It has been a very busy 2013 so far for the National Executive, so I thought I'd give you an update about some of the projects we've been involved in.

Most of us have a really good break over the Christmas break, but for some people their focus was the creation of SLANZA's new reading website.  Bridget Schaumann and Miriam Tuohy led a team who evaluated  all the lists, identified double ups and inconsistencies and re-formatted everything. Miriam created the site and layout and then the team started the mammoth task of transferring all the lists to the new site.  Sounds simple, but it was months of work for all involved.  However, I am sure you will agree that it was well worth it!

Miriam's other major project has been the development of the  SLANZA online Connected Librarians professional development course.  She was investigating the idea of Library Badges in recognition of skills learnt, and came up with the Connected Librarians concept.  The National Executive wanted to provide online professional development, and thanks to Miriam's perseverance, there are some very lucky SLANZA members who are starting this exciting course soon.  We were completely amazed at the amount of interest shown by you, and do intend to run it again, so all the waiting list have an opportunity to do the course.

One of my roles as President is to represent SLANZA in a variety of forums, and one of those forums is the cross sector Strategic Advisory Forum (SAF).  SAF meets three times a year, to talk with the National Librarian and each other regarding issues across the sector.  As a result of a recent meeting, LIANZA convened a cross association day to identify how each of the library associations across New Zealand could work more closely, support each other and try to stop re-inventing the wheel. Miriam and I represented SLANZA, and it was very interesting to see the commonalities between associations.  One of the issues we raised was the cost of PD provided by LIANZA.  We also pushed for a reduced LIANZA conference rate for SLANZA members, and that is being considered by LIANZA Council.

The Executive has been working on the SLANZA Constitution, as things have moved on since 2000 and it needed to be updated to reflect new ways of working and communicating.  Greig Daniels has been leading this project, with an updated Constitution now lodged with the Companies Office.  As a result, a number of amendments will be presented for ratification at the upcoming national AGM during the Wellington Conference.

One group of very busy people is the Wellington Conference Committee, and I'd like to thank them for all the organisation and planning, as the conference is going to be great. Karen Clarke is the Wellington representative on the Executive, as well as being part of the Conference Committee, and is the conference liaison too.  Karen has been doing  a sterling job of keeping us up to date with what has been planned, and I am really looking forward to attending such an exciting conference!

Membership is a big part of SLANZA and we have a number of people involved with it.  Carole Gardiner, our new Administration Officer, has been working through some very tangled membership renewals, and has done a brilliant job of sorting this out for us.  If you have not received a renewal, please email Carole (admin@slanza.org.nz) as we may not have a correct or current email address for you. Life and Business memberships were instituted last year, and Lisa Salter has taken responsibility for these, with Greig taking on the SLANZA awards.  If you know someone that you feel should be granted life membership, or receive an award, please do nominate them by June 20th.  More information is available on the SLANZA website.

Lisa has also taken on the Editor's role for Collected magazine, working with others on the Executive, and is currently pulling together all the articles written for the magazine, which will be published later this term. The upcoming edition will be all about reading, and having done some proof-reading, I know you are going to find it

The Executive is also very grateful to Rosalba Finnerty, the first member of the SLANZA Pool of Talent.  Rosalba has taken over the SLANZA archives, and is sorting through several years of documents, so our history can be preserved.

I hope this gives you an insight into some of the activities of your National Executive and the work we do for you.

We are looking for volunteers for SLANZA projects!

The SLANZA Executive is busy working on a number of projects for our members, but there are only a few of us, and we know that out in the school library community there are a large number of talented people in the regions, who might be interested in helping out on our projects.  To that end, we would like to offer the opportunity to contribute, to get involved, to help out and give a little to the school library community of New Zealand.  We will call this the SLANZA Pool of Talent!

The National Exec work really hard for you, but they have limited time, have portfolios full of work, and would like to make things happen a little faster than they would otherwise.  

These are the areas where we could use your help:

Collected:  We want articles from which your colleagues will glean ideas:

• pictures of real live stuff going on in your library with stories to go with them, 
  
• photos of students engaging with learning in your library, again with stories to go with them.  
  
