 Public and school librarians, teachers, booksellers, award-winning authors and illustrators, as well as passionate advocates of te reo Māori and te ao Māori, make up the two panels appointed to judge entries in the 2024 New Zealand Book Awards for Children and Young Adults.
Wānaka secondary school and public librarian Maia Bennett (Ngāti Kahungunu, Ngāti Whakaue, Ngāti Pikiao, Ngāti Tūwharetoa), who was a judge of the 2023 awards, will convene the English and bilingual panel in 2024. She is joined by literacy teacher Belinda Whyte of Levin, Dorothy Butler Children’s Bookshop co-owner Helen Wadsworth of Tāmaki Makaurau, bestselling author and publisher Kitty Brown (Kāi Tahu, Waitaha, Kāti Mamoe, Ngāti Kahungunu) of Ōtepoti, and award-winning illustrator, author and artist Mat Tait (Ngāti Apa ki te Rā Tō, Rangitāne o Wairau, Ngāti Kuia), who is based in the Motueka area. Mat was the Margaret Mahy Book of the Year winner at the 2023 New Zealand Book Awards for Children and Young Adults, and will bring his knowledge of te ao Māori and te reo Māori to both the English/bilingual and Te Kura Pounamu judging panels. Maia says she was delighted to be asked to return as convenor this year. “It is such a privilege to be part of this important mahi celebrating our local literature for children and young adults. This year’s panel of judges bring a wide range of expertise and experiences in a variety of fields, while sharing a passion for books and reading,” she says. “We look forward to the collaboration and spirited discussion that will no doubt ensue as we deliberate to collectively determine the very best children’s books from a highly competitive and innovative field of entries.” The panel judging the Wright Family Foundation Te Kura Pounamu Award for books written or translated into te reo Māori will be convened in 2024 by experienced librarian Lawren Matrix (Tūhoe), who is the Whānau Learning Specialist for Auckland Council Libraries. In addition to Mat Tait, she is joined by kaitiaki pukapuka Mihi Te Rina Henare (Ngāti Hine, Ngāti Porou, Te Whānau-ā-Apanui), who works at Archives New Zealand in Tāmaki Makaurau, and support teacher and entrepreneur Quintin Te Maari (Ngāti Porou, Tūhoe, Ngāti Kahungunu ki Wairarapa). “This year’s kaiwhiriwhiri for Te Kura Pounamu award offer a breadth of skills, knowledge of te ao Māori, and belief in the importance of reading for literacy,” says Lawren. “We come from various backgrounds in arts, education, information management and business, which will bring a depth and richness to the judging process. Mihi Te Rina and I have had the privilege of serving on this panel previously, and we welcome Mat and Quintin into the space. I look forward to working alongside these talented fellow judges, who all share my passion for our culture and reo, and for books.” The 2024 judges will read and appraise an expected 160 or more entries in six categories: Picture Book, Junior Fiction (the Wright Family Foundation Esther Glen Award), Young Adult Fiction, Non-Fiction (the Elsie Locke Award), Illustration (the Russell Clark Award) and te reo Māori (the Wright Family Foundation Te Kura Pounamu Award). They will select up to five finalists in each category, as well as up to five finalists for the NZSA Best First Book Award, and then a winner in each category. The overall winner, the Margaret Mahy Book of the Year, will be decided by both panels from the six main category winners. Submissions for the 2024 awards are open to books published between 1 April 2023 and 31 March 2024. The first deadline, for books published up to 30 November 2023, is Wednesday 13 December 2023. Entries for books published between 1 December 2023 and 31 March 2024 will be accepted from Thursday 14 December. More details about how to enter can be found here: http://www.nzbookawards.nz/new-zealand-book-awards-for-children-and-young-adults/how-to-enter/ Category finalists will be announced on 6 June 2024 and the awards ceremony will be held in Wellington in mid-August 2024, preceded by a programme of finalist author events under the Books Alive banner. The New Zealand Book Awards for Children and Young Adults are governed by the New Zealand Book Awards Trust Te Ohu Tiaki i Te Rau Hiringa. They are made possible through the generosity, commitment and vision of funders and sponsors Creative New Zealand, HELL Pizza, Wright Family Foundation, LIANZA Te Rau Herenga o Aotearoa, Wellington City Council, The New Zealand Society of Authors Te Puni Kaituhi o Aotearoa, and Nielsen BookData. For more information about the 2024 judges, see below or go here: http://www.nzbookawards.nz/new-zealand-book-awards-for-children-and-young-adults/2024-awards/judges/ Any queries about the New Zealand Book Awards for Children and Young Adults should be directed to Awards Administrator Joy Sellen at [email protected]. Social Media Links Website: www.nzbookawards.nz/new-zealand-book-awards-for-children-and-young-adults/ Facebook: NewZealandCYABookAwards Instagram: nzcya_awards X (formerly Twitter): nzcya TikTok: nzcya_awards YouTube: bit.ly/YouTube-NZCYA Hashtags: #NZCYA #BooksAlive 2024 JUDGES Convenor of judges Maia Bennett (Ngāti Kahungunu, Ngāti Whakaue, Ngāti Pikiao, Ngāti Tūwharetoa) is a secondary school and public librarian in Wānaka. A lifelong library lover, Maia’s professional path has traversed information technology, academic research and early childhood education, with all roads leading to librarianship. Knowing the vital role of school libraries in fostering literacy and wellbeing, Maia strives to provide a diverse and inclusive collection of books so students can see themselves and learn about others. Maia was a judge of the 2023 New Zealand Book Awards for Children and Young Adults. Belinda Whyte is the Resource Teacher of Literacy for the Horowhenua region, based in Levin, a job that allows her to indulge her passion for books while supporting young students on their literacy learning journey. Belinda is national secretary of the New Zealand Literacy Association, and as president of the Manawatū chapter she was instrumental in organising a Reading for Pleasure Festival in Palmerston North in 2023. Belinda recently completed a Master of Education that centred on students’ online book discussions. Helen Wadsworth has co-owned and managed The Dorothy Butler Children’s Bookshop in Tāmaki Makaurau for the last eight years. Her roles at the shop include book buying, marketing and of course recommending books to customers. Helen has read thousands of books, from many genres, for children of all ages. She particularly loves the familiarity of books set in Aotearoa by local writers and illustrators. Kitty Brown (Kāi Tahu, Waitaha, Kāti Mamoe, Ngāti Kahungunu) is a māmā, an award-winning author and an avid reader of children's literature from Ōtepoti. Her successful publishing partnership Reo Pēpi has 10 bestselling bilingual children's titles. Professionally Kitty is focused on elevating Kāi Tahu culture and te ao Māori in her community across diverse storytelling mediums including events, architecture, film and visual art. In 2023 she was Festival Director for the Dunedin Writers & Readers Festival. Ko Kurahaupō te waka i kawe ai i ōku tupuna ki Aotearoa, nō tāwhiti rā anō. Mat Tait (Ngāti Apa ki te Rā Tō, Rangitāne o Wairau, Ngāti Kuia) is a freelance artist, illustrator, writer and te reo Māori tutor based in the Motueka area. With a Bachelor in Fine Art in painting from Ilam School of Arts, his illustrations and comics work reflect a longstanding interest in pūrākau, mythology and local history. Mat won the Elsie Locke Non-Fiction Award and the Margaret Mahy Book of the Year at the 2023 New Zealand Book Awards for Children and Young Adults for Te Wehenga. Mat will bring his knowledge of te ao Māori and te reo Māori to both the English language and Te Kura Pounamu judging panels. Ko te Tāhūhū o Haokitaha te Mauna, Ko Ōhinemataroa te Awa, Ko Mārini-a-wai te Kōawa, Ko Te Papakaina te Marae, Ko Nāti Koura te Hapū, Ko Tūhoe te iwi. He tanata ō Nāti Koura tēnei e kirikawa ki te Rākau. Convenor of Te Kura Pounamu award panel for 2024 Lawren Matrix (Tūhoe) is the Whānau Learning Specialist for Auckland Council Libraries. A lifelong lover of libraries, cultivator of knowledge and advocate for the power of storytelling, Lawren has dedicated her career to advancing literacy, social and academic outcomes for Māori – a nod to her upbringing in Kawerau and schooling at St Joseph’s Māori Girls’ College. Lawren has a Bachelor of Māori Education from Te Wānanga o Awanuiārangi. She previously judged Te Kura Pounamu award in 2016. Nō ngā Pukepuke Rau o Ngāti Hine a Mihi Te Rina, heoi, i tupu ake i ngā rekereke o ngā tini iwi o te rohe o Tāmaki Makaurau. Mihi Te Rina Henare (Ngāti Hine, Ngāti Porou, Te Whānau-ā-Apanui) is an Assistant Support Archivist at Archives New Zealand in Tāmaki Makaurau. A raukura of Te Aho Matua, with a Bachelor of Library and Information Studies, she has a passion for te reo Māori me ōna tikanga, and is excited about the future of pukapuka Māori and a landscape that will encourage more Māori to become writers and storytellers. Mihi Te Rina was a judge on the 2023 Te Kura Pounamu panel. He uri tēnei nō Ngāti Porou, Tūhoe, nō Ngāti Kahungunu ki Wairarapa anō hoki. Quintin Te Maari (Ngāti Porou, Tūhoe, Ngāti Kahungunu ki Wairarapa) is undertaking a teaching degree through Te Wānanga Takiura o ngā Kura Kaupapa Māori o Aotearoa. He is a raukura of Ngā Kura-ā-iwi, and has a deep passion for storytelling and literature. Quintin has served as Cultural Lead at the Manurewa Youth Council and as a Youth MP for Youth Parliament 2022. He is the co-founder of Tukuna, a company using QR-coded technology to enhance Māori education, which he set up through the Young Enterprise Scheme.
