On behalf of the School Library Association of New Zealand Aotearoa (SLANZA), I invite you to submit a quote for producing our magazine "Collected", published three times each year. Linked below is a brief which outlines the specifications for this project. We would welcome a re-design of the magazine, provided it is in keeping with a professional publication such as this, and that it complements our existing web presence. Design Brief Your quote should itemize costs for any initial re-design work, as well as the ongoing layout work for each future issue. Copies of all previous issues are available via our website: http://www.slanza.org.nz/collected Please contact me if you need any further information: Miriam Tuohy miriam.tuohy@gmail.com
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A team of SLANZA members led by Miriam Tuohy and including Carole Gardiner, Karen Carswell and Bridget Schaumann have been working for about six months on a new resource for SLANZA members, staff and students of your schools. We know that large numbers of the SLANZA community use the Wetpaint wiki we set up nearly 4 years ago, but to ensure better support and maintenance of the wiki, we have decided to move the reading-related content to a purpose-built SLANZA Reading site that will sit alongside our main website. The reading site will have a similar look and feel to the main site, and offer us improved functionality over the old wiki. Regular users of the wiki need to note a couple of things:
We are looking forward to sharing our work with you, and we hope you will like it. We expect to launch the new site before the end of this term. Miriam and Bridget Hi everyone,
SLANZA has been the victim of hackers twice in the last month. We are in the process of changing our email provider and do not have access to our xtra email account currently, nor do we think it is safe to use. We are setting up new email addresses for SLANZA right now so we can send out renewals as soon as possible. We ask all SLANZA members and intending members to hold off sending their payments for this year until they have received their invoice, as this will enable a more cohesive receipting than has previously occurred. If you wish to contact SLANZA in the next couple of weeks while we get these problems sorted out, please do that via your local representative. They are working hard to sort out the problems and they will pass your message on to the person who is responsible for the appropriate portfolio. If you are unsure who your regional representative is, check out the links on the 'Contact' page of the SLANZA website. Paula Eskett has recently taken on the role of National Executive representative for Aoraki, and she can be contacted at paula.eskett@dia.govt.nz Fiona Mackie President SLANZA Term 1 is now underway for everyone, and I know we're all heads down, meeting new staff, getting classes organised, starting orientation, selecting and training student librarians, creating displays, identifying curriculum areas to support - the holidays feel like such a long time ago already... I spent a glorious 12 days up north, camping with my family, and thought I had taken enough books, but ran out with three days to go! As I was driving to Whangarei on a book buying mission, I noticed the sign outside Parua Bay School, and just had to stop. I met Janet Hill, who works in the office and library, and who decided that she would support her students' literacy levels over the summer break by opening the library and encouraging students to take reading material for the summer. Janet said that lots of families had taken advantage of the library being open, and several of those families were new to the school for 2013, so it served as a great introduction to the area. Parua Bay School has a lovely, well stocked library, and congratulations to Janet for joining the summer reading revolution, and to the senior management of the school for seeing what a positive difference it could make. How did your summer reading programme go? At St Cuthbert's, we issued about 2800 items to Y3-12 girls and staff for the holidays and the books are pouring in right now! The returns bin keeps on overflowing, but it is worth it when a Y11 girl told me today that 'Room (by Emma Donohue) was the best thing I've ever read!' The National Executive is delighted to announce that Carole Gardiner, from Queens' High in Dunedin, has accepted the Administrator role for SLANZA. Carole is currently getting up to speed with the start of year procedures, as the first task is membership renewals, which will be coming out to you very soon. If you have changed school, or your email address, we'd really appreciate you letting us know via slanza@xtra.co.nz. Thank you to those who have already contacted us with information re contact details as it makes things much easier for us. The renewal form does ask for an alternate email address, as we know school details often change, so a personal email address means you don't miss out at all. I'd like to thank the National Executive, especially Lisa Salter, Bharathi Char, Bridget Schaumann and Miriam Tuohy, for all the extra work they have done over the last few months. Their efforts have meant that SLANZA as an organisation has continued to function, and I am very grateful that they have put in the extra time and dedication, which will benefit us all. Although it is super sunny and warm right now, my thoughts are drifting towards the July holidays and the upcoming SLANZA conference. The conference committee are doing a sterling job of putting it together, so keep an eye out for further announcements, as those Winds of Change are going to blow any cobwebs away! Hope to see you at conference, Fiona. Warmest congratulations go to Helen Muxlow, Judy Waenga, Pamela McKirdy and Vivian Wang – our latest study grant recipients.
We look forward to reading about their study experiences next year. Michele Ayres SLANZA Professional Development team leader The National Executive met in Wellington last weekend with a focus on how we can better support our members.
