Councillor's Report 2009/10

When I joined the LIANZA National Council last year, we set two strategic priorities - Communication and Advocacy. My first year as the Te Upoko o te Ika Councillor has been focussed on the first of these, particularly in getting out into the wider Wellington region to see library and information staff. As an Association, we haven't always done well at communicating all of the activities that we get up to, and yet we do so much. In going out to the region, I wanted to both let people know what we were doing and find out what members wanted us to do on a local level.

Over the first year, I visited the Upper Hutt, Porirua, Whitireia, Paraparaumu, Otaki and Waikanae libraries, as well as a couple of trips across to the Wairarapa to see librarians from across the district. In all my visits, I was heartened by the amount of goodwill that there was, and their interest in what LIANZA was doing.

While on these visits, I talked about having different areas of the region running their own events with LIANZA Te Upoko support. The philosophy of the current regional committee has very much been that we receive a capitation for all of our regional members, and we want them all to have the benefit of that money. There is a lot of knowledge waiting to be shared in the regional communities, and we want to enable that. Partly, this is pragmatic - we are not an association (or a profession) with scads of cash, so we must group together and learn from each other where that knowledge exists. Also, we are largely an association of volunteers, and as such we all have a limited amount of time and energy. In other words, in learning from each other, we make the most of the association that we're part of.

The Wairarapa group has been proactive in making this happen. They approached the regional committee about forming a 'sub-group' based on geography, in recognition of that need to get together as a group and develop professionally. They're now planning a weekend school for the region next year, and looking forward to the opportunity to both bring great speakers into their area, and showcasing all the best things about the Wairarapa to others.

Over the past year, I've seen the Association involved in a huge amount of "business as usual" including Professional Registration, Conference, Library Week, the LIANZA Children's Book Awards, Press Releases, calls for awards and committees (and facilitating those committees), and CPD as well as submissions on copyright, the Super City and National Archives. Then there are the one-off aspects such as the Centenary publication and events, MOUs with affiliated organisations, and the new Website.

Perhaps the biggest lesson for me as part of the National Council, is how much LIANZA manages to do with so little money, but with so much goodwill from those people who put in their time. During the early part of this year, I initiated a proposal to introduce a volunteer award, which I hope will be introduced next year. My hope is that we can recognise this work, and highlight to people that being a volunteer is rewarding personally and professionally.

In the coming year I hope to continue to visit libraries, particularly to talk about LIANZA's new strategic plan. In our more fiscally constrained times, it's essential that we identify what the most important things are for the profession and concentrate on achieving them, rather than spreading our resources too thinly over a large number of areas. I do think it represents a change for the association, but a positive one and a big step forward that I hope we can all embrace.

Best wishes,
Laurinda

Laurinda Thomas ALIANZA, RLIANZA
Te Upoko o te Ika a Maui Regional Councillor

LIANZA Te Upoko o te Ika a Maui 2009 AGM

This year the AGM is online!
Voting closed at 6pm Friday October 2nd.

AGENDA

1. Attendees (record on voting site) / Apologies (please send in reply to email or contact Charlotte or Laurinda)

2. Minutes of previous AGM (see below)

3. Matters arising (record on voting site)

4. Financial report 2008/2009 - Anne Thompson (see below)

5. Regional councillor's report - Paddy Plunket

6. Annual report - Charlotte Clements (see below)

7. Election of officers - See bio's down the page!!

* Nominations:
Paddy Plunket

* Continuing:
Gabrielle Hikaka and Trish Beamsley for Te Ropu Whakahau
Laurinda Thomas - regional councillor

* Committee members standing for re-election:
Timothy Greig
Hana Whaanga
Charlotte Clements
Anne Thompson
Paddy Plunket

