).

Wednesday 09 May - Years 7 to 10 and Thursday 10 May - Years 9 - 13

Sessions run between 10am and 2pm and are 45 minutes long. There will also be writing workshops for smaller groups. Student tickets cost $10 per day. Teachers are free. Schools can also apply for travel grants.

If you would like us to post you a full brochure in February 2012 please email schools@writersfestival.co.nz and put "Schools Programme Please" in the subject line (making sure you supply your name, school, year/age of students, email, phone and physical address). The brochure will also be available as a downloadable PDF from our website from the beginning of Term 1. Applications for the Schools Transport Fund will be open from March 2012.

The Auckland Writers & Readers Festival Schools Programme is now in its fourth year and has proven to be a keenly anticipated event for intermediate and secondary school students and teachers. We are committed to educating and inspiring young readers and writers. This programme is a prime opportunity for students to connect with the people behind the books and to learn more about the craft of writing and develop their skills as readers. Writers are keen to interact with students and answer their questions.

If you have any queries, please don’t hesitate to contact the festival office on 09 376 8074 or email us at schools@writersfestival.co.nz. We look forward to welcoming you to the 2012 Auckland Writers & Readers Festival.

Jenica Rogers - Reality-based Librarianship for Passionate Librarians

It was with great expectations that I travelled down to Whangarei Tuesday afternoon to listen to American librarian Jenica Rogers. Jenica is to be a keynote speaker at the LIANZA Conference next week in Wellington, but she had been persuaded to "practice" her talk up North. This was a wonderful opportunity for us to to learn from such a motivated and indeed, passionate, librarian.

Jenica's session, Reality-based Librarianship for Passionate Librarians was fabulous. Her focus was on  how to implement a new project within your library, whether it is a new technique, technology, event, change or concept, the process is the same. Her projects she conceptualised as mountains or hills, and she discussed how we must be completely committed, passionate enough to climb those mountains and achieve our goals. Jenica talked about naming your passion, identifying your goals and professionally organising, planning and managing towards achieving them. Embrace the process she said, even if you have to compromise on the way, it is all about focusing and following your passions, achieving those goals, creating a better environment or service. But that you can't do it alone, so build a support network, look for allies or flock mates, utilise the power of community.

Jenica also made us consider failure and how to deal with it, when to recognise that this project will not be achievable and climb back down the mountain. "Success requires some tolerance for failure" she stated, and challenged us to plan ahead about things that may go wrong and how we would handle it. 

Jenica reminded me of one of our own passionate advocates for libraries, Donna Watt from Invercargill, (check Donna's blog), they speak the same language with the same message - they really need to be flock-mates! 

Thanks to Corin of LIANZA Hikuwai  for organising this inspirational session for us. And thank you, Jenica Rogers, for exceeding my expectations and presenting an inspirational reality-based session.

To learn more about Jenica Rogers, start with her blog Attempting Elegance 

Term 4 event - Dr Hilary Greenebaum

One more chance for a get together in Term 4 and to be inspired by a guest speaker...

We have invited Dr Hilary Greenebaum from Softlink to give us her presentation "Do you swim with sharks or dolphins ?!" which she gave at the SLANZA conference in Auckland in July.

This presentation will explore how traditional senior management often thinks about libraries, and will offer concrete, action-oriented steps school library teams can make to change that thinking.

Considering finite resources such as time, energy, information and money, Hilary will explore ways to successfully collaborate, advocate and communicate with school staff and leaders about the library and student learning.

Hilary’s abiding interest is learning, and then supporting student and staff learning in schools - especially in a Web 2.0 context. During her 20+ years in the field of education, Hilary has been a primary school teacher, a Literacy Resource Teacher, a Teacher Librarian, an Intermediate School Principal, University Lecturer, and Technology Consultant. Hilary joined the Softlink team as an Educational Sales and Training Consultant and is excited to be able to support student and staff learning using their robust web based product.

Hilary has kindly agreed to do two meetings for us to make the event as accessible as possible.

Wednesday 16th November at Taipa Area School Library
and
Thursday 17th November at Whangarei Boys' High School Library

3.45 for afternoon tea, and Hilary's presentation from 4.00- 5.00pm.

The intended audience is school library teams - TLRs and library staff.

It will be a free meeting for SLANZA members though a donation towards afternoon tea would be welcome, and if you are not a member here is the link to join with a downloadable PDF http://www.slanza.org.nz/join.html which will be for 2012 too.
We are charging for a meeting for the first time this year for non-members - though only $5 - as a way to try to cover costs but mainly to encourage membership!