We are committed to providing a quality conference in both 2013 and 2015, with relevant PD to all our members throughout the country. The 2013 conference ‘Winds of Change’ is shaping up very well and will have something for everyone. I do hope you have requested to attend in your planning for next year. It is also good to mention your desire to attend in your annual report. NE will soon be starting work on a new Strategic Plan. In order to formulate the plan we will be seeking your input early next year on what you would like to see. NE are excited about Word Up (see Collected #8 www.slanza.org.nz/collected.html if you missed news of this) and the potential it holds for a range exciting initiatives to be offered next year. To tie in with this and the launch of the new SLANZA reading site, our first issue of Collected will focus on reading on all it’s forms. Contributions for articles related to all types of i.e. reading book clubs, summer reading reflections, ESOL, book talks etc. will be called for early next term. We are looking for someone to take over the layout and design of Collected magazine. If you have an interest and experience in layout and design in an online environment please contact Miriam Tuohy at miriam.tuohy@gmail.com for further information. This week we called for applications for the SLANZA NE Administration job. The position description is on our website at http://www.slanza.org.nz/vacancies.html. Please share this information with anyone you think could be interested. They do not have to work in a school library to apply. National Executive members in some cases expressed concern about the workload of running both a regional committee and being the regional rep. The NE roles have changed over time and the workload has increased, to this end it is no longer a requirement that the NE Rep also chair the regional committee. The regional committee has many portfolios ie the regional rep, treasurer, membership person and these can be combined or shared within the committee as suits your region. We welcome Karen Clarke as the new NE rep for Wellington and thank Michele Whiting for her enormous contribution. From 2013 Karen will we working with on membership with our new admin person to improve our membership processes. We thank all our members for their support this year. Reflecting on our successful Ross Todd events we look forward to continuning to provide relevant PD to our members while we search for other ways to meet your needs. We wish you all a restful holiday season and all the best for next year. Lisa Salter Communications Leader Term three is just whizzing by in the North and spring in the air. I do hope the regions down South are starting to defrost!
I expect you have all had a chance to puruse our new website. Miraim Tuohy has provided us with an improved site which we hope members will find useful http://www.slanza.org.nz/index.html . Collected magazine is just about ready! We look forward to sharing this edition with you very soon. The SLANZA Awards and Life Membership process is under review. We would appreciate any comments, suggestions, complaints regarding the present process from anyone who has something to offer the review team. Please send your ideas to Lisa Salter lsalter@ruawaicollege.school.nz by the end of Term 3 and I will report on the changes in due course. Region News- Te Tai Tokerau Term 3 events: Check out our blog to see the two interesting events in Northland this term: http://slanzanorthland.blogspot.co.nz/ Southland Term 3 coffee meeting Pam Garry (John McGlashan College) will talk about her recent visit to Suzette Boyd’s fabulous library at Scotch College in Melbourne Where: Salt Café, Esplanade, St Clair When: 4pm Wednesday 29 August Everyone Welcome ~ we’d love to see you there Please RSVP by Monday 27th August to Bridget at sc@kingshigh.school.nz or Carole at caroleg@queens.school.nz Below is the report which Fiona Mackie gave at the AGM held in Wellington earlier this month. It is posted here so that all members can see it. On behalf of the SLANZA National Executive, I'd like to welcome you to the 12th AGM for our organisation. I know your heads are full with all the ideas from today's seminar, so will keep this brief. As an organisation representing school libraries and all who are interested in them, we are dedicated to spreading the word about what you all do, and the difference it makes to all our students. One such opportunity was the recent Inquiry into 21st Century Learning Environments, which SLANZA made a submission to on your behalf. Michele Whiting and I were invited to speak to the Select Committee, to expand on our submission, which we did in June. Our three main points were: A well resourced library with qualified staff makes all the difference Librarians or teacher librarians know how to access, locate and use information in multiple formats, as well as being able to work with students and teachers to give them the skills to locate what they need and use it appropriately Short changing school libraries directly impacts on student learning and achievement and does not give them the skills necessary in our world of information overload On the School-Libs list-serv, there are often messages regarding hours being reduced, roles being combined or eliminated, and threats to the existence of school libraries. We all know how valuable and essential a well resourced and staffed library is, and the effect it can have on student learning and achievement, but as Dr Ross Todd has reminded us today, school librarianship can = occupational invisibility! The Executive had been wondering how we could start an Evidence Based Practice movement in New Zealand, so when we heard that Ross was coming to Australia, it seemed the perfect opportunity to kick start it for all. I think you'll agree with me that the seminars in Auckland and Wellington have given us a clear direction and a straight message - stop the blame game, free yourself from the habit of learned helplessness, and just do it! Although we made every effort to make the cost affordable by subsidizing all members who attended, we knew that only a fraction of you could attend. To support everyone, Ross has generously allowed us to host his slides on our website, as well as permitting us to record the presentation for members to download in the future. The Executive are also working on a PD session for regional committees to present to members in Term 4 or early next year. I mentioned that members would be able to download the presentation, and it gives me great delight to announce that SLANZA members will soon have access to a new website, with a password enabled section for members. We want to make it a one stop shop for all, so the wiki is going to be alongside the site. There will also be a space dedicated to sharing ideas and supporting each other as we start our Evidence Based Practice programmes and research. I'd like to thank the brilliant Miriam Tuohy for all the work she