Collected #32 by School Library Association of New Zealand Aotearoa

ISSN 1179–8548

All about books

Collected Magazine // www.slanza.org.nz

Editorial

Regular

Editor’s Report

NZEI Te Rui Roa Update

President’s Report

Contains Graphic Content

Regional Reports

Book Reviews

Feature Articles 12

The Daley Dose

Business Member Contributions

Books Back Better

Accessit – What About the Books?

All About Books

One Tree House – New From One Tree House

SLANZA Study Grant Recipient 17

Reading Ambassadors 18

The English Department Reading Lists of Aotearoa, Investigated and Reviewed 22

Reading For Pleasure 24

Maungaraki New School-Public Library Partnership 26

Showcasing Our Best Books of the Year 28

Books About Books

Collected Magazine // www.slanza.org.nz

issue 32/2023 EDITORIAL

This issue of Collected we welcome our new SLANZA President and Manukura, Claudine Crabtree who is passionate about all things libraries, books, te reo, family, and her pets. Claudine will no doubt continue to lead and encourage the mahi for SLANZA with great enthusiasm and strength (and I won’t hold it against her for mentioning her cats in brackets!) We also owe immense gratitude to Sasha Eastwood, our past president, who has worked tirelessly during her time as president, and continues to do so as a member of SLANZA NE. Thank you so much Sasha, you’re a true inspiration – especially to this editor. What is your favourite book? Until about a month ago my answer to this question was “How can I have a favourite book? It’s like admitting to having a favourite child.” That was until I went to Central Conference (shout out to the fabulous team who put that weekend together!) and met the great Allan Dingley, our current Te Awhi Rito Reading Ambassador. In his keynote address, among many other wonderful things, Allan expounded on the importance of having a favourite book and sharing that book with anyone and everyone, because in doing so you make connections in your libraries, your workplace, and your world. Earlier this year I made a ‘Staff favourites’ display in my library with pictures of staff and our favourite books…mine said “Librarians don’t have favourites! I love all books.” (Even though I really HATE some of them.) Have I stunted my connections? Colour me convicted Allan! This edition of Collected is perfectly timed, being ‘All about the Books’ and will give you much food for thought.

When we think libraries, we think community and connection, they are a destination for our students, but what are they without a curated collection of books? Angela has written about Maungaraki School and community who have worked together to make this happen in their new facility which has resulted in a wonderful space which has filled a need for the entire community. Another need in a community was filled by Leonie and the Books Back Better team who are so thankful to all who donated to the schools affected by Cyclone Gabrielle. It’s so wonderful seeing communities brought together by books, and the best thing is that these donations will enable schools to choose books that are suitable for their own libraries. Michelle Coombridge is definitely a proponent of curation; she sees school librarians as our own schools’ reading ambassadors and therefore experts in curating libraries with diverse and inclusive collections. I’m 100 percent on your bandwagon Michelle! And I agree with Claudine’s article about Megan Daley who says that librarians meet and see every student in the school, this means we know our children and what they actually want to read, we are the ones that can achieve Penny Walch’s ‘non-technical’ term, the “Ahhhh moment” and can connect children with a range of books they might not otherwise see, as Michelle Simms is striving to do in her library. Jennifer Smith’s article about English texts is worth your time. We don’t want English texts to be the only thing our students are reading in a whole school year, as we know that most students find them boring. I challenge you to turn them into a world of discovery for students, I have been working on filling my library with graphic novel adaptions of English texts and more contemporary novels with similar themes which are actually beginning to entice my readers…I’m tentatively celebrating! The English department are not the only ones who think ‘this literature is worthy of your

