SLANZA is excited to announce the SLANZA Sessions podcast will be launched in November. 

This podcast will celebrate the school library sector as well as literature for youth. We aim to provide relevant content for school librarians and the wider community by hosting author interviews and expert discussions, along with book reviews. 

A group of Manawatū SLANZA members are working with Manawatū People's Radio to create this podcast, which will be produced fortnightly. Please get in touch if you'd like to be a part of the planning and production crew, no experience is necessary just interest and passion. 

SLANZA Sessions podcast format: 

• SLANZA and sector events and news 
• Interview/panel discussion/topical content 
• Book reviews 
• Question Corner 
• What's up in our next episode 

The first three episodes: ​

#1 - Why we LOVE school libraries?  
#2 - How do school libraries help raise our literacy levels? 
#3 - Festivals and Competitions that build readers

We need you! 

We need you, your students, and your teachers to send in recorded book reviews. 

We need sound bytes about why your students, your staff, and your parents LOVE school libraries - tell us what value your library space brings to your community! 

Do you, your students or school staff have a burning question (preferably library or literature related) we can help find the answer to? 

We'd love your feedback on what you'd like to hear about the above episode topics - Who do YOU want to hear from?  

Please send all feedback, questions for Question Corner, and audio to our dedicated email address podcast@slanza.org.nz 

Large audio files are best sent via a file-sharing site such as Dropbox or WeTransfer. ​

We look forward to hearing from you. 

The second round of grants providing support towards a new library and information qualification opens from October 4-22. Grants are available for tertiary qualifications relevant to careers in public, school, tertiary, national and special libraries, and whānau, iwi and marae collections of taonga tuku iho.
 
We encourage you to apply for these LIANZA SLANZA grants and more information is available here: https://www.librariesaotearoa.org.nz/tertiary-grants.html

Kia ora koutou
 
The next round of grants providing support towards a new library and information tertiary qualification opens from October 4-22.

Grants are available for tertiary qualifications relevant to careers in public, school, tertiary, national and special libraries, and whānau, iwi and marae collections of taonga tuku iho.
 
We encourage you to share information about this round of the LIANZA SLANZA Tertiary Grants.

• Social media assets and videos are available to share on your communications channels on this link here. These include a 30-second video for use on social media.
• More information about the grants can be found online here 

Tertiary Grants Funding
Funding for qualifications in library and information studies.
www.librariesaotearoa.org.nz

 

• These grants have been made possible by New Zealand Libraries Partnership Programme (NZLPP) funding of $1.5 million to a Library and Information Association of New Zealand (LIANZA) and School Library Association of New Zealand Aotearoa (SLANZA) partnership.

 
Julia Smith BAppSci (LIS)
Qualified Librarian
Kerikeri High School
 
SLANZA National Executive Communications
SLANZA National Executive rep for Te Tai Tokerau 
 

 
 

The 2022 Softlink School Library Survey is now open for submissions.   
​
The information received will help to form an accurate and current representation of school libraries in New Zealand. As in previous years, we will openly share the results in a range of reports, whitepapers and supporting resources that can assist school libraries in their advocacy. You can complete the survey here https://www.softlinkint.com/blog/2022-school-library-survey-APAC/
 
The Survey close date is 20 September. You can find out more about the survey in Softlink's blog post. 

It’s Te Wiki o te Reo Māori soon, so we’ve put together a selection of pukapuka to add to your library or classroom, including E Hoa, the new board book from 2022 Book of the Year winner, Gavin Bishop, and Arewhana Hunahuna by David Barrow, translated by Karena Kelly.

We have two finalists in the UK’s Teach Early Years Awards this year--A Perfect Wonderful Day with Friends by Philip Waechter is a Happy & Healthy category finalist and Elephant Island by Leo Timmers is a Picture Book category finalist. 

Follow the links above for Teacher Notes and Activities and to sign up directly for Gecko Press's next newsletter.