has done, investigating options, mapping out the new site, as well as creating a beautifully clear and inviting site. Thanks too to the team working with Miriam, for all their contributions to this process. I'd also like to pay tribute to a group of people who, under continually difficult circumstances, still provide their students and staff the best service possible - all the people working in school libraries in and around Christchurch. At the recent Otago PD weekend, I was fortunate to be able to spend time with some Christchurch members who travelled to Dunedin, and was moved to tears by their stories and the struggle many of them still face. Their dedication to their schools and students is inspiring. And now I come to something I haven't been looking forward to doing - farewelling two long serving Executive members who have been wonderful examples of inspiration and leadership for SLANZA. Donna has been on the Exec since 2009 , has been our Communications Leader for the past 3 years and is the powerhouse behind the superb online magazine Collected. Donna is stepping down from the Executive, but will be guiding the team who work on Collected. Donna, please accept this small token of our thanks for all you have done for us. APPLAUSE Senga has been part of the Executive since 2006 and was President from 2009-11, and has now come to the end of her time as Immediate Past President. Senga persuaded me to stand for President, and has been a role model for me coming onto the Executive. We're not losing Senga entirely as she is continuing to represent SLANZA on the EPIC Governance Group, as well as assisting with Collected. Senga, you have made a huge difference to SLANZA and I'd like you to accept this with our love and gratitude. I'd like to officially welcome Bridget Schaumann to the Executive as President-Elect and I know that she will bring a huge amount of prior experience, as well as energy and enthusiasm for SLANZA and it's members, as President from July 2013. Every year we award certificates of recognition to a range of people who deserve recognition for the efforts made to create readers, support student learning and achievement or the role of the library and library staff. The certificates will be awarded in person at special regional events. I am delighted to announce the following awards have been made: Please see the previous posts on this blog for these details, and congratulations to all the recipients. Life membership has been something that members have been requesting for some time, and it gives me great pleasure to announce our first recipients. We were really impressed with these nominations whom I am sure you will all agree are so deserving of being our first recipients. There will be very special presentations to each recipient held by the local committees, to celebrate and thank these people for all they have done for SLANZA. Our first life memberships have been awarded to Liz Probert, Jill Stotter, Dr Penny Moore, Judi Hancock, Elizabeth Jones, Margaret Forbes and Karen du Fresne who were the original steering committee directly responsible for the creation of SLANZA. Without these dedicated women, SLANZA would not have been born, the IASL conference would not have been held in Auckland in 2001 starting so many of us off on the path of effective school librarianship, none of our national conferences would have been held, and we would have remained a bunch of small associations that had nothing to do with each other, without a voice, without a presence. APPLAUSE And speaking of Conference, Conference 2011 was great (even if I do say so myself!) Conference 2013 planning is well underway and will be in Wellington, July 15-17 at Wellington Girls High, so put it into your diary and budget for it now! The theme is Winds of Change, which is all about sustainability - sustaining school libraries, energizing partnerships, generating enthusiasm and empowering learners. Thank you for joining us today. I appreciate you giving up your Saturday or even weekend to participate in professional development and our AGM. The Executive is committed to providing its members with a range of PD opportunities, and Ross's seminars are just the start. Your feedback via the recent PD survey will help us to organize PD in the future, but we always welcome your suggestions and ideas. Please continue to support your regional committee's events as they are always focussed on you! Go well, go safely and thank you for being here today. Fiona Mackie SLANZA President August 2012 To recognise those who have played such an important role in the creation and development of SLANZA as an organisation, the National Executive instituted Honorary Life Memberships and called for nominations from the members. The convenor of the Awards Committee, Lisa Salter, was impressed with the calibre of the nominees and the amount of thought that had gone into the applications.
The Executive is delighted to announce that Honorary Life Memberships have been awarded to the Steering Committee who worked tirelessly to create SLANZA: Karen du Fresne Margaret Forbes Judi Hancock Elizabeth Jones Dr Penny Moore Elizabeth Probert Jill Stotter As an organisation, we owe so much to the Steering Committee, who not only created a national organisation that we can be proud of, but who were also instrumental in bringing the IASL conference to New Zealand in 2000. Regional areas will be organising special events to present the awards to each recipient, and also to thank them for all they have done (and continue to do) for SLANZA and school library staff nation wide. Today we are very happy to announce the launch of our new-look website. There are several driving forces behind the changes to the website. We know from our website statistics that visitors to our site are most often looking for the latest SLANZA news, and for resources they can use - especially the latest issue of Collected magazine. So the major changes to our home page are:
The platform we are using is cloud-based, making it possible for the first time for National Executive members to each take a more proactive role in sharing information related to the work their team is doing. The redesign has also given us the opportunity to refresh the look of the website, and include some new material that we haven’t previously published i.e. the timeline (still a work in progress!) How to make the most of the new site
If you encounter any problems with the new site, please let us know. If you’re not seeing the latest version, you may need to clear your browser’s cache and reload the page. We’ve done our best to get everything running smoothly, but some things may take a little time to be fully functional (e.g. indexing the new site for search). If you have bookmarked pages within the old site, please take a moment to update these as necessary. And if you have ideas for content you’d like to see on the site, we’d love to hear them! |
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