SLANZA Conference 2013 : Many things…

Lisa asked me to write a piece for the SLANZA Collected magazine about highlights of attending the Wellington SLANZA Conference, with the instruction to keep it brief...  I thought I was doing well at just under 500 words, but the limit was an-almost-impossible 100, so I'll post my entry here as originally written and provide an edited version for Collected which will be, as ever, full to the brim with many great contributions...

The fox knows many things, but the hedgehog knows one big thing.  Archilochus

Attending a SLANZA Conference is always rewarding but this year’s conference in Wellington was memorable for a number of reasons – and nothing to do with another one of those “storms of the century” and all the airport shenanigans… 

Wellington’s Winds of Change Conference highlights for me include :

• being challenged to try new things and hearing new ideas.  Sometimes a speaker can encapsulate a big idea in a memorable way – Ross Todd is brilliant at that, and I appreciated Erica McWilliams’ “fox / hedgehog” advice for libraries about taking an approach which is about many little things rather than one big thing – being multi-disciplinary, hybrid, adaptable, tolerant of complexity, getting the right mix of virtual and physical, and embracing people, culture and experimentation…
• hearing from real practitioners at workshops about some of the great things they are doing - Michelle Simms from Te Totara Primary School on “How to gamify your library” gave a workshop which was brilliantly researched and presented, providing both high tech and practical examples of strategies to engage students. Sue Esterman and the students from Scots College with SCRABOL, and Bridget with her flying solo strategies were other highlights. It was hard to choose which workshop to attend and I’m glad that the Conference proceedings are up on the SLANZA website to explore, refresh memory and share… 
• catching up face to face with National Library colleagues from around the country, and putting faces to names – from librarians through their list serv communications, to guest speakers like inspiring Tara Brabazon and steady Cathy Wylie, not to mention the inimitable Kim Hill after years of listening to her on the radio…

I also want to mention that I was very grateful to receive sponsorship to attend Conference from the SLANZA National Executive and Te Tai Tokerau region – it has been lovely in the past to give grants out to people and this year I felt very fortunate to be on the receiving end.  

Also, at the Conference I was presented with the SLANZA Honorary Life Membership Award which was a huge compliment, unexpected and truly delightful. I’ve been an Adviser with National Library for so long, working with many schools over the years, and feel very strongly that SLANZA is a crucial partner and ally in achieving the same goals of successful school libraries to support young learners.  Working with SLANZA committees in Northland over the past 13 years has been a really rewarding part of my job, and continues to be so.

Jeannie Skinner, Programme Adviser, Services to Schools Northland.

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.