The dates for the Wellington SLANZA Conference are Sunday 27 - Wednesday 30 September 2020. ​More information soon.

Registration for Connected Librarian Online Module #13 
Organising your Student Librarian Family opens
​Monday 5 August 2019 and closes Saturday 17 August 2019
​Register here.
The Module #13 Organising your Student Librarian Family 
runs from Monday 18 August to Sunday 15 September Term 3 2019

If you have applied to come along to the Waikato Bay of Plenty conference this year, workshop selections are now live and ready for you to make your selection. Workshop selections close on the 6th of September.

​We look forward to seeing you there!

Hi all
 
What a busy term we have in front of us.
It is full of opportunity and possibilities. We just need to grab them and take off and explore where they take us all. National Executive has lots happening so we would love to share with you what is new, what is happening and some things we need you to be involved with!

COLLECTED

We have a new editor; a new style and it looks stunning! As members you get to see this first, so hit the link, add in the password and you are away. I love to print it off, grab a cuppa and have a good inspiring read!  To view, visit
     
http://www.slanza.org.nz/collected24.html
Password: earlyreader


A MAJOR COMPETITION FOR YOU TO ENTER

This is a fantastic opportunity to win some amazing library products for your school library. First prize is $1500.00 worth of Library Tech products, second prize is $600.00, and third prize is $400.00. All you need to do is design a library display showing the theme of student resilience and care, get everyone involved, and make sure it promotes reading and other services your library provides. The winner will be announced at Rivers of Knowledge Conference! Entries must be in by August 31st. All information is at the end of this communique and in Collected. We are thankful for Library Tech for their generous sponsorship with this amazing competition.

                                                                                                   
RIVERS OF KNOWLEGDE – SEPTEMBER 27th  TO 29th

 We are so excited about the regional conference in Cambridge. Rivers of Knowledge is going to be a fantastic time for us all. We have three amazing keynote speakers ( Dr Ross Todd, Dr Vincent OMalley and Gareth Ward), a wide array of workshops that covers all librarians regardless of experience, an amazing Conference Dinner that we know you will never forget, and the Living Library Bus Tour which will be a journey that will impact you deeply as people who reside in Aotearoa. We will laugh, learn, be very sombre and party! The only problem is we have only 20 registration slots left! Do it today!!

https://waibopregionalconference2019.weebly.com/
WaiBOP Regional Conference 2019 - Home
waibopregionalconference2019.weebly.com


AWARDS

SLANZA encourages and rewards excellence in school libraries by recognising the success and achievement of those working in and with school libraries with a series of annual awards.  Therefore, the SLANZA National Executive is calling for nominations for our Awards of Excellence and Life Membership, which will be presented at the upcoming 'Rivers of Knowledge' Waikato Bay of Plenty Regional Conference in September. Further information about the criteria for each award can be found on our website on the Awards Page. As always, the awards are presented at the discretion of the Awards Committee. Please send all nominations with all the required documentation to awards@slanza.org.nz no later than Friday 23rd August 2019.


STUDY GRANTS

Study Grant applications are closed. Thank you to those who applied. We will be announcing those who were successful shortly.


FACEBOOK CHANGES AND SOCIAL MEDIA
 
SLANZA would like to let you know that we are making some changes to our Facebook presence. 
We have created a NEW Facebook Page (https://www.facebook.com/Schoollibsnz/) that will be our official presence on Facebook to keep our members and general public updated on events and SLANZA general business. Please like our page to keep up to date with what's happening.

SLANZA Te Whare Puna Mātauranga a Kura - Home | Facebook
www.facebook.com

Our existing Facebook Group will be renamed 'SLANZA Connected Community' and will undergo some changes. Due to the Google Plus community shutting down, we have had to look at other ways to deliver our professional development and online networking to our members. At this time, the platform that we felt best suited this was Facebook. We will trial running our sessions through this group using the events feature for focused Professional Development.

Due to these changes, the group will become a closed group and we will no longer be accepting non-members. We see this as a chance for us to add value to your SLANZA membership. If you are unsure of your membership status, please get in touch with Melanie on admin@slanza.org.nz. Those who are not members will be removed from this group at the end of the July. We will send another message closer to the time as a reminder.

We would like to take this opportunity to let you know about the other ways that you can freely engage with SLANZA:
1.    Follow our new Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/Schoollibsnz/

2.    Follow our twitter account https://twitter.com/Schoollibsnz

3.    Sign up to our List Serv http://www.slanza.org.nz/mailing-lists.html

4.    Check our website http://www.slanza.org.nz/

5.  Attend our PD and conferences http://www.slanza.org.nz/professional-learning.html

Thank you for your contribution, your consideration and your patience, as we navigate this new platform. All feedback is welcome, so don’t hesitate to get in touch with us.
 

Warm regards,
Glenys Bichan
Communications
SLANZA’s National Executive
 









Glenys Bichan
Library Manager
Cambridge High School Library

Are you studying, or thinking about studying? SLANZA would like to help you achieve those goals. Applications for study grants in 2019 are now open. You can find all the information you need here http://www.slanza.org.nz/study-grants.html

If you have any questions, please email Sally sts@burnside.school.nz or Mel admin@slanza.org.nz

SLANZA NE regrets to inform members that our Co-President, Julia Smith, will be stepping down from her duties to focus on her recovery from her recent diagnosis of acute leukemia. We are sending her all of our love and support. Arohanui Julia!