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attention’. We have the responsibility and privilege to provide our ākonga with books that not only entertain, but provide windows so that they can safely walk into new worlds, and mirrors that will strengthen their identities right down to their very souls. To wind down, Claudine has given us a refreshing dive into her favourite books about books. If you don’t already have a favourite book, might I suggest a delve, I will be! Wishing you all a well-deserved rest and plenty of time to immerse yourselves in some great books over the summer holidays. Once again, thank you to all who have contributed to this issue, those who have submitted articles, proof-readers, our graphic designer and especially our business members, without their support, we would not be able to publish this magazine. Lauryn Urquhart-Eaton Editor, Collected Magazine

President's’ Column COLLECTED 32 He waka eke noa (A canoe which we are all in) Ko Maungataniwha te Maunga Ko Hokianga te Moana Ko Mangamuka te Awa Ko Ngatokimatawhauroa te Waka Ko Ngapuhi te Iwi Ko Te Uri Kopura Te Hapu Ko Puhi Moana Ariki Te Marae Ko Otene Toku Whanau Kia ora kotou Welcome to my first Column in Collected since becoming Manukura and the first Māori President of SLANZA. My role is primarily to preside over meetings, represent SLANZA at a national level and to related businesses and organisations, and be an active working member of the National Executive for a period of up to two years. I look forward to bringing mine to my time as Manukura and working with you all in support of everything we strive for to empower and support school libraries in Aotearoa. I recently came across an article in SCIS from 2000 reporting on the launch of SLANZA. Jill Stotler was the first President and she put the challenge out to “work on ways of increasing Māori, Pacific Island and male representation” within our organization. She also said, “A major purpose of SLANZA will be to give school libraries a profile and a voice, not only within their own school community, but out into the wider community.” Both these goals remain as important to us now as they were then. We hope the SLANZA/LIANZA Tertiary Grants Project will improve the diverse and inclusive representation in our sector and our organisation. This is a current focus, and

we are in the process of trying to raise awareness and encourage school librarians to apply for this significant funding. For more on this go to: www.librariesaotearoa.org.nz/ grants-for-library-qualifications. A positive boost in terms of giving school libraries a voice has been the recent article published in the New Zealand Listener “Bring to books” by Paul Little. This included some shocking statistics including SLANZA’s estimate that 900 schools don’t have a library, that a school where Jan Tinetti (current Minister of Education) was Principal doesn’t even have a school library, and that just 59 schools have a full-time librarian. The article has had a significant effect, boosting SLANZA’s profile and raising the issues school librarians and libraries are facing. It has generated an on-air editorial on Newstalk ZB and lots of talk amongst parents, teachers, principals and in some cases politicians – so watch this space! If you need help advocating, including links to articles, research and reports go to the Advocacy page on the SLANZA website. Feel free to email me with anything else you think we should include for the benefit of all our members at president@slanza.org.nz. In case you are wondering what the National Executive have been up to since the last issue of Collected check out the Regional Reports from: Te Tai Tokerau | Julia Smith Tamaki Makaurau | Trena Lile Waikato BOP | Leonie Grigsby Central | Sasha Eastwood - Immediate Past-President Wellington | Clare Forrest Akaroa | Sally Brown - Treasurer Otago | Lauryn Urquhart Southland | Kirsty Adam

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Sarah Stretch is our wonderful National Administrator helping us run SLANZA and working closely with myself and Sally Brown, our Treasurer. The National Executive meets once a month online to catch up on where we are all at with tasks and projects we are working on. We each have specific roles and responsibilities, as well as working on our Regional Committees. We are in contact day-to-day via email and Teams regarding communications to our members, making decisions, sharing information, maintaining our membership database, keeping an eye on finances and keeping up with what is happening in the sector. Apart from our monthly meetings we meet twice a year face-to-face. This is when we get together for two days as Governing Body and Management. As a Governing Body we are responsible for where the organization is going, why it’s going there, what it will accomplish, and when. Management focuses on how we are going to get there, how much it will cost and who is going to do it. As a team the National Executive reviews the Constitution, Vision and Mission Statements, the Strategic and Annual Plan, our roles and responsibilities, the work plan and projects we are currently working on.