It would be helpful to have an idea of numbers, so please RSVP to jeannie.skinner@dia.govt.nz

There are no school library network meetings this term, so this could be our last get together for the year. There is some talk of going out for a bite to eat after the Taipa meeting - maybe a pizza at the Waterfront Cafe in Mangonui ? Anyone interested ? and Whangarei ?

Look forward to seeing you at Taipa or Whangarei.

Study Grants for 2012

Are you considering study to further your knowledge?

Apply now for financial help from SLANZA!

STUDY GRANT APPLICATIONS NOW OPEN

The National Executive of SLANZA is pleased to announce that we will again be offering
Study Grants to members for the 2012 academic year.

Selection criteria, application forms and other information is available on the
SLANZA website.

Applications close on Friday 28 October 2011, and can be emailed to slanza@xtra.co.nz .

Please direct any inquiries to your local representative

Lisa Salter  lsalter@ruawaicollege.school.nz 

Bob Docherty's Northland Visit

Bob Docherty visited WBHS last Thursday as part of a tour ably organised by Jeannie Skinner on behalf of SLANZA. Together with "Coach Bob" (Robert Pollock, HoD of Drama) the two Bobs wowed two large groups of Juniors in the Library with their unique partnership of book-talking and students being rewarded with chocolate bars for answering questions relating to the books. Afterwards there was a flurry of book borrowing.

This was our second successful visit and we would love to make this an annual event if other schools are willing to join us.

SLANZA Te Tai Tokerau AGM 2011 minutes

Minutes of SLANZA Te Tai Tokerau AGM
Friday 16th September 2011 at Whangarei Boys’ High School Library, 3.30 – 4pm.

Present : Di Eastwood, Lisa Salter, Catherine Pilkington, Vicky Garnett, Carol Crowley, Elaine Heeny, Dee Brooker, Stephanie Gibbons, Alyson Gates, Angela Margison, Trish McKinstry, Katie Langridge, Maria Quin, Garth Rodda, Jeannie Skinner
Apologies : Kaye Neely, Julia Smith

No matters arising from 2010 AGM.

Report from Lisa Salter, National Executive Northland representative : Te Tai Tokerau Report 2011

In May I travelled to Kerikeri to meet the SLANZA committee at National Librarian Jeannie Skinner’s home. I was grateful to see five librarians sitting around the table with Di Eastwood’s warm date scones to share.
First up we chose Petrina Yuretich and Angela Margison for conference scholarships, and our region sponsored two further members, Elaine Shields and Liz Christensen, and supported members who were presenting at conference. Angela’s post on the SLANZA blog summed up her experience and her appreciation of the key note speakers.

At the meeting we discussed what type of workshops we could offer our members and how and where to start. We decided to start in Term Two with small book mending and processing workshops in Week 8 or so spread around the region. Book Protection Products was approached for suggestions and support which Warwick Ashton readily made available. We arranged to hold sessions in Dargaville, Kerikeri, Whangarei, Kaitaia, Wellsford and advertised on the TTT SLANZA blog as well as sending emails to members. We opened it up to non-members and made it free as a way of promoting ourselves and providing practical support in the regions. Three of the workshops had enough interest to run. The most successful with 20 in attendance.
The more ambitious plan for Term 3 was achieved with Bob Docherty in the north for three days with successful afternoons in Kerikeri and Whangarei and Bob also going out to schools.

The Conference was a huge success and every member who attended went away full of new ideas, enthusiasm and stories to share.

I have attended three NE meetings in Auckland since October last year. Our July meeting was Fiona Mackie’s first as Chairman and most of the committee is also new so we took time to identify strategic goals and our roles and responsibilities toward achieving our aims. Our priorities are Advocacy, Professional Development and Communication. We meet again in November in Auckland.

Thank you to everyone who has supported me as I settle in to my new role. We are very fortunate to have Jeannie Skinner of National Library on our team, her experience and sound advice is invaluable. I look forward to working with you all and hope to be able to contribute more as my experience and confidence grows.
Lisa Salter, Te Tai Tokerau, SLANZA NE
Lisa proposed that this report be accepted, Maria Quin seconded, all agreed.

Treasurer’s report from Kaye Neely (delivered by Di Eastwood) SLANZA Te Tai Tokerau Financial Report for January to December 2010.

The attached accounts document the transactions that occurred during 2010. During that time only one event was held – the Collection Development Workshop. This ran at a small loss of $123.04.