​A book described as a taonga for this generation and the next, written and illustrated by one of the country’s most lauded authors, was tonight crowned the Margaret Mahy Book of the Year at the 2022 New Zealand Book Awards for Children and Young Adults ceremony, held at the Alan Gibbs Centre, Wellington College.
Atua: Māori Gods and Heroes by multi-award-winning author Gavin Bishop was praised by the judges for its sense of magic and the way it validates matauranga and te ao Māori truths.
“Atua is an instant classic, a ‘must have’ for every Kiwi household and library, that is packaged in stunning production values,” said convenor of judges Pauline (Vaeluaga) Smith.
“The book is much more than a list of Gods and legendary heroes – it’s a family tree, presented with power and simplicity. The text is never overstated, with the glory of the illustrations as the primary mode of storytelling, rewarding the reader who closely examines them.”
As well as taking out the highest accolade in children’s publishing, Atua also won the Elsie Locke Award for Non-Fiction and the Russell Clark Award for Illustration.
It’s the fifth time Ōtautahi-based Bishop's work has been acknowledged with the coveted Book of the Year prize. He has now won it three times for titles he authored and illustrated and twice for books where he was the illustrator. This is more than any other children’s author or illustrator in New Zealand, even the award’s namesake Margaret Mahy, who won the supreme award twice.
While Atua took out the lion’s share of the prizes on the night, it was a cheeky lion who impressed the judges when it came to the Picture Book Award, which went to Lion Guards the Cake by Wellington’s Ruth Paul. The judges loved the masterfully blended words and images, calling it confident storytelling of the highest calibre.
An imaginative, thought-provoking novel with “a bit of creepy stirred in” was how The Memory Thief by Leonie Agnew of Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland was described. It won the Wright Family Foundation Esther Glen Award for Junior Fiction, with the judges praising the skill and writing craft of the author, as well as the depth and quality of language.
Learning to Love Blue by Melbourne-based New Zealander Saradha Koirala was awarded the Young Adult Fiction Award. The judging panel was enamoured by this novel that deals with striking out alone, navigating relationships and finding one’s feet in a new city, calling it an emotional and always relatable read.
The standard and beautiful flow of reo in I Waho, i te Moana, translated from Yvonne Morrison’s text by Pānia Papa (Pōneke Wellington) and illustrated by Jenny Cooper, saw it awarded the Wright Family Foundation Te Kura Pounamu Award for te reo Māori. The judges praised the expertise of the translator, and also said the illustrations bring to life the authenticity of this story about the many taniwha that act as guardians in the moana.
Among the 199 entries into this year’s awards, some of the most exciting for the judges to read were those from new voices. With the calibre encouragingly high, it was a tough category to call but the NZSA Best First Book Award went to Spark Hunter by Sonya Wilson from Auckland. The judges felt the book was perfectly pitched for middle fiction readers, with its debut author deftly weaving history, culture, conservation, humour, tension and adventure into the story.
The full list of winners for the 2022 New Zealand Book Awards for Children and Young Adults:
 
Margaret Mahy Book of the Year Award $7500
Atua: Māori Gods and Heroes, written and illustrated by Gavin Bishop (Puffin, Penguin Random House)
 
Picture Book Award $7500
Lion Guards the Cake, written and illustrated by Ruth Paul (Scholastic New Zealand)
 
Wright Family Foundation Esther Glen Award for Junior Fiction $7500
The Memory Thief, written by Leonie Agnew (Puffin, Penguin Random House)
 
Young Adult Fiction Award $7500
Learning to Love Blue, written by Saradha Koirala (Record Press)
 
Elsie Locke Award for Non-Fiction $7500
Atua: Māori Gods and Heroes, written and illustrated by Gavin Bishop (Puffin, Penguin Random House)
 
Russell Clark Award for Illustration $7500
Atua: Māori Gods and Heroes, written and illustrated by Gavin Bishop (Puffin, Penguin Random House)
 
Wright Family Foundation Te Kura Pounamu Award for te reo Māori $7500
I Waho, i te Moana, written by Yvonne Morrison, translated by Pānia Papa and illustrated by Jenny Cooper (Scholastic New Zealand)
 
NZSA Best First Book Award $2500
Spark Hunter, written by Sonya Wilson (The Cuba Press)
 
An important aspect of the Awards is fostering a love of reading in New Zealand’s tamariki and rangitahi by building connections between books and young people. Many of this year’s finalists had the opportunity to present their work to thousands of children around the country in a programme of Books Alive online events and virtual story times, co-ordinated through public and school libraries by LIANZA, the Library and Information Association of New Zealand Aotearoa, and hosted on their YouTube channel.
The finalists also entertained hundreds of Wellington school children at the National Library of New Zealand Te Puna Mātauranga o Aotearoa on the day of the ceremony. The hard-working team at Wellington City Libraries organised a varied programme that included story times, behind-the-book talks, workshops on writing and illustration, lively panel discussions, and live drawing sessions.
The New Zealand Book Awards for Children and Young Adults are made possible through the generosity and vision of a group of committed funders and sponsors: Creative New Zealand, HELL Pizza, the Wright Family Foundation, LIANZA, Wellington City Council, The New Zealand Society of Authors Te Puni Kaituhi o Aotearoa (NZSA), Nielsen BookData, and 2022 Books Alive venue partner, The National Library of New Zealand Te Puna Mātauranga o Aotearoa. The Awards are administered by the New Zealand Book Awards Trust Te Ohu Tiaki i Te Rau Hiringa.