Our most recent face-to-face was in Palmerston North after the upcoming ¬Regional Conference – the first one in several years. The National Executive were all super excited to have an opportunity to be with some of our members from around the motu face-to-face. Sasha Eastwood and the Central Conference Organising Team worked extremely hard to put it all together and gave us an amazing opportunity to be together, to share, to listen and to learn from each other.

It is the people, it is the people, it is the people

We need more members to join our Regional Committees and Ohu (working groups) which are currently being set up. Join an Ohu and help us do better, be better and reach our goals. We can’t do this without you. There are 10 of us on the National Executive and nearly 600 of you, so please help!

I have been a school librarian for nearly 10 years, following time out of the workforce to travel with my husband and then be full-time mum to our two boys. I am married to Nick who is in the sailing industry, and we are proud parents of Sam (19) and Ben (14), and our fur-baby Phoebe (we also have 2 cats). I had a previous career as an Executive Assistant for various companies. After volunteering in the library at my son’s school I realized I had found my niche and I really do believe I have the best job in the world. I am currently Library Manager at Baradene College in Auckland.

The National Executive also needs to recruit a President-Elect, someone out there who is keen to be part of the Team and learn the ropes ready to be Manukura in 2025. This is an amazing opportunity, and I would love to have someone to build this role with. Please get in touch if you are even a little bit interested! All training is provided and no experience necessary! president@slanza. org.nz As the whakatauki my column started with says, we are all in the waka together. We need to explore the most effective ways to work together and what is needed in order for us to make this journey. One thing I am concerned about and focused on is ensuring you have a voice and don’t feel distanced from what we are doing. Please get in touch with me if you have any ideas, issues, questions or information – you are who we are on this journey for! To all those out there I haven’t met yet, “Kia ora”, I look forward to meeting, hearing from and getting to know you.

Nga mihi, Noho ora mai! Claudine Crabtree Manukura

In case you’re interested, here is a little bit about me…

Engaging with students, sharing my love of reading and learning, managing and running the school library, collaborating with teachers, creating a safe, welcoming, friendly inclusive space with a curated comprehensive collection, teaching information literacy and engaging students with reading is an absolute joy and privilege. One of my favourite library quotes is “A library is a place for retreat, for freedom, education, kindness and a little madness”. I like to think I bring a little madness, love having a dance and a laugh every day. I love fashion and shopping, spending time with my family and friends and travelling. I am also fond of good puns. I have often been told I don’t look like a librarian or act like a librarian, and I love that. It’s always good to break stereotypes and exceed expectations!

Collected Magazine // www.slanza.org.nz

I am also on a journey to learn te reo and embrace tikanga Māori. My tangata whenua is the Hokianga and it has been wonderful to visit our marae with my dad and learn more about our whakapapa through my nana’s letters and books, and through my own research using Archives NZ, the National Library and other online resources. I love being a kaitiaki pukapuka!

Regional Reports AORAKI Aoraki have been busy with PD in Ōtautahi. Our Paper Plus Hornby buying night was, as always, well attended. We preceded the evening with a Lib Café event chatting and sharing information about our Library Management Systems. Photos below show our annual PD day at the newly refurbished library at Middleton Grange. Libraries Manager Becky Howie and her team, Jo McPheat, Murray Richards, and Sarah Rudduck hosted us and showed us around their spaces. Our PD day was titled ‘Neurodiversity: including and empowering neurodiverse ākonga’. Our speakers included Chanelle Moriah, author of ‘I am Autistic’ and ‘This is ADHD’. Chanelle Moriah spoke about their experiences, creating inclusive spaces in our libraries, and what we can do in our libraries to better accommodate and understand neurodivergent individuals. If you or your kura are looking for an amazing speaker who is amazing, easy to listen to and full of great information, we really recommend Chanelle.

Sarah Cummins talking about dyslexia.