Head on over to the Waikato/Bay of Plenty's Conference website and register your interest in attending the event:
https://waibopregionalconference2019.weebly.com/
We are excited to welcome our guest speakers and workshop hosts, as well as a wonderful line-up of vendor stalls. See you there!

Registrations for the Library 101 for Primary and Intermediate School Librarians module of the Connected Librarians course will be open from Monday 13 May and will close on Sunday 26 May 2019. 
 
This course is for primary and intermediate school librarians who would like some support with the intricacies of running the school library, would like to share ideas with others in similar positions and are up for the challenge of looking at their own practice.
 
What to expect in this course?
On successful course completion, learners will be able to:

• understand and rewrite their library goals, vision and mission statements
• assess and make changes to their physical library space to ensure better library practice
• understand the role they and their school library plays in reading promotion within their school
• develop relationships with other school librarians, staff and their school community
• have a better knowledge of their collection and how to develop it
• look at developing their libraries online presence

  
The course will be starting on Monday 27 May and finishes on Sunday 16 June. 

This course is designed by New Zealand school librarians, for school librarians - for anyone who is ready and willing to learn and try new things and share their thoughts and learning with others. You can work at your own pace, in your own time and network with other school librarians. For those school librarians working in schools on their own, this is invaluable.

The course is only available and free for SLANZA members. 

Please visit the Online PD page on our SLANZA website for further information and to register.

SLANZA is pleased to provide an update on what we have been working on with regards to the remuneration and working conditions our members currently work under.  We wish to inform our members that as of September 2018, NZEI notified the Ministry of Education of a pay equity claim on behalf of school librarians and library assistants as part of a wider school support staff pay equity claim. We have supplied statistics and information to NZEI since then, including a phone interview. NZEI are attending our next National Executive meeting in Wellington on 30-31 March to update us on the progress on this claim.

SLANZA National Executive also contributed to LIANZA’s oral submission to the select committee on the Equal Pay Amendments Bill. You may read our comments to LIANZA’s oral submission below.

We are extremely fortunate to have two organisations advocating for school librarians in the pay equity campaign. It reinforces SLANZA’s concerns relating to our poor pay rates and working conditions. This gives us a stronger presence and we look forward to working with both NZEI and LIANZA to support their submissions.

SLANZA Comments to LIANZA Equal Pay Oral Submission

Thank you for the opportunity of providing feedback on the Equal Pay Submission LIANZA is presenting on Wednesday 6th March 2019.

Importance of School Libraries

The school library is fundamental for students and staff to have equitable access to quality resources, skills and support. All schools should have a well-resourced library staffed by a specialist librarian to support the teaching and learning needed for student success. Research in New Zealand and in many overseas studies shows that having a well-resourced school library staffed by a professional librarian increases literacy levels and student achievement (National Literacy Trust, 2018). School libraries give equal access to all students, regardless of community services and financial situations.

Importance of School Librarians

Our SLANZA members are passionate and dedicated specialists who upskill themselves outside of work hours through their SLANZA community and professional development opportunities, with a proportion studying at tertiary level for diplomas right through to Bachelor degrees. Many library assistants are on minimum wage with part-time hours, yet this dedication shows a commitment to the profession and student learning and they deliver real benefit to their students and organisation.

We would also like to call attention to the widespread pay rate of specialist librarians managing school libraries who struggle to attain the living wage. With school roles of up to thousands of students, these school librarians provide information literacy skills, encourage a love of reading and learning, provide access to quality information sources, both print and digital to staff and students, provide ICT instruction for staff and students, provide a physical space where students can feel comfortable, safe and valued, are responsible for the library budget, and may supervise library assistants and/or volunteers. This substantial and complex skill set list is expected of school librarians at secondary level, with primary school libraries delivering many of these services. Considering the skill sets involved, remuneration is inadequate.

SLANZA considers the role of the school librarian as unique in comparison to other library positions. School librarians see the same students for a number of years and must provide a more holistic approach, building relationships and trust during a demanding age period. Student care is an underestimated skill set that school librarians practice daily.

Challenges

There are a number of challenges facing schools and school libraries including pressures of the funding model, lack of space, staffing and budgets. There is a real fear for job security and hours, where libraries aren’t recognised as vital to student achievement, where school library staff aren’t valued as information experts with the skills and knowledge to encourage, care for and teach students, where budgets get trimmed to cater for other school needs, where libraries are being used as classrooms, where hours are cut so much that they find it increasingly difficult to make a difference to their students’ learning.

SLANZA would like to see legislation that every school has a well-sourced library, staffed by a specialist librarian with a sufficient ring-fenced budget for the hours and resources to support learning.

Gender Inequality

Significantly, ninety-seven per cent of our members are female (November 2018).

NZEI Submission

As of September 2018, NZEI notified the Ministry of Education of a pay equity claim on behalf of school librarians and library assistants as part of a wider school support staff pay equity claim. We have supplied statistics and information to NZEI since then, and I had a phone interview. We have invited NZEI to our next National Executive meeting in Wellington on 30-31 March to update us on the progress on this claim.​