Happy Holidays

It has been an eventful year for SLANZA with Ross Todd inspiring us and a conference to look forward to next July.  Thank you to everyone who has contributed to the enrichment of the region.  Special thanks to Kaye Neely, our treasurer, and Jeannie Skinner, our secretary, the region could not function without the dedication of these special ladies.

Wishing you all a happy, restful and fulfilling holiday season.  I look forward to working with you all again next year.

Lisa Salter

Study grant recipients for 2013

Study grant recipients for 2013

Warmest congratulations go to Helen Muxlow, Judy Waenga, Pamela McKirdy and Vivian Wang – our latest study grant recipients.

We look forward to reading about their study experiences next year.

Michele Ayres
SLANZA Professional Development team leader

Vacancy - National Executive Administration Officer

IS THIS YOU?Do you want a challenge?
Do you have excellent administrative and clerical skills?
Are you highly organized?
Are you confident using online tools such as Google Apps and other online tools?
Are you comfortable with online banking and managing finances?
Are you passionate about school libraries and education in New Zealand?
Do you want to be more involved with SLANZA?

Answering YES to these questions could mean you’re just who we’re looking for! 
SLANZA is looking for an Administration Officer. The position is a demanding but rewarding one. It is not necessary that applicants work, or have worked, in a school library but a general understanding of the way that the education sector works would be advantageous.

We need someone who is highly organised, who can communicate well and who understands financial matters as they relate to organisations such as ourselves. Experience with MYOB or other accounting programmes and databases would be an advantage. We would like a person who is responsive to challenges and who is good with systems and comfortable working in an online environment and to a deadline.

SLANZA is offering this paid contract position of up to 10 hours a week to the right person, who will work closely with the President and the members of the National Executive.

This administrative role involves:

• National Executive Secretary
• Membership Secretary
• SLANZA Finance

Although our meetings are held in Wellington it is not necessary that the person appointed resides there.
If you would like more information, the position description is attached below, or email slanza@xtra.co.nz

Applications in writing, to be addressed to the President at slanza@xtra.co.nz

Applications close on Wednesday, December 12th.  We would expect to appoint before Christmas.


Position Description.pdf
Download File

New "Collected" Out Now

Hi

Blue Sky Thinking! If the sky was the limit, what would you hope for?

Are you ready to be inspired? Are you ready to be challenged? Are you prepared for some mental fitness to keep your mind active over the summer, filling your head with ideas and inspiration? How can you make positive changes in your career and your library?


Open this issue of SLANZA's Collected magazine and see what the leaders in the field have to say. You will get to know a couple of the fabulous key note speakers gearing up for next year's conference in Wellington bringing us 'winds of change' as well as some local experts keen to share their dreams with you.


Get comfortable, open your mind and follow this link!

Oh, and while I have your attention... The conference committee have started a Facebook page to keep you up to date on their progress. Check it out when you have a chance and 'like' it to stay informed.

Lisa Salter
SLANZA Communications Leader

Opportunity Not To Be Missed!

Hello everyone

Our fabulous Jeannie Skinner is not one to miss an opportunity!  This has been arranged at short notice, but is worthwhile, please share the flyer with your teaching colleagues and bring them along-

Rob Baigent from Any Questions is going to be in Whangarei for day and so I thought we could make the most of him being in the North to have a session with him about Any questions / Uia ngā patai and Many Answers / Ngā Whakautu Maha.

Thursday 25th October, after school in the May Bain Room at Whangarei Public Library.

This great free online NZ resource for school students is something that we need to promote to our students, teachers, parents…

Come and hear all about it, ask questions, find out how to get the most out of it with Rob Baigent.

The meeting is free, and we'll start with afternoon tea, kindly hosted by the Whangarei Libraries.

All welcome – teachers, library staff, public library staff, 
senior student librarians, parents…
Please pass this information on to anyone you think would be interested, and please email Jeannie with the number of people who will be attending this meeting, thank you.

Comments on NZ Herald article - Why children are failing at writing

The School Library Association of New Zealand Aotearoa comments on NZ Herald article Why children are failing at writing.

The article Why children are failing at writing in the Monday 24 September edition of the New Zealand Herald points to the relation between reading and achievement levels of New Zealand students.  It highlights the importance of free access to books, thus highlighting the school library’s significance to students who come from disadvantaged backgrounds.

Studies show that children who have better reading experiences become successful lifelong learners.  School library staff have a critical role to play. Their expertise in providing engaging reading material and targeted resources are vital to the challenges of falling achievement levels. Those schools in NZ whose libraries are not adequately staffed become the additional responsibility of a busy teacher or are run by untrained volunteers.  