Art work titled ‘Tihei Mauri Ora’ by Artist Dale Goddard, Picturesque Poster Art. Middleton Grange Secondary Library.

The committee have put together some resources from the day. If you are interested, please do get in touch via email aoraki@slanza.org.nz. Sally Brown, SLANZA – Aoraki NE Representative

Middleton Grange Secondary Library

Paper Plus Hornby Buying night.

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CENTRAL As this image shows, the Central region covers a wide area. As at the end of July we had 42 paid members.

Our Central Committee: • Sasha Eastwood, Central National Executive rep. • Katie McMillan, Secretary • Suzette Stephens, Treasurer • Christina Bate, committee member • Andrea Knap, committee member • Susan Hosokawa, committee member • Crystal Hilton, committer member Our SLANZA Central events

A small group of SLANZA Central members have been busy over the last two terms organising the SLANZA Central Regional Conference – Toitoi Manawa Tū. By the time this issue is published all who attended this event in September, will have enjoyed the fruits of our labour. We hope everyone had a great time. Sasha Eastwood – Central NE Representative

We held a PLD opportunity (via Zoom) in Term Two, with local school librarian, Alan Dingley leading discussions on what tips and tricks we can use to motivate, upskill and engage our book quiz competition teams. Alan drew on his experience as the coach of many successful Kids Lit Quiz teams and taking the Palmerston North Intermediate team to the world finals in 2019. We also held an online Book Club discussion for Central members. Those who joined this zoom discussion went away with a list of recommended books for their school as well as their own must-read collections. Our Term Three event was our annual ‘What’s New in Books’ night held at Paper Plus Palmerston North. This was a successful and fun night out for 30 local school librarians and literacy educators. This year we were lucky to have three bookselling reps talk to us about recently released and soon to be released titles. After the presentations there was ample time to wander around the shelves buying up large (for those lucky enough to some budget left), and to chat with our school library sector colleagues whilst enjoying the yummy nibbles and drinks that were provided by our generous host, store manager, Victoria Hume.

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OTAGO

TAMAKI MAKAURAU AUCKLAND

In Term Two we enjoyed an evening of retail therapy at our annual book buying event at Paper Plus Dunedin, as usual the refreshments were excellent, and they fuelled our enthusiastic book chatter and basket filling. This was followed by a lovely meal and good company at Michelle’s newly purchased church building.

Firstly I would like to thank Claudine for all the work she has done as Representitve for Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland, in her move to SLANZA Manukura she has left big shoes to fill. I am looking forward to representing my hometown on the SLANZA National Executive.

We have plans in the pipeline, with Bridget Schaumann and Maxine Ramsay busily arranging another SLANZA/National Library Day of Goodness which we hope to hold in Term 4. After the success of the last one, it was a unanimous decision that this must be a yearly occurrence. In September we will be having an Accessit session with Carole Gardiner which will cover some tips and tricks for users. We are also eagerly anticipating our October ROADIE to Queenstown to join our Southland colleagues in what will be a fantastic day of PD with Mandy Henk from Tohatoha, who will be delivering the A Bit Sus workshops at Wakatipu High School in Queenstown. Thank you to Michelle Summerfield and Kirsty Adam (Southland SLANZA NE Representative) for planning this. Thank you to all of our 30 members in all corners of Otago. We really appreciate your input and support of events held this year. We look forward to planning more events next year and welcome any suggestions from members. Lauryn Urquhart – Otago NE Representative

SOUTHLAND Southland SLANZA PD has been focused on upskilling for the introduction of the Aotearoa New Zealand Histories curriculum. We have had a tour of notable graves at the Invercargill Cemetery and heard the stories of some of the local characters buried there. We also undertook a walk around Invercargill CBD to look at some of our historic buildings. Along with a tour of Te Hikoi museum in Riverton, we are feeling much more equipped to support the introduction of this updated curriculum. We held our annual Readers Cup competition in July. First time competitors, St Peters College in Gore came in and swept up 1st and 2nd place in an impressive display! Our next PD event will be joint hosted with the Otago SLANZA committee. Mandy Henk from Tohatoha will be delivering the A Bit Sus workshops at Wakatipu High School in Queenstown. This is a fabulous opportunity, not only to learn more about recognising and preventing the spread of misinformation, but also to meet and chat with our colleagues from Otago and Central Otago.