Because of changes to the way funding was distributed from National Executive, there was much confusion in 2009 and funding for one 2009 Conference registration was late being received, so this shows in the 2010 financial year. No Conference was held in 2010. $500 was transferred from the Accelerator account prior to receiving the NE funds to ensure that we did not go into overdraft.

We remain in a reasonably healthy position, but need to be cautious about spending the money simply because it is there, because once it is gone it is gone. Consideration should always be given to ensuring events cover their costs.

Finally I would like to request that National Executive be asked to give clear instructions on accessing funding to support local events. Perhaps a motion could be moved to that end.

Prepared by Kaye Neely, September 2011
Di moved that this report be accepted, Lisa seconded, all agreed.
Action : Lisa to take to National Executive meeting a request for clarification around distribution of funding from NE to regions and to request the financial allocation for PD events in Northland.

SLANZA Term 4 2011
Term 4 meeting scheduled for Thursday 17th November at Whangarei Boys’ High School Library, from 2 – 4 pm, workshop with Lisa Salter on effective reporting in your school and “do you swim with sharks or dolphins?” presentation with Dr Hilary Greenbaum from Softlink on advocacy, communication and understanding roles.

SLANZA 2012

• SLANZA will be based in Northland South for 2012.
• Di Eastwood has stepped down from the role of Northland Chair which she has done so well and for so long – many, many thanks Di, and we know you will still be involved !
• Lisa Salter will take on the role of Chair as well as National Executive representative meanwhile, and when the Northland South team meets in Whangarei in Term 1 2012 actual roles can be confirmed depending on interest and availability. Steph, Angela, Maria and Dee all expressed interest in supporting SLANZA in 2012.
  
• Jeannie to send out survey to schools about ideas for meetings, preferred days and times.
  

SLANZA Northland blog
Jeannie promoted the SLANZA blog and encouraged everyone to visit it, comment on posts and add their contributions, and contact Jeannie if they would like to be an author and do posts on the blog. We can have as many authors as we like, so if you haven’t had a go at blogging before, this could be a good way to try it.

Meeting closed at 4pm.

Bob Docherty

I thoroughly enjoyed Bob Docherty, Jeannie. He really made the stories come alive. It is wonderful to hear such great story tellers. Cheers to Stephanie for hosting at the Whangarei Girls High School, on Thursday afternoon, 15th September.

SLANZA AGM 2011

Just to let you know that there will be a brief SLANZA AGM

• this Friday 16th Sept 2011
  
• in Whangarei after the Annual Northland Secondary PD day at Whangarei Boys' High School Library
  
• at 3.30 pm.

We realised that the year is racing along and we hadn't had our Northland AGM which we are obliged to do, so have added it to the agenda for this day when there will be a group of us already gathered. I don't expect great numbers to turn up - we aren't having a guest speaker this time - we have just hosted Bob Docherty earlier in the week - but it is a formality we need to do, and this is inviting you to attend.

Anyone who would like to be on the SLANZA Northland Committee is VERY welcome. We seem to be more based in Kerikeri, but maybe we need to alternate SLANZA North and South in alternate years like we used to ?

The agenda is as follows : SLANZA AGM

• National Executive Representative’s report – Lisa Salter
• Chairperson’s report – Di Eastwood
  
• Treasurer’s report – Di Eastwood on behalf of Kaye Neely
• Election of committee – Chair, Treasurer, Secretary
  
• SLANZA Northland blog – Jeannie
  
• Plans for 2011 / 2012
  

Bob Docherty visits Kerikeri and Whangarei

Here is an opportunity to hear a knowledgeable 
and enthusiastic speaker

promote new and interesting children's and teen fiction

Come and listen to Bob Docherty, to find out what books hook teens into reading, and how you can hear about new books.

Bob Docherty

Bob Docherty:

•       consultant promoting reading and literacy in schools
•       20 years experience with National Library selecting fiction for the Schools Collection
•            Judge and Convenor of Judges for the LIANZA Book Awards 2005-2008
•       author of Bobs Books Blog - http://bobsbooksnz.wordpress.com

Kerikeri High School Library - this Wednesday, Sept. 14,

4:00-5:00pm

Whangarei Girls High School Library - this Thursday, Sept. 15, 

4;00-5:00pm

Afternoon tea will be provided at both venues at 3:30pm and a gold coin donation would be appreciated, plus there will be book browsing and buying opportunities with Take Note at Kerikeri and Storytime at Whangarei

Please email Jeannie re numbers for catering if you wish to attend