FROM THE PRESIDENT

NĀ TE TUMUAKI

Kōrero o te Tumuaki, Te Rau Herenga o Aotearoa

E ngā kaihoe o tō tatou waka, tēnā koutou

As I write this column, I am emerging from a period of self-isolation as a household contact. Relatively unscathed I somewhat wickedly remarked to a friend that all my practice to stay as far away as possible from my husband has finally paid off! All joking aside, I hope that the wave of Omicron in the community has not affected too many of you and that your friends and whānau are also well. There is no doubt that the impact of COVID is beginning to be felt in my workplace. In addition to the normal autumn ills and chills, and the number of vacancies we are carrying, absences of staff due to COVID creates something of a perfect storm. Life seems like a perpetual juggle of available staffing to ensure as many libraries as possible are open for as many hours as possible for our communities. I know that we are not alone in this and there are times when it is hard not to be a bit down and over it.

I imagine that we are all by turns outraged, worried, and immensely sad regarding the current situation in Ukraine. But it is heartening to once again see the critical role that libraries are playing to support those affected by these events.

On a brighter note, we recently held the first LIANZA annual hui, which included participants from LIANZA Council, Te Rōpū Whakahau, and LIANZA standing, regional and special interest committees. The hui was facilitated by Brendan Fitzgerald to develop and strengthen connections and communication within LIANZA, for a futurefocussed ’whole association’ view. Strategic priorities identified will be shared as part of our broader collaboration at the GLAMMIR hui in April. Interesting questions which surfaced during the hui included: what legacy do we leave and what do we stop doing so we can think about the future?

Also, on the theme of broader collaboration, Ana Pickering, Kim Taunga and I met recently with our counterparts in the Singapore and Australian library associations, to share and to identify opportunities for future collaboration. This was the first of a series of regular hui with the three associations. I look forward to what we can accomplish together.

LIANZA event statistics were presented at the LIANZA Council meeting, and it is very pleasing to see that both the number of events (including those run by our regions and special interest groups) and the number of attendees, continue to increase. This is a testimony to both the quality and the relevance of the offerings to our members, as well as the ease of attending in the online environment. One example is the recent webinar on coping with aggressive and anxious library users, which was attended by over fifty people. Feedback indicated that it was a very interesting offering with lots of great advice. If you missed this webinar it is available on our Youtube channel.

I had the pleasure last week of welcoming the 2022 cohort of the LIANZA Evaluation and Impact programme who appeared to be keen as mustard to hone their skills and gain confidence and capability in evaluation research in order to tell ‘the story’ of their library’s services and programmes. They can also share their learning and support their colleagues in a community of learning.

I will be attending an NZLPP workshop this week which also has a focus on data, research, and evidence. The workshop will focus on developing a vision for how information can support articulating the value of libraries and evidence-based decisionmaking. The aim is to develop a strategy for the library and information sector for collecting, managing, and using information for this purpose.

So, although these are challenging, worrying, and tiring times they also provide us with the impetus and opportunity to connect, support, and work together, to approach our lives and our work with flexibility and creativity. We are all working extremely hard to ensure the continuance of our business as usual. But it is critical that we lift our heads and ask ourselves: What is the legacy we wish to leave, and what can we stop doing so we can think about the future?

Whāia te iti kahurangi ki te tūohu koe me he maunga teitei.

Seek the treasure you value most dearly: if you bow your head, let it be to a lofty mountain.