In Term Two we held a lovely event at our favourite comic book shop, Heroes for Sale in Newmarket. Sue and Stu are a fount of knowledge when it comes to Graphic Novels, Manga, and Comics and they generously shared their time and knowledge with us. When you start to break down the complexities of a Graphic Novel’s illustrations and the tools used to create the illusion of speed or stillness, happiness or sadness, and all the other things a great story needs, these books are works of art on so many different levels. Sue’s presentation to us was so informative and the packs of information we were able to take away on suitability of age, content, and illustrations were great. After the event we all went round the corner to have dinner at a local restaurant where our conversations about graphic novels flowed over good food. We have an online event planned for Term Three and plans are starting to form for our Christmas event in Term Four. We are in the process of farewelling our lovely Treasurer Joanna Parker, at the end of Term Three, she is jetting off for a month in Europe then down to Queenstown for a change of pace. We are hoping to welcome her back at the beginning of Term Two in 2024. We wish her well in her journey of differentness and discovery and hope she comes back refreshed. Trena Lile – Tamaki Makaurau Auckland Representative

TE WHANGANUI-A-TARA WELLINGTON Another year in library land is whizzing by and here we are halfway through Term 3 already. Many of us have celebrated busy Aotearoa School Library weeks, with all sorts of fun literary activities; and a number of Wellington school librarians and their students were lucky enough to be able to attend the Books Alive event this month which brings together the authors and illustrators nominated for the New Zealand Book Awards for Children and Young Adults. Listening to a panel and being able to ask questions of such esteemed writers as Kate De Goldi, Brian Falkner, Pippa Werry, Eileen Merriman and Jennifer Lane was a real privilege for our ākonga, not to mention the chance they got to talk to them and have them sign their books.

Kirsty Adam – Southland SLANZA NE Rep

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The Wellington committee ran another successful Shop Local Book Fair at Naenae College library in the Hutt Valley in June, thanks to Reesha Ranchod for hosting this. Eight bookshops had stalls and school librarians had a fun evening looking at, and buying books. Our bookshops all said it was a really good event for them too and we plan to make this an annual occurrence. The bookshops in attendance were: The Alphabet Book Club, Chicken and Frog, Graphic Comics, Marsden Books, Sally Kean Books, Schrödinger’s Books, The Children’s Bookshop and Mila’s Books. Good Books couldn’t be there in person but kindly gave us goody bag content.

We recently held our Term Three Book Talk, this time sharing our favourite “funny” books, a genre that many of us don’t feel all that expert about. We were lucky to be joined by Julia Marshall from Gecko Press who highlighted some of the lovely books they have published. Plans are in progress for more PD sessions for our Wellington school librarians but due to sickness and busy workloads we are not yet sure when this will be held. Clare Forrest – Wellington SLANZA NE Representative

YA Fiction panel, with Brian Falkner, Phillipa Werry, Jennifer Lane, Kate De Goldi and Eileen Merriman

Having this Book Fair in Term Two meant people still had money in their budgets to spend and there was nothing like being able to hold and read books before buying them to help with selecting good books for our collections.

Collected Magazine // www.slanza.org.nz

SAVE

SLANZA NATIONAL CONFERENCE

SUNDAY 29 SEPTEMBER WEDNESDAY 2 OCTOBER

THE

2024 DATE Your Conference Committee: Saskia Hill (CHS), as Convenor, Abanti Antara (CGHS), Wendy Wright (AGHS/SBHS), Isabel Milward (RRGS), Stephanie Hutchinson (TBHS), Sally Brown (RHS), Phyllis Bennett (PHS), Fran Pashby & Felicity McKay (SMC).