8. General business (no general business)

9. Farewell to members leaving the committee - Fiona Rigby, Meg Cordes and Gael Lamont

~~~~~

Thank you!

Minutes of the LIANZA Te Upoko o te Ika a Maui Region AGM 2008

Minutes of the LIANZA Te Upoko o te Ika a Maui Region AGM
Wednesday 27 August 2008, 5.30pm
Cinema One, Penthouse Cinema, Brooklyn

Attendees: Fiona Rigby, Trish Beamsley, Gabreille Hikaka, Philip Casey, Marilyn Edwards, Alan Gray, Eileen South, Linda Hall, Judy Keats, Cherie Chum, Alastair Smith, Linda Stopforth, Rachel Lundberg, Timothy Greig, Meg Cordes, Sandy Green, Lin Workman, Christine Hawker, Pip Wall, Frances Dawson, Linda Forbes, Christine Busby, Wendy Wilson, Moira Fraser, Craigie Sinclair, Charlotte Clements, Gael Lamont, Anne Thompson, Beryl Anderson, Paddy Plunket, Sue Hirst

Apologies:
• None received

Minutes of the AGM held on Tuesday 21 August 2007 were approved:
Moved: Anne Thompson Seconded: Beryl Anderson CARRIED

Matters Arising
• No matters arising

Chairpersons Report
Charlotte Clements spoke to the Chair’s Report and thanked Committee members for their contributions during the year. She noted important contributions of Committee members in moving the records of the Committee online, particularly that of Anne Thompson and Timothy Greig (incoming member).

Financial Report 2007-2008 Year
• Presented by Anne Thompson
Moved: Anne Thompson Seconded: Charlotte Clements CARRIED

Accounts Cheque Account Investment Account
Opening 3484.27 6746.05
Closing Balance 5445.99 7304.09

Regional Councillor’s Report
Paddy Plunket introduced herself as Region Councillor, Subject Team Manager at the Parliamentary Library and SLIS member. She thanked the Committee for support of her as Region Councillor and reported on LIANZA Council activities during the 2007/08 year. Paddy congratulated Te Upoko o te Ika a Maui Region members on their successes during the year, including the Fellowships awarded to Rowena Cullen and John Stears, Letter of Recognition to Margaret Calder, and Associateships to Fiona Rigby, Gael Lamont and Kat Turner at the Rotorua Conference. The Region had 116 Professional Registrants which was excellent. Continuing Professional Development was a major focus for LIANZA and an Advisory Committee had been established and a Coordinator appointed. Future Thinking Workshops had been held in every region and had been useful for prioritising LIANZA activities and gaining feedback that members valued Continuing Professional Development opportunities, networking, and good communication from LIANZA.

Election of officers
Returning: Charlotte Clements, Anne Thompson and Fiona Rigby

The following nominations were received
Gabrielle Hikaka and Trish Beamsley for Te Ropu Whakahau
Gael Lamont, Hana Whaanga, Meg Cordes, Timothy Greig

Moved: Charlotte Clements Seconded: Anne Thompson. CARRIED

General Business
Charlotte thanked Committee members who were not returning for their valuable input during the period of their memberships: Steven Lulich, Beryl Anderson, Kymberly Parker, Sam Searle and Kat Turner.

The meeting closed at 6pm.

The meeting was followed by food and wine and joined by other members for a screening of The Hollywood Librarian.

ANNUAL REPORT OF THE CHAIR 2009

Te Upoko o Te Ika a Maui LIANZA Regional Committee AGM

ANNUAL REPORT OF THE CHAIR to 2 October 2009

Committee

Charlotte Clements, Chair from August 2008
Anne Thompson, Treasurer
Paddy Plunket (Council 2008/2009)
Gabrielle Hikaka (TRW)
Trish Beamsley (TRW)
Fiona Rigby
Gael Lamont
Timothy Grieg
Meg Cordes
Hana Whaanga
Laurinda Thomas (Council 2009/2010)

Events

• August 2008: AGM. The Hollywood Librarian premier.
  
• September: Mentoring in the profession – Access grid
  
• November: Conference attendance
  
• December: Xmas cheers at Te Puni KoKiri
  
• Committee planning day held 24th Feruary 2009
  
• February: Welcome to LIM students meeting held at Victoria University of Wellington. Professional group representatives included SLIS, ARANZ, NZLLA, RMAA and Regional Committee members.
  
• March: Richard Hulser presentation
  
• May: Deliver It! Presentation workshops
  
• May: Meetings to discuss LIANZA Governance proposal
  
• June / July: Winter Lunchtime Series – Career planning
  
• August: Children’s Book Awards ceremony
  
• September 2009: Knowledge Cafe with Richard Gurteen.

We are very grateful to the organisations that host members and/or allowed us to use their facilities.

Sponsorship

Sponsorship was not awarded to single members this past year. The committee decided to sponsor events and guest speakers in order to spread member funds as widely as possible.

Awards

Hydestor: awarded in August 2008 to Hyekyung Chun from Victoria University of Wellington to fund her enrolment in an MLIS paper.

Committee activities

The committee has continued its usual level of activity this year, organising professional development events, sharing roles across committee members and working more in the web environment. Our Google Groups space and blog have been successful and continue to grow and develop. This has continued to aid communication among the committee.

