FROM THE PRESIDENT
NĀ TE TUMUAKI
Kia ora, Fakaalofa lahi atu, Kia orana, Ko na mauri, Mālō e lelei, Mālō ni, Ni sa bula, Tālofa, Talofa lava, warm Pacific greetings.
I am so proud to be part of an organisation that delivered an inspiring and engaging professional conference in Manakau last month. The theme ‘Our families, our communities, our libraries – Nāu te rourou nāku te rourou’ was beautifully woven through the very fabric of the conference, from the Tongan dancers who started each day for us, to the Samoan waiata we sang for every keynote and the brilliant spoken word performances by the young and vibrant South Auckland poets. Congratulations to the LIANZA Pasifika Information Management Network (PIMN) who formed the conference committee, the Programmes Committee and, of course, our fabulous LIANZA Office team for putting together such an outstanding event.
I came away from the conference energised, inspired and reconnected to my professional colleagues. I was overwhelmed by the level of commitment and generosity demonstrated by the LIANZA community. The conference was a living illustration of the power of working together to achieve something fantastic. In my President’s speech I focused on talking about the strength of working together and that #WEARELIANZA.
What I mean by #WEARELIANZA is that LIANZA is not only individual and institutional members, it is the wider library community and all the associated organisations that share common goals, organisations like Te Rōpū Whakahau,
Public Libraries NZ, School Library Association New Zealand Aotearoa, Archives and Records Association, CONZUL etc. I strongly believe that we should be working together to amplify and enhance the work that each other does and that by doing this we can achieve more than we could working in isolation.
LIANZA has a strategic objective – Connect – and the outcome we are working towards is having strong connections across the GLAM sector. We are proactively engaging with other library and GLAM associations to identify areas of collaboration.
LIANZA’S strategic plan and the work that is underway is available via this link.
A significant moment for me during the conference was the milestone in relation to LIANZA’S partnership agreement with Te Rōpū Whakahau. The partnership agreement is renewed every year at our Annual General Meeting, and this year, Anahera Sadler, Te Rōpū Whakahau, Tumuaki and I signed the 25th annual agreement. A quarter of a century of working together in partnership is something very special, the work and vision of those involved 25 years ago to set this up is to be commended.
My last takeaway from the conference came from Dr Selina Tusitala Marsh one of our conference keynote speakers. Selina shared her story Mophead with us. It is a story of trying to fit in and ultimately learning to embrace what made her different and stand up for that difference that distinguished her from the crowd. She challenged conference attendees to explore and embrace what made them different. I took on Selina’s challenge and let my own mophead go free at the conference dinner instead of tying it back tightly as I usually do.
I am already looking forward to our next conference to be held in 2021. Please look for ways to get involved and experience the connection and learning that comes from helping to create and deliver a top-class professional conference.
Rachel Esson President