CHRIST'S COLLEGE, CHRISTCHURCH

If you have any ideas, suggestions, or questions, please email Fran on fran.pashby@stmargarets.school. nz. There will be many more exciting announcements to follow, so watch this space.

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SLANZA Pay Equity Update -– Celebration Time! CLARE FORREST & SASHA EASTWOOD – NZEI REPRESENTATIVES Librarian and Assistant Librarian staff received their first payment at the new pay equity rates on 8 August 2023. This was also back dated to the claim effective date of 23 November 2022, so at last school librarians and library assistants are being paid at their corrected rates, and at a level that takes their professional skills and knowledge into account.

If you need any help with this process and are an NZEI member, please contact a member advisory officer on 0800 693 443. They are available between 8:30am and 5.00pm to support you with anything from pay queries to subscription rates to employment disputes.

We would like to thank our NZEI Te Riu Roa experts for their hard mahi, without whom this claim would not have been initiated on behalf of the entire school library workforce, and therefore we would not have reached this positive conclusion. We would also like to acknowledge the staff in the Ministry of Education’s Pay Equity team, who worked alongside us. Ngā mihi to all the school librarians interviewed, to their school management teams who were also interviewed and supported this time-consuming process. The School Librarian Pay Equity negotiating team (Kaaren Hirst, Sasha Eastwood and Clare Forrest) are grateful for the positive messages of thanks from school librarians on the Schoollibs Listserv recently.

Union members covered by the Support Staff Collective Agreement overwhelmingly voted to accept the PSPA proposal put to them in a ballot in July this year. This was negotiated with the government because of rising living costs and past public service wage freezes. All relevant unions joined together to make this happen.

This is certainly an occasion to celebrate, as we have been waiting for this day for far too long. Now all support staff in schools have experienced successful pay equity claims, have all received an amount of back pay and have had or still have the opportunity to regrade to the correct place in the new work matrix so that they can be remunerated appropriately. If you consider that you should apply for a regrading of your position here is the relevant information you need. You have until 1 December 2023 to discuss this with your employer, and they should complete the application before 15 December and, if declined, can appeal by 6 March 2024. Pay Equity Regrading Guide for schools and kura Former employees who finished employment on or prior to 31 May 2023 also qualify for receiving some backpay, they will be paid directly by the Ministry once they have submitted their application and eligibility has been confirmed. Form for former employees to request a pay equity payment

PUBLIC SECTOR PAY ADJUSTMENT AGREEMENT

Pay increases •

$4,000 to the base scales, which will be backdated from 1 December 2022. Members will receive this increase to their base scale rates during this year. There is not a finalised date for this payment. This must be decided by the Ministry of Education.

• A further increase of $2,000 or 3% (whichever is larger) from 1 December 2023. Lump sum payments •

A one-off, union-member only payment of $750 to full- time employees, which will be pro-rated for part time and casual employees. To receive this payment, you must have been a member of the union on 1 December 2022.

• A further one-off payment of $500 to full-time employees, pro- rated for part-time and casual employees. This lump sum applies to ALL employees who are employed as of 1 December 2023. If you are an NZEI member your Collective Agreement will expire on 19 December 2024, and bargaining with the Ministry will be started around October 2024. Ngā mihi, Clare, Kaaren & Sasha NZEI School Librarian PE Negotiation Team

Former employees who finished employment on or after 1 June 2023 do not need to do anything. They are paid on 8 August 2023 in the same way as current employees.