• Stories of exciting things you are doing; ideas others might use.  
  
• Interesting events you have held in your library - again with photos.  
  

Contacts:  Do you have connections that SLANZA can use? Perhaps you have connections at the Ministry of Education, in the publishing industry in other industries which may be of help to your fellow librarians?  What can you do to share the news about school libraries in New Zealand?

Are you good with internet projects?  Do you have ICT skills to burn?  Could you work on a team developing new resources to help upskill your colleagues?  Could you take on a project for us and work as part of the SLANZA team?  You won’t get paid but the feeling of satisfaction is great.

Can you teach new tricks?  Are you good at teaching people new tricks?  Are you comfortable sharing your skills?

Design or photography skills?  Do you have experience using design or imaging software (e.g. Indesign or Photoshop)?  Are you good at photography?  Do you have skills which we could use for making professional posters, bookmarks or other cool products? Then we would like to hear from you. Take a look at this or this to get an idea of what we mean.

Research skills?  Are you planning a Phd?  A Masters?  We would love you to hear from anyone undertaking library studies who might be interested in researching school libraries in New Zealand.  We would love you to find links between reading and achievement.  How to make inquiry learning really work in a school library.  What do successful school librarians offer?   What makes a successful school librarian?  Evidence of school libraries as vital to the educational achievement of our students.  

Have you revalidated?   Could you share your learning journal as an exemplar.  Could you organise meetings in your local area for sharing your learning and experiences.

Know an author?  Do you have a tame author that people in your region can have in their schools?  Or who would write something for SLANZA.

Other?  Do you have other skills you can offer us?  As our organisation grows and we endeavour to offer more services to our members and engage more with the community you may have something extra to offer.  Tell us about it.

There may be things we have missed here. Things you know you could offer.  Get in contact with us. Send an email to SLANZA (admin@slanza.org.nz) and detail your skills and talents and we will put you on our database of skill providers, and organise some teams of talent.

If you’d like to find out more, or you’re ready to offer your help now, please contact Miriam (Miriam.tuohy@gmail.com) or Bridget (bridgetschaumann@gmail.com).

Nominations for SLANZA Awards are now open! SLANZA encourages and rewards excellence in school libraries, recognising the success and achievement of those working in and with school libraries, with a series of annual awards. The Award's are listed below: 

 Award of merit for information literacy 
 Award of merit for literacy and enjoyment of reading 
 Award of merit for promotion 
 Award of merit for research 
 Award of merit for library assistant 
 Principal's award 
 Certificate of appreciation 
 Certificate of recognition 

Please consider those around you who are worthy of recognition and either nominate them or encourage them to apply. For information about eligibility criteria, and how to apply or nominate someone for an award go to http://slanza.org.nz/awards.html. 

Please note the cut off for nominations will be Thursday 20 June and the new SLANZA mailing address is: Carole Gardiner SLANZA Executive Officer c/- PO Box 27 321 Wellington 6011 -  admin@slanza.org.nz.

Please contact Greig Daniels at greig@tokohigh.school.nz if you require any further information or clarification. 

Lisa Salter RLIANZA 
SLANZA Communications Leader 
www.slanza.org.nz

SLANZA is pleased to open applications for nominations for Life Membership to be awarded at our AGM at the 2013 conference in Wellington in July. Life membership may be conferred on a past or current member whose contribution to SLANZA and 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 honor upon SLANZA as well as upon the individual. Because 2012 was the inaugural year there were seven awards recognizing the core of the founding members: 
• Judi Hancock 
• Karen du Fresne 
• Penny Moore 
• Jill Stotter 
• Elizabeth Probert
• Elizabeth Jones 
• Margaret Forbes 
 It is not our intention to award more that two new members per year in future. 

Previous unsuccessful applications do not need to resubmit, as we will consider those along with any new applications received. 

We feel that it is important that the nominee be aware of the nomination prior to submission. 

Deadline for all applications is Thursday 20 June 2013. All guidelines and nomination forms are available at our website ww.slanza.org.nz for questions or further information please contact Lisa Salter at ruawailibrary@gmail.com.

Lisa Salter RLIANZA 
SLANZA Communications Leader 
www.slanza.org.nz