Winds of Change SLANZA Conference - 15-17 July 2013 - Wellington

Beehive photo courtesy of Julia Smith

Report back on the Winds of Change SLANZA conference – 15-17 July 2013

A small contingent of keen and eager Northland Librarians attended the SLANZA conference in the holidays.  Some of the group battled stormy/windy weather preventing them from flying into Wellington on the Sunday.  Luckily we all missed the earthquakes which hit Wellington after we left which damaged windows in the new National Library building, stairwell damage at Wellington Girls’ College and caused falling masonry in Featherston Street where we were staying.

It is hard to know where to start when talking about the conference.  There were so many good moments.  The conference was well organised, the keynotes and workshops were relevant, the food was good and as always it was great to connect with other Librarians from around New Zealand.  It was particularly good catching up with other Boys Secondary School Librarians to discuss matters relevant to our schools.

 It was a very intense experience and I found my head reeling from all the information and in fact I still need time to reflect on which ideas I can best incorporate into my work at Whangarei Boys’ High School.

Several workshops stand out.  One was by booksellers, John and Ruth McIntyre of the Children’s bookshop in Kilbirnie, Wellington who enthusiastically promoted a selection of new books. 

Another by a Scots College team of Sue Easterman, Library Manager, Will Struthers, Head of Middle School English and three year 11 students, collaborated to hold a summer reading competition linked to a website where students from the middle school could review books.  Prizes were awarded and, thanks to the hard work of the students involved, there was a marked increase in boys reading. 

Lastly, a workshop by  SLANZA President, Bridget Schaumann, Librarian at Kings High School, Dunedin who shared her strategies for coping as a solo Librarian and how to eliminate jobs that don’t need doing, deliver a great service and keep your sense of humour.

The highlight of the conference, in my opinion, was a panel discussion chaired by Kim Hill (2012 International Radio Personality of the year and host of Saturday morning show on National Radio) with Bernard Beckett (author and secondary school teacher), Glenn Colquhoun (Dr and poet) and Kate de Goldi (author and book reviewer).  It was a lively discussion about the future of the Libraries and also the controversial book Into the River by Ted Dawe which won the NZ Post Children’s Book Award.  (Bernard Beckett was the convener of the judging panel.)

I am now looking forward our annual Northland Secondary PD Day in September.