Students who are able to process text in a meaningful way consistently have better school results than those for whom reading is challenging.   School librarians at all levels of education are dedicated to sharing the love of reading, working with teaching staff to help children acquire the skills to learn to read, and fostering an interest in reading which can be a lifelong pleasure.

A school librarian also supports inquiry learning.  The digital future our students face require new and ever growing list of skills including searching the internet, referencing sources, curating information and using social networking safely.  These are skills that school librarians support students in using effectively.

A well-resourced school library that is staffed with a qualified, passionate librarian or teacher librarian becomes the learning centre of a school.  This is the place where all students can find what they need to develop as confident and capable readers and users of information.  A dedicated team working in a school library makes a significant difference to the overall achievement of a school.  

For further information contact:

Fiona Mackie

President SLANZA

Fiona.Mackie@stcuthberts.school.nz

or

Lisa Salter

Communication Leader SLANZA

lsalter@ruawaicollege.school.nz

President's Report to the 2012 AGM

Hi, 

I wanted to let you know that Fiona Mackie's President Report to the AGM is up on the new blog now for you to read. I think it's a worthwhile read, outlining what we are working towards and what has been accomplished in the last 12 months.

Have a read at-

http://www.slanza.org.nz/news.html

Lisa Salter 

Another Term 3 event : Paul Diamond from Alexander Turnbull Library

You are invited to come on a virtual visit to the Alexander Turnbull Library, with Paul Diamond, Curator, Māori.

Paul Diamond (Ngāti Hauā, Te Rarawa and Ngāpuhi) is a writer, historian and broadcaster.  He currently holds the position of Curator, Māori at the Alexander Turnbull Library.

This is a free session, which could be of particular interest to Māori, history teachers, art teachers and school library teams - all welcome. 

Portraits, politicians, protesters and piccaninnies...

Paul will talk about two upcoming projects showcasing Turnbull collections:

• a monograph about how Māori have been represented in cartoons,
• and an exhibition of watercolour portraits of Māori from the top of the South Island painted by Isaac Coates in the 1840s.

Venue : Whangarei Girls’ High School Library

Wednesday 5th September  (week 8 of term)  3.30pm for afternoon tea, talk from 4 – 5pm ish

Free - all welcome – teachers, library staff, public library staff, senior student librarians…   Please pass this information on to anyone you think would be interested.  

Please email  jeannie.skinner@dia.govt.nz  with the number of people who will be attending.

2012 marks the 20th anniversary of the NZ Cartoon Archive which became part of the Alexander Turnbull Library in 2005.  Although Māori have featured in cartoons since they first appeared in New Zealand in the 1800s, the depictions of Māori have changed over time.  In his talk, Paul Diamond will use images from the Archive to illustrate changing stereotypes of Māori - the topic of a monograph he is writing for the Cartoon Archive.

Cartoons sparked by rugby clashes between the All Black and Springbok teams are a particular focus of his research. A survey of cartoons, beginning when the games were uncontroversial, through to the post-1981 tour era, reveals changing attitudes to race in this country and challenges to the continued existence of the NZ Māori side.

The NZ Cartoon Archive contains more than 50,000 art works, boosted daily as new cartoons are published. Many contemporary cartoons have been created digitally, and are available online, together with a growing proportion of hard copies. This means that a large proportion of the cartoons can be searched and viewed online, making them an invaluable, accessible historical source and resource for students and teachers – wherever they are based.

Paul will also preview an exhibition opening in January 2013 in the new Turnbull Gallery.  Head and Shoulders: portraits of Māori by Isaac Coates, displaying portraits of Māori from Te Tau Ihu o Te Waka-a-Māui, the top of the South Island, painted by the Englishman Isaac Coates in the early 1840s.   This will be the first time these exquisite and fragile watercolour portraits have ever been exhibited as a complete set.

Paul Diamond's  first book was A Fire in Your Belly, a collection of interviews with Māori leaders (Huia, 2003). His second book was Makereti: taking Māori to the World (Random House, 2007).  From 2007 to 2009, Paul managed the Vietnam War Oral History Project for the Ministry for Culture and Heritage. In 2010 he was appointed to the Board of the New Zealand Book Council and has been a judge for the New Zealand Post Book Awards in 2010 & 2011.  He is researching the life of Charles MacKay, a mayor of Wanganui, who was convicted of attempted murder after he shot the writer Walter D’Arcy Cresswell in 1920.

Many thanks to Whangarei Girls’ High School Library for providing the venue for this event.

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