By Trena Lile

Late in Term 3 I represented SLANZA in a meeting with Hon. Brooke van Velden, Minister of Department of Internal Affairs. The meeting was in reference to a joint sector library briefing paper sent to the new Government early this year. Ivy Gao, President of LIANZA, Bernie Hawke, Chief Executive of Public Libraries New Zealand and I met via Zoom with the Minister. 
Ivy had prepared a statement around LIANZA’s concern for Archives New Zealand and processes pertaining to policy affecting job cuts in that sector. After that Ms van Velden asked questions relating to each of the sectors. She asked about why only one third of schools have a library. I talked about the inadequate funding from MoE for both physical libraries and the staff to work in them. I talked about the support given by school libraries to foster the love of reading and the requirements to provide rich and varied texts to complement the structured literacy being rolled out. While there was financial support put into structured literacy there was no support to fund schools to provide a library of diverse books to support the programme. 
She asked about the need for physical spaces for Public Libraries and whether they were still necessary given the high volumes of borrowing on eResources. All three of us were united in our views on how important the physical library space is to communities and how often it is seen as the home of reliable information about numerous things, whether that be the tomes they hold or the services they provide, especially in times of crisis. 
Discussions were had about collaboration with National Library and how vital that service is to schools, school libraries and their staff. Discussions also covered collaborations between school libraries and public libraries.  

This meeting with the Hon. Brooke van Velden was a valuable opportunity to discuss the critical role libraries play in our communities and to advocate for increased government support. Regular meetings with government representatives are essential to ensure that the needs of the library and information sector are understood and addressed. These meetings provide a platform for sector leaders to raise awareness about current issues, such as ongoing adequate funding for libraries and archives.  They also allow for collaborative discussions on how libraries can contribute to government priorities, like digital inclusion and literacy.

By working together LIANZA, PLNZ, and SLANZA can amplify their collective impact by presenting a unified voice to government representatives. SLANZA thanks LIANZA for organising this meeting and creating an opportunity to collaborate with fellow library advocates in shaping the future of our sector. Such cross-sector partnerships are vital for driving positive change and ensuring libraries receive the resources and recognition they need to flourish.

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