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 Thank you to everyone who participated in the 2023 Softlink Aotearoa New Zealand School Library Survey.
The 2023 the Softlink School Library Survey was released September 11 and closed November 3. Invitations to participate were extended to all schools in Aotearoa New Zealand via email, X (formerly known as Twitter), LinkedIn and promoted by a number of our partners, associates, and school library groups. Some preliminary findings are available below. The full report is due to be released in early 2024. 2023 School Library Survey Aotearoa New Zealand – preliminary findings – Softlink (softlinkint.com) The School Library Association of New Zealand Aotearoa, together with National Library Services to Schools, are undertaking a research project to provide evidence of the value and impact of school libraries, particularly on literacy for young people in Aotearoa New Zealand. The research will:
The next update for this project is due January 2024. We are delighted to share with you next years SLANZA Wall Planner. We would like to acknowledge the businesses and organisations who have generously sponsored the development and printing of this stunning resource. SLANZA members are able to receive an A2 printed copy from their SLANZA National Executive Regional Representative. Please make contact with them to arrange this. This resource has once again been created with award-winning illustrator Paul Beavis to include the Aotearoa New Zealand public holidays, school terms and many school library related awareness dates that could be helpful to school library teams as they plan the year ahead. You can find out more and download this resource here.   Our annual survey of Aotearoa New Zealand's school libraries is open again. The annual surveys are a project that began in 2018 with partners National Library of New Zealand and Library and Information Association of New Zealand Aotearoa (LIANZA), with reports on the data spanning 5 years – and growing! The information that you provide gives us insights that help us prioritise, plan, and deliver our services. It’s also very valuable information to HELP US – and YOU! – advocate for school libraries and your role. Over the years, NLNZ Services to Schools have been able to provide information that school library staff have used to successfully advocate for improved staff hours and collection budgets. It’s important that we continue collecting and sharing this information, and that we have as many responses as possible, to build a comprehensive understanding of the valuable role of school libraries and the people who work in them. The survey's easy to complete, and you can choose which sections you’ll answer. This year we’ve provided more flexibility for school library staff about which questions you’ll see in the survey – but we still encourage you to complete as many as you can! The 2023 survey asks about:
- your job as a library staff member specifically - your current and future employment - your expertise, qualifications and professional memberships - and ongoing professional development and support in your role
- future changes to your collection - collection development funding levels and sources. Click here to find out more and start the survey   During April 2023 we held a ‘discussion’ event in our Facebook Connected Community Group - What is book banning? Has it arrived in Aotearoa and what can we do about it? An online discussion. Whilst SLANZA doesn’t believe that ‘book banning’ is prevalent in Aotearoa New Zealand we are nonetheless concerned that this serious matter is quickly developing overseas and about the increasing media around this topic. We are mindful that we need to be ready in case these types of challenges increase in the wider library sector here in Aotearoa New Zealand. Here are the articles, links and resources shared during our discussion in April together with more recent articles: Useful resources:
Further reading:
 Questions prepared by LIANZA and SLANZA were sent to New Zealand political parties to answer before the election in October 2023. They included key questions for the sector. We have showcased the school library specific questions and responses below.
