In 2016 the 35th IBBY International Congress will be held in New Zealand.

The theme for the Congress is "Literature in a multi-literate world". There is a fabulous line-up of speakers already confirmed, with more to come. 

The attached documents contain some info about the Congress, and also a Call for Presentations. This is the first time the IBBY Congress will have been held in New Zealand, and it will bring together children's literature experts of all kinds from around the world. Please think about whether you might contribute a presentation or poster, it would be great if the Congress included some of the terrific work NZ School Librarians are doing.

Registrations open in September. And the call for presentations closes on 30 September 2015.

More information is available directly from the IBBY Congress website here.

We are pleased to announce that Registrations for module #3 (Community Connections) of the Connected Librarians course are now open.

Applications close on Friday 4th September, and will be starting on Monday 14th September. 

This course is designed by New Zealand school librarians, for school librarians - those just starting out with online tools, who are ready and willing to try new things. 

The course is free for SLANZA members. 

More information is available in the course flyer and outline documents, and you can register here.

Sandi Faulconbridge
Professional Development team leader

SLANZA offers study grants each year, to those working in school library teams. Study grants are available for courses offered by an approved library education provider. We believe that continuing professional development is vital - it helps you increase the knowledge and skills you need to deliver a valued service to your school community, and it can open you up to new and exciting possibilities in the field of librarianship.

If you are thinking about undertaking Library and Information Studies next year, you may be eligible to apply for assistance. Successful applicants will receive $600 towards the cost of a paper.

The closing date for submitting study grant applications is Thursday 24th of September 2015, and successful applicants will be notified in October.

More information about the grants, including the application form, is available here.

The SLANZA National Executive is delighted to announce that nominations for the 2015 Life Membership Award is now open.  Details are available on the Life Membership page and you will notice that there are some changes to the procedure for nomination this year. 

Life Membership is the highest award that a SLANZA Member can receive.  Please read the instructions for nomination carefully. Applications close on September 10 2015

We are really pleased to share some terrific news for secondary schools today. 

The BWB Publishing Trust will be distributing a selection of BWB history titles to schools this week. Attached is an information sheet about the Books in School Libraries programme, and a list of the titles that schools will receive. The information includes a link to Teachers Notes for these books. Please share this news with your History teachers, and perhaps take the opportunity to talk with them about how these new library books and resources can be used to support student learning in your school.

On behalf of all SLANZA members I offer a huge "thank you" to the BWB Publishing Trust and their supporters - the Grace Memorial Trust, the Stout Trust (with the Friends of the Turnbull Library), and the family of Emeritus Professor Alan Ward - for making this possible.

Miriam Tuohy
President

This is just a reminder that Nominations for the annual SLANZA Awards are open now and will be closing on the 15th of this month. If you feel a SLANZA member’s professional work needs to be recognised, this is a great opportunity to do that.

The awards SLANZA  presents are:

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

The award nomination forms and criteria are available on the  website  at slanza.org.nz. The closing date for nominations is August 15 2015. Nominations should be forwarded to the address on the form. Awards will be presented at this years “ From the Ground Up” SLANZA Conference in Christchurch in September

If you have any questions or queries don’t hesitate to contact me at the above address.

Greig Daniels

Awards Committee