This past year we have also worked with NZLLA, SLIS and NZKMN to aid communication and to co-host events with Louisa Rutherford from SLIS joining some committee meetings.

We are looking forward to more opportunities to collaborate and create networking opportunities.

We would like to see our blog used more for news, comments and ideas. We are always keen to hear from everyone and would like to see authorship extend across the region. Your ideas and input are very welcome. A big thanks to Hana for her devotion to the cause.

Our future plans include seeding a LIANZA members group in the Wairarapa (see Laurinda’s report) and developing more events that library assistants and younger library staff would like to participate in.

This year we must say goodbye to 3 committee members. Fiona Rigby will not return to the committee after taking leave to bring Hugo into the world; Meg Cordes and Gael Lamont have decided not to continue in the coming year. A huge thanks to all for the ideas and energy offered throughout the year.

Paddy Plunket has completed her term as Regional Councillor for LIANZA and is standing for the regional committee for the coming year. We were pleased to be able to add Laurinda Thomas to the committee earlier this year, and are particularly grateful to her for standing for the position of Regional Councillor when Paddy’s term was up. Many thanks to all of those people who have been on the committee, and also those who remain.

Out and about - Upper Hutt

On 17 September, I took a trip once more out of Wellington "central", this time to visit library staff in Upper Hutt. As always, Wellington's topography provided me with some interesting weather conditions for the drive up (fog this time)!

My host for this visit was Debbie Duncan, who delighted me by immediately responding to my email asking if I could come to visit. Talking to the staff at the Upper Hutt Public Library, I explained how I came to be involved in LIANZA, what my role was as the regional councillor, and what LIANZA is currently up to. I also had a great informal chat over coffee with some of the library staff about professional registration. Barbara's column in Library Life came up again as we discussed the revalidation journal, and activities that can count towards it. The more I talk to people about revalidation, the more I realise the importance of talking about the process - it makes it much less scary, especially since we do activities all the time that can contribute to our journals.

I also had the privilege of taking a tour around the library and hearing about the programmes that the staff run. Even though it was just after opening time by this point, the library was filling up quickly with under-3's getting ready for story time, and I was staggered at the thought of getting 1000 people through the door every day.

My thanks to Debbie and the team for letting me come and speak. I continue to get heaps out of these visits, and I'm looking forward to the next one!

** Would you like me to come and visit your region or library? Please email me. **

Out and about - Wairarapa

One of my priorities for being Regional Councillor, is to get out of Wellington "central" and out to other parts of the region to talk to our members, and see what we can do to make LIANZA more relevant for them.

So it was great to be able to organise a visit to Masterton on September 10, which nicely coincided with the quarterly meeting of Wairarapa librarians. Alli Smith, the LIANZA Executive Director, kindly agreed to accompany me, so we made a delegation of two over to the sunny side of the Rimutakas.

We were hosted by the Sandy Green at the Masterton Public Library. The visit gave us a chance to talk about LIANZA's current activities, in particular professional registration, continuing professional development, and the update of the LIANZA website. Being around 1.5 hours from central Wellington, we had a good discussion about the possibility of initiating events in the Wairarapa, how the Te Upoko o te Ika a Maui Council could provide support, and using existing expertise in the region to create professional development opportunities. Barbara's recent President's column in Library Life discussing her experience in running journal revalidation workshops, got some good feedback and enthusiasm for using the idea locally.

After indulging in the great spread that had been put on, Alli and I were taken across the road to visit the Wairarapa Archive. The Archive has a staggering 90% approval rating in the region, and is well used and supported by everyone from school children on up. We had a fascinating visit with Gareth Winter the Archivist, and instead of the anticipated 2 minutes to 'pop our noses in', we spend a great 45 minutes listening to fascinating stories of both the region, and the great local support for the archive.

My thanks to Sandy, Gareth and all the Librarians that we met in the Wairarapa for your hospitality!

** Would you like me to come and visit your region or library? Please email me. **