CAREER PATHWAYS
SULIANA VEA
IN THIS COLUMN, WE INTERVIEW LIBRARY
AND INFORMATION PROFESSIONALS. WE FIND OUT HOW THEY GOT TO THEIR CURRENT ROLE, WHAT THEY DO IN THAT ROLE AND ASK THEM ANY ADVICE THEY HAVE FOR STUDENTS OR NEW PROFESSIONALS.
IN THIS ISSUE WE TALK WITH SULIANA VEA. SHE WORKS AS RESEARCH LIBRARIAN, PACIFIC IN THE RESEARCH ENQUIRIES TEAM AT THE ALEXANDER TURNBULL Q
LIBRARY IN WELLINGTON. WHY DON’T YOU START BY TELLING US A LITTLE
A
BIT ABOUT YOURSELF? Tēnā koutou i ngā āhuatanga o te wā
Ko Kalia te waka Ko Tangi-te-keo te maunga Ko Te Moana-nui-a-kiwa te moana
Ko Te Awa-kairangi te awa
Ko Faleloa raua ko ‘Ahau raua ko Kolomotu’a raua ko Lotofoa raua ko Kanokupolu te iwi
Ko Pipitea te marae
Nō Te Whanganui-a-tara ahau
I tipu ake ahau kei Miramar
E noho ana ahau kei Newlands
Ko Suliana Vea tōku ingoa
Ko te Kaitiaki Pukapuka Rangahau, Pasifika tōku tūranga mahi
Tēnā koutou katoa
Mālō e lelei! My name is Suliana Vea and I am a first generation New Zealand born Tongan with matrilineal links to ‘Ahau and Kolomotu’a and patrilineal links to Faleloa, Lotofoa and Kanokupolu.
I was born and bred here in Te-whanganui-a-tara spending much of my youth in Miramar before making the move in my last year of high school to the North, to where we now call home – Newlands. I attended Wellington Girls’ College and I am the only one out of my siblings that did not take up the opportunity to live in Tonga and experience going to high school over there which I sometimes regret but life goes on right? I went to Victoria University of Wellington and did my undergrad in Pacific Studies and Information Systems, Honors in Pacific Studies and then the Master of Information Studies programme.
WHAT DOES A DAY LOOK LIKE IN YOUR ROLE?
I could be working on the desk out in one of our two reading rooms. This is where we mostly deal with visitors to the library wanting to view items from the collection or who need help with their research enquiries and the other services we provide, such as use of our computers, access to the internet, printing, and photocopying. I can get called out to the reading room to help someone with a Pacific enquiry. If we have a group coming in for a tour of the library or a research visit, I may be preparing for that, gathering collection items for them to view depending on the topic they wish to explore. We have an Ask-a-librarian service on our website (https://natlib. govt.nz/questions/new) where most Pacific research enquiries are allocated to me. I also get general enquiries as well to work on. If there are Pacific-related events happening, I could be preparing something for that, for example Pacific Languages Week. If there is anything involving the Pacific collections and collaborating with others, then that would also be my work.
WAS THIS THE CAREER YOU ALWAYS INTENDED TO GO INTO?
I did not know what career I wanted to get into. I went into university with an open mind and chose papers out of interest. It was not until I was doing a Pacific Studies honours paper where we had David Kukutai Jones (DJ) as a guest lecturer that the idea of becoming a librarian came about. He, along with my lecturer at the time – the late Dr Teresia Teaiwa, encouraged me to get into the library sector as it was an area that needed more Pasifika. I was meant to
do an internship with DJ but ended up working with Nicola Frean and the archival material in the J. C. Beaglehole Room. This got me more interested in archives than the library itself. It lead me to enroll in the MIS programme the following year which I then completed. I went to live in Perth for a year after graduating, then came back and got a part time role as a librarian at Aotea College for a couple of years. When my current role was advertised, I knew I had to go for it and I have been here for almost two years.
WE ALL HAD AN IDEA OF WHAT A LIBRARIAN IS OR DOES WHEN WE WERE YOUNGER, WHAT WAS YOURS?
I loved the librarians at the Miramar Public Library, and I remember one in particular – Paula I think her name was. She was always so nice and lovely to us sometimes unruly kids (haha). So, my idea of what a librarian did was just through observing her. She would issue and return books, shelve them, and run school holiday programs. When I was younger, I was always reading, and we were always at the library. But I did not really think I would become a librarian.
ANY CAREER HIGHLIGHTS YOU’D LIKE TO SHARE WITH US?
Working with the Digitalpasifik team (https://digitalpasifik. org/) on webinars to highlight our Pacific collection items was a highlight for me. Also writing on the history of Pasifika people in Aotearoa for our recently released book Te Kupenga 101 stories of Aotearoa from the Turnbull – be sure to check it out!
DO YOU HAVE ANY ADVICE FOR THOSE WHO ARE CURRENTLY FINISHING THEIR LIS QUALIFICATION/ DEGREE? WHO WOULD YOU SAY IS ONE OF THE MOST INFLUENTIAL LIBRARIANS OR SECTOR PEOPLE TO YOU OR YOUR CAREER?
digitalpasifik.org/)
IF YOU COULD RECOMMEND ONLY ONE BOOK TO SOMEONE, WHAT WOULD IT BE?