You can read all the questions relating to the wider library sector here: 2023 Election questions for library and information sector Equitable access to school libraries There is no requirement or specialised funding for schools in Aotearoa New Zealand to provide library spaces, services or staff. This means most students don’t have access to a school library run by a school librarian, even though only 64.6 percent of 15-year-olds in Aotearoa New Zealand have basic proficiency in reading and maths (UNICEF, 2020), and “reading for pleasure is the single biggest indicator of a child’s future success, more than family circumstances, parents’ educational background or income” (OECD, 2002). A survey of all Aotearoa New Zealand schools highlighted that a library is essential for promoting and supporting reading for pleasure, achieving literacy standards, strengthening inquiry learning and teaching and enhancing students’ social and emotional learning and well-being (National Library of New Zealand, n.d.). What will your party do to address the inequitable access of Aotearoa New Zealand primary and secondary students to a school library staffed by a qualified librarian? The Green Party Libraries are a crucial part of school communities and foster curiosity and ideas in the minds of Aotearoa’s future generations. The Green Party is committed to ensuring Aotearoa’s schools, both primary and secondary, have access to a school library staffed by a qualified librarian. We support adequate and targeted funding so primary and secondary students have access to library services. The ACT Party ACT shares the horror at collapsing literacy standards in New Zealand. ACT’s solution is to have equity-based funding per student to attend the schools they and their parents want. It should be for individual schools and their boards to make decisions on what is best for their school. The Labour Party We recognise the important work of school librarians and library assistants and that is why as a Government we agreed to a historic pay equity settlement signed in March this year. For school librarians and library assistants, the new pay equity rates will see them receive average pay increases of approximately 10 to 38 percent. Perhaps even more important is the message this settlement sends when you look beyond pay, as it raises the mana of these roles. Despite the benefits of school libraries and librarians, it is important that schools have the flexibility to decide the best use of their resources, to respond to their particular needs, community aspirations and circumstances. These vary greatly. This variability of needs and priorities is why boards have discretion over how they use their operational funding, the people they employ, and the mix of teaching, library and non-teaching spaces. All schools receive resourcing, including for buildings, that can be used to provide a library space, and Ministry of Education data shows most schools have some kind of library or library collection. But mandating the use of space for a library would be a significant departure from how the system currently works. Consistency of resources is not necessarily as important as having the right resources for each school, to best support students to be present, participating and making progress. For example, a very small school may be better to partner with a community library than incur the significant fixed costs associated with having its own library. With a big increase in equity funding this year, and better targeting of that funding, there may well be schools that are now able to invest more in their libraries in ways that help overcome socio-economic barriers to participation and achievement. The National Party Falling literacy rates across the country is one of the key focusses for the National Party, and this has led to the Teaching the Basics Brilliantly policy, which calls for at least one hour of reading, writing and maths every day. Erica and the National Party agree that we need to foster reading in schools as this is the clearest indicator of success for students. It is a concern that students do not have equal access to libraries and books and this is an area that Erica and the National Party would look into if elected. Undoubtedly having access to libraries and librarians is part of the solution for lifting literacy rates across the country. While the National Party are not in the position to make any definitive statements of policy at this stage, this is an area that they will be carefully reviewing and appreciate the information around the benefits of libraries and qualified librarians.  Take part in the 2023 Softlink School Library survey! #2023SLS. The Survey is your opportunity to have a say on the trends and issues facing school libraries and is open to all schools in Aotearoa New Zealand. Survey closes 20 Oct, 2023. Go to survey or learn more
