Term 3 event : Maori digital resources

All are invited to a free workshop on digital Maori resources for your kura and community with Mereana Taungapeau from Alexander Turnbull Library (Digital Maori Resources)

Come and discover…

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

Two free workshops in Te Tai Tokerau in week 7 this term :

KAIKOHE
Wednesday 29th August  at 1.00 – 3.30pm
at Northland College Library, 36 Mangakahia Road, Kaikohe

WHANGAREI
Thursday 30th August at 1.00 – 3.30pm
at Te Kura Kaupapa Maori o Rawhiti Roa, 42 Vinegar Hill Road, Tikipunga, Whangarei

Many thanks to these two schools for their hospitality.

The afternoon will include a presentation with an overview of National Library/ATL services and resources and Maori resources - in particular those relating to Te Tai Tokerau and then have plenty of time for participants to explore the resources they are interested in with hands-on time on the computer accessing resources via BETA.

All welcome – teachers, library staff, public library staff, senior student librarians…
Please pass this information on to anyone you think would be interested at your school / kura / community. 

and please email jeannie.skinner@dia.govt.nz with the number of people who will be attending which workshop, thank you.

What is EBP?

Last week many fortunate New Zealand librarians attended workshops with Ross Todd, a respected library expert visiting from the USA.  The focus of his presentation was Evidence Based Practice (EBP).  

How and why should this interest you?  Libraries are facing increasing challenges to stay relevant these changing times.  Questions are being asked as to what a school library contributes to learning outcomes, so the ability to prove your worth has never been more important.  Your library needs to be valued by staff and students. 

This is where your EBP skills come in.  You need to collect relevant data present it with flair.  You are your best advocate.  Don't wait until it is too late to show your worth.  Make connections with staff and students and show them what you have to offer.  Get the students to tell the library story.  Think about what types of information you need to support change and survey your users.  Use negative feedback to open conversations towards improvement.

Are you keeping up to date with technology?  Are you looking for new ways to assist teaching and learning in your school?  These are significant questions you need to consider as we change tact and sail into the digital age.  If students prefer to use the internet for research, are you able to guide them to better searching techniques?  This is your opportunity.  Look ahead at what services and skills will keep your library relevant and then go for it.  Don't sit around waiting for opportunities, go out and find them.  Ask to join the EBP Facebook group, 'like' the SLANZA Facebook page, follow some library blogs and challenge yourself to start your own blog.  Use your library webpage as a portal to celebrate learning.  Now is the time to sign up to Twitter and start following the librarians who are leading the way forward, they are full of ideas and suggestions which you can kick start your journey.  

SLANZA National Executive will be rolling out an abridged version of Ross's  presentation and soon a taping of his workshop will be available to members on the SLANZA website.  Don't miss your chance to pick up great ideas and challenges to improve services and energize your library!

Happy Holidays and Ross Todd Registration

Happy July Holidays!  I hope you are all getting a well deserved break in preparation for the marathon 11 week Term 3.  

The Ross Todd events are in Week 1 of Term 3 and registrations are going strong.  If you are planning on attending can you please register as soon as possible.  I won't go on an on about the benefits of attending because if you scroll down this blog you will find previous posts outlining his awesomeness and great reasons to attend.  

The AGM will be held after the Wellington event and presentations of this years SLANZA Awards and our new Honorary Life Memberships will be announced.  

Thank you to everyone who has contributed to SLANZA this term, your support is appreciated!

Lisa Salter

Anita in Action at Creative library displays with Anita Vandenberghe

Creative library displays with Anita Vandenberghe

It was a sunny Saturday morning when 30 or so dedicated and eager school library staff, teachers  and public librarians gathered at Kerikeri High School Library for a workshop with Anita Vandenberghe from St Kentigern College to be inspired to get creative with library displays.

These are some of the notes I took from Anita’s wonderfully practical and encouraging session…

•  Just do it – in the words of the Nike slogan, don’t be shy or nervous, people respond to effort and admire creativity, so your efforts are unlikely to meet with a negative response.
• Displays are about making connections – between the library and the wider community, between borrowers and resources, and we never realise how much we actually take notice of, how much we see, so everything you do will catch someone’s eye, will make an impact on their subconscious.
• Making a display is like telling a story – you become a storyteller, creating a scene, a mood, adding emotions – like a good storyteller, exaggeration and emphasis add to the drama.
• Make headlines- like a newspaper – use a title to grab attention!

Anita said there are a few elements to creating great displays:

Space – is it small or large, high or low…

 Budget – again – small or large?!  Become a fan of the $2 shop!

Time – much or little?

 If you have space but not much time, then budget comes into play.  If you have space but no budget, then you’ll need time.  If you have no time, space or budget, then you need a magician !

Topics – Anita talked about factual topics, eg marine reserves, cooking, Olympic Games, and the slightly more challenging abstract  topics, eg love, identity, freedom, etc.  Try googling these terms and see what images have been tagged with those terms and that might give you inspiration.

