LIANZA election result

I have the privilege of having been elected President Elect of the Library and Information Association of New Zealand Aotearoa (LIANZA.) Members of the Association voted in the last fortnight and results were announced today.

This means a three year commitment - President Elect, President and then Past President. With LIANZA celebrating its centenary this year, it is great time to be closely involved with my professional association.

Here come three challenging and interesting years, especially as President in 2011/12.

I believe strongly in the role of libraries and information in our NZ society. Both public and tertiary libraries, for example, have an education, learning support and information literacy role. Library and information professionals have an important role to play in the different sectors within which they work. I see LIANZA as providing a vital strategic leadership role for our profession. We need to stand up and be counted.

More on "Refresh"regional conference

The Wellington region's public libraries held a well attended one day event focussing on issues of importance to public librarians. The idea was proposed by Wellington City Libraries and a team including representatives from Hutt City, Porirua and Upper Hutt libraries planned and executed the event.

The day opened with a panel discussion chaired by LIANZA President Barbara Garriock in which Penny Carnaby, Sue Roberts, Jane Hill and Jo Ransom delivered their vision of “The Library in 2025”. (See earlier blog text on the "Library of 2025".)

Allison Dobbie, Chair of the eLGAR consortium, then outlined the Auckland experience of forming one library service in the new Auckland super city which will deliver the largest public library system in the southern hemisphere with over 70 service points.

The conference then broke into two streams focussing on a variety of themes including: collection management, outreach to the community, promotion and technology Innovation.
One of the highlights of the afternoon was the presentation on the future of publishing delivered by Noel Murphy, CEO of the New Zealand Book Council.

A key theme was the parallel development of both e-books and new and different ways of continuing traditional publishing so as to enhance the reading experience.

The conference ended with a Library Ideas Bazaar at which attending libraries set up stalls to showcase products and ideas they had developed and of which they were particularly proud.

Overall the feedback was extremely positive with comments such as:
"A brilliant day of stimulating speakers! Nice work."
"Many of the presentations and discussions were engaging and full of inspiration!"
"I hope it becomes an annual event!!" (We’ll have to think about that!)

The Library in 2025

Today I have had the opportunity to share with my colleagues at "Refresh", a Wellington Regional Public Libraries Conference. A great networking and sharing opportunity across the region as different staff contributed to sessions and concluded with a library ideas bazaar.

The day began with a panel discussion on "The Library in 2025" chaired by Barbara Garriock (LIANZA President). Panellists were Penny Carnaby (CE and National Librarian, National Library of NZ), Sue Roberts (University Librarian, Victoria University of Wellington), Joann Ransom (Head of Libraries, Horowhenua Library Trust) and myself.

Yes, we believe that public libraries will exist in 2025 and be even more important. Yes, we see librarians more highly trained and as mediators with information.

I think that future thinking will lead to a new agenda. Many trends are in our society already and we need to look at future implications. I see the Library brand being increasingly important and libraries working together as larger units to achieve critical mass. Place and the value of local communties will be everything. Baby boomers will continue to influence in their retirement, together with a new fully digital generation in the globally connected world.

A video link to the panel discusion will be available soon if you wish to hear more.