https://www.softlinkint.com/blog/2023-school-library-survey-australia-and-new-zealand/  It is with pleasure that we introduce our new Manukura (President), Claudine Crabtree. You may know Claudine as the Tāmaki Makaurau/Auckland National executive representative. She has held this role for two years. Below is an introductory speech that Claudine presented at our AGM: Ko Maunga-taniwha te maunga Ko Tapapa te awa Ko Ngātoki-mata-whau-roa te waka Ko Ngāpuhi te iwi Ko Te Uri Mahoe te hapū Ko Mangamuka te marae Ko Otene te whanau Ko Claudine Crabtree takou ingoa. Just in case you are wondering who I am and what on earth I’m doing here I thought I would briefly fill you in... I live and work in Auckland, I’m married to Nick and we have 2 boys, Sam 19 and Ben 14, a dog called Phoebe and 2 cats. Apart from books and reading, I am an admirer of fashion, I love shopping and I love dancing. I started my working life in the corporate world as an E.A. or Executive Assistant to company CEO’s and MD’s. I took time off to travel with my husband who was sailing professionally so we lived overseas for a few years before returning to Aotearoa to have our 2 boys. With my husband's role in the sailing industry we moved to the UK in 2010 and in 2014 I started working at the Junior school my son was at in the library. I loved it and knew I had finally found my “thing”. Libraries and books have always been my happy place, so connecting young people to these is a dream come true for me. Currently I am Library Manager at Baradene College in Auckland. I think I have the best job in the whole world. I think being a school librarian is one of the most important jobs in education. And I want everyone else – pupils, parents, principals, politicians and the press to know that too, and to know the value and importance of school librarians and libraries in schools.  This is why I joined SLANZA, why I volunteered to take on a National Executive role 2 years ago and why I put my hand up to become President. SLANZA started over 20 years ago and there have been many Presidents and N.E. members in that time – to all those volunteers for your time, effort, dedication, passion, tears and laughter (hopefully!) we acknowledge and appreciate we are here today because of you. We have an amazing N.E. team who volunteer their wealth of knowledge, experience, insight and passion for school libraries and librarians. Thank you to Sasha Eastwood for your mahi, leadership and passion. So much has been achieved and gained with you as President. Huge thanks and appreciation to Julia Smith (Te Tai Tokerau), Trena Lile (new for Tamaki Makaurau Auckland), Leonie Grigsby (new for Waikato Bay of Plenty), Clare Forrest (Wellington), Sally Brown (Aoraki), Lauryn Urqhart-Eaton (new for Otago), Kirsty Adam (Southland), and Sarah Stretch who joined us in September last year as our National Administrator. I am grateful and proud to be a part of this team and to lead SLANZA into this next chapter. And just a final thought – a quote I love about school libraries:  And we could all do with a little madness from time to time. Happy reading and please get in touch if you have any ideas, questions, comments or feedback for us. Nō reira, tēnā koutou, tēnā koutou, tēnā koutou katoa Immediate Past President
We wish to acknowledge Sasha Eastwood who made a massive contribution to SLANZA in her tenure as President, selflessly heading and working on multiple projects to strengthen SLANZA and support school librarians and school libraries throughout Aotearoa. Three examples of her biggest achievements include the NZEI Pay Equity Campaign, building relationships and opportunities through the New Zealand Libraries Partnership Programme, strategic partnerships with library sector stakeholders, and the Governance Review. As immediate Past President, Sasha has taken on the lead in the SLANZA Research Project. Her commitment and dedication to SLANZA is truly inspiring and we are indeed fortunate to have her level of knowledge and experience. |
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