Now, ideas for displays :

1.  Check out your own collection – look at the books, eg chapter headings might make a good title for a display, endpapers can have great images to reproduce.
2.  Look at Google images for more ideas.  Use Creative Commons to make sure that you are observing copyright – see this great free guide for educators on the National Library website Free to Mix about using digital content. http://schools.natlib.govt.nz/21st-century-literacy-inquiry/sources-resources/guide-reusing-digital-content
3. Visit Anita’s website Creative Library Displays and have a look for more inspiration and ideas, including the Calendar of Events http://www.creativelibrarydisplays.com/ 
   Another great NZ displays resource is this blog http://schoollibrarydisplays.blogspot.co.nz/
4. Keep a folder of images which catch your eye eg pages from a magazine or newspaper.  Start collecting and even if you don’t use the actual image, it could generate an idea…

Putting the display together :

• Plan – list requirements, shopping to do, tasks etc
• Gather tools – blu tak, scissors, ruler, tape, stapler and stapler remover, etc and invest in some equipment such as a laminator and hot glue gun
• Put up the display – laminated images really pop with colour and last longer, images stapled on not flat but with a curve add dimension, and you could even consider motion with fans, and Christmas lights add sparkle and highlight your display…  Gather materials such as driftwood, wrapping paper, netting… be a real magpie and soon your displays will be a force to be reckoned with!

The ideas, examples and suggestions went on, and so did the conversation, fuelled by Di’s fabulous “Devonshire morning tea” scones and jam and cream, superb mandarins from Julia, and a raffle which was “won” by at least a dozen people with books donated by Take Note, National Library and Ruawai College.

It was a great workshop, thank you Anita, and to all who came.

Now, all we need is a bunch of comments under this post with ideas from people of displays they have done… Clare at Northland College using Google and EPIC charts to create information research displays, Ngaire at Broadwood making fantastic roller coaster / ferris wheel / issue desk gazebo “circus tent” displays for the school's bookfair... and what about others ? 

Cheers, Jeannie 

PS Sorry no photos to add here - I had transferred them off my camera onto my computer, only to have it crash last week -  currently in Wellington at the National Library DIA computer hospital and making steady progress apparently!  Anyone else who took photos you might like to post some here ?

Nomination for National Executive President-Elect

Hi everyone,

It gives me great pleasure to nominate Bridget Schaumann for the role of President-Elect.  Bridget is currently the Librarian/Careers Adviser at King’s High School in Dunedin, is part of the Otago regional committee, was instrumental in developing the SLANZA wiki and has been a valued member of the National Executive over  two separate terms.  I know she has much to offer SLANZA in the role of President.

Regards,

Fiona Mackie

President, School Library Association of New Zealand Aotearoa

www.slanza.org.nz

SLANZA's Statement Regarding the Recent Budget Effects on School Libraries

The Government’s policy to increase class sizes to release funds for teacher development demonstrates a lack of awareness of the needs of 21st Century learners, according to the School Library Association of New Zealand/ Aotearoa.
“Things have changed since the Minister of Education was in school”, said Fiona Mackie, President of SLANZA. “ It is well recognized that we cannot meet the diverse needs of students now and in the future with classes of 41, such as she experienced 40 years ago”.
“School librarians understand this as they are working at the cutting edge, where information technology and E-learning meets the classroom”, said Ms. Mackie. “Schools also have to meet diverse needs and these factors combined mean that teaching from the front of the classroom to large numbers of students just won’t make the grade any more”.
“The Minister is also mistaken when she relies so heavily on research that says class sizes don’t matter. While the quality of the teacher has the most impact, the work of Russell Bishop and others demonstrates that relationships between teacher and student make the most difference – particularly for Maori. It clearly easier to develop those relationships when the class sizes are smaller,” said Ms. Mackie. “With the changes announced by the government, schools will have to make difficult staffing choices and some may unwisely decide to cut school librarians rather than lose a teacher”, said Ms. Mackie.
“If this happens it undermines the goal of raising student achievement in literacy, as well staffed school libraries have a pivotal role to play in this. The National Standards emphasise the need to teach literacy across the curriculum, including information and digital literacy, where experienced librarians are the experts”.
“The government needs to rethink its policy”, said Ms. Mackie.

Donna Watt
Dip.Ch.Lit RLIANZA
SLANZA Communications Leader

Nominations Open for SLANZA President-Elect Role

On behalf of the National Executive of SLANZA, I would like to open nominations 
for the role of President-Elect for the term 2013-15.  

If you would like to nominate someone, or be nominated, the form is available
from our website http://slanza.org.nz

Nominations close Friday June 22nd.

Fiona Mackie
President
School Library Association of New Zealand Aotearoa
www.slanza.org.nz

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.