Welcome to the 2016 school year

I do hope you’ve been able to have a restful break over the summer, and are now looking forward to the day-to-day business of working with students and staff in your school in what I am sure will be a busy and interesting year.

First some good news: Karen Clarke has been elected unopposed (no other nominations were received) to the position of President Elect. Karen was nominated by the National Executive, and brings to the role a great deal of experience and passion for working on behalf of all school library staff. Karen has served many years on the National Executive, including most recently acting as SLANZA’s treasurer. We know she has the best interests of you all, and our organisation, at heart and will do a fabulous job of leading SLANZA when she takes on the role of President from July of this year.

In other news:

• The results of our 2015 Reading Survey have been collated by Trish Webster, and shared with you via the School Library Email List. The information is also available on our Reading website, along with the 2014 results.
• Last week I signed SLANZA’s attestation in support of  the application to NZQA for the revised sub-degree level Information and Library Studies qualifications to be listed on the qualifications framework.
• 2016 SLANZA membership invoices have been sent via email. If you have not received an invoice and you were a current member as at the end of 2015, please get in touch with Jacky Reid ([email protected]). If you are not yet a SLANZA member, you can find the membership application on our website here.
• Your regional committees will let you know about upcoming events in your region. Help organising these events is always welcome - please get in touch with your local representative if you’d like to be involved, or find out about joining a committee. Contact details are on our website here. We must also thank Book Protection Products for their ongoing support of our Professional Development events.

Wishing you all the best for this term,

Miriam Tuohy
President