News from February National Executive meeting

Last weekend the SLANZA National Executive met for the first meeting of the year with a full agenda.

First up membership.  This year our systems are in place and renewal notices went out early.  If you did not receive your renewal notice yet please email a request to admin@slanza.org.nz.  A strong membership will enable us to provide a better service.  As we roll out our membership drive we ask all members to reach out to other schools around them and encourage engagement with SLANZA. There are benefits to all the library team as well as teaching staff.

This year’s budget reflects our priorities as well as living within our means.  Increased membership would be welcome and used to provide more to members.

We had a visit from LIANZA President Laurinda Thomas and Executive Director  Joanna Matthew.  They shared work they are currently undertaking and we discussed areas of common interest.  They welcome SLANZA members to their 2014 conference in Auckland and hope to have a school library stream with an affordable one day rate.  See full conference details at: http://lianzaconference.weebly.com/  SLANZA members thinking of attending should consider presenting, there are flexible opportunities to share your experience with other librarians.

Work has begun on our next SLANZA conference which is scheduled for September 2015 in Christchurch.  The committee is keen and is working towards providing an excellent professional development opportunity to members.

Region reports were generally positive with events planned for this term.  SLANZA aims to provide one professional development opportunity each term and some regions have some very exciting things planned.  The Southland region is struggling for membership and leadership.  If you are in this region it is important that you think about how SLANZA can support you and contact the National Executive if you have any suggestions or offers of assistance.

There is much talk and some action regarding MLEs (Modern Learning Environments) and MLLEs (Modern Library Learning Environments), especially in the Canterbury region and in pockets around the country.  What does this mean to us and how will it affect us?  That is a big question.  Whether it is around the corner for you or on a distant horizon, school librarians need to be aware of changing thinking in schools and be prepared with a way forward.  Having an idea of how your library fits in the scheme of things before the need arises is the best way forward.  We will soon be calling for contributions to our first issues of Collected for the year with the theme “MLE, MLLE; What, Who and How” and will be looking at the big picture.  If you have knowledge in this area we hope you will share your experience with our readers.

We have made progress with our Pool of Talent and the sharing of work.  Any members keen to get involved should contact their region’s representative.  There are many opportunities to expand your professional horizons with SLANZA, maybe you will be the next rep for your region.  We are always looking for keen people, not afraid of a bit of organisational work combined with great contacts, professional development and a few laughs.  

Finally, we compared our progress to our strategic goals.  We are on track providing leadership, responding to the needs of our members and always looking for opportunities to add value to SLANZA membership.  All the best for the rest of a busy Term 1, we look forward to working with you to provide the best service possible to our schools this year.