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THE DALEY DOSE CLAUDINE CRABTREE

We could all do with a Daley dose of enthusiasm, passion and energy! I was lucky enough to hear Megan Daley present at the ASLA Conference on the Gold Coast in April this year. Megan Daley is passionate about children’s literature and is the author of the bestselling book ‘Raising Readers’, published by UQP, and the upcoming title ‘The Beehive’, to be published by Walker Books. She is a Teacher Librarian in Brisbane who has been awarded the Queensland Teacher Librarian of the Year, as well as the national Dromkeen Librarian’s Award. A former national vice-president of the Children’s Book Council of Australia, Megan is a sought-after public speaker, literary judge, creator of the popular website Children’s Books Daily and co-host of the ‘Your Kid’s Next Read’ podcast. Megan covered a lot in a short time and is clearly an energetic, smart, busy, multi-talented, and passionate school librarian. I was in awe of what she has achieved and what she manages to do in her daily life. A few points from the presentation I wanted to share and will no doubt give you something to think about: • In schools we have P.E. teachers, art teachers, maths teachers; why don’t we have specialist reading teachers? • There is a difference between learning to read and reading to learn and for enjoyment. • You don’t become a skilled reader without a quality library and a librarian. • We need to educate parents and teachers about what we can offer and what we can do as librarians.

• The key to delivering curriculum is reading for pleasure. • There are many studies which show vast benefits and prove the reciprocal relationship between reading for enjoyment and academic achievement. This is a significant factor in economic mobility. • Collectively so many studies have shown that wellbeing is improved from centering reading at the heart of the curriculum. • There is a gap between what we know about the importance of reading, what is written in curriculum standards and what we actually do in classrooms. •

From Neilson Book Data – social media is a significant driver of book purchases e.g. TIK TOK, this is driving American titles up and boosting sales in the Australian market e.g. Colleen Hoover.

•

Book Tok currently has a massive influence on teens’ reading habits. Unfortunately, most of it is of low quality and we need and want better for our kids. There is a distinct lack of support on platforms for local literature – algorithms work against local content; most content is driven from USA.

• Library planning needs to be curriculum aligned with a digital literacy and reading focus. •

Librarians have a bird’s eye view of school which provides a unique opportunity. (We are also the only ones at a school who have an opportunity to meet and see every student at school).

• Libraries are places for books and places for people.

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• Libraries are about CONNECTION. Develop a library community. Invite parents and grandparents in. Hold living room events for parents, for staff, for students, for your community. • Think about why your library is a destination. Do yearly library surveys and offer incentives. Hold regular library meetings with your library team – teachers, students and librarians. • Call it mindful reading rather than silent reading. • Be explicit about what you do! Be loud! Be the squeaky door. Tell the story of what you do to anyone and everyone.

https://www.facebook.com/groups/276634156006126/

Check out the links below referred to in Megan’s presentation: CHILDRENS BOOKS DAILY https://childrensbooksdaily.com/ MEGAN DALEY’S BOOK:

MEL GREEN Green, Mel. (2022). For the love of good stories: a narrative inquiry into a reading for enjoyment pedagogy. PhD Thesis, School of Education, The University of Queensland. https://doi.org/10.14264/63b190c JACKIE CHILD – THE TINKERING CHILD http://tinkeringchild.com/ HELEN STREET – CONTEXTUAL WELLBEING https://www.positiveschools.com.au/Contextual%20Wellbeing/ Contextual%20Wellbeing%20Home.html READ LIKE A GIRL https://readlikeagirl.com/

Collected Magazine // www.slanza.org.nz

Books Back Better LEONIE GRIGSBY Earlier this year SLANZA teamed up with a group of book lovers and Booksellers Aotearoa NZ to create the Books Back Better project to help the recovery of school libraries affected by Cyclone Gabrielle. Author Mary-anne Scott, saw a need in her community and approached SLANZA and Booksellers Aotearoa NZ to ask if we would like to be involved.

Thank you to everyone who has been involved in this project, your mahi and support is very much appreciated. Keep an eye out for future media releases as we are working to send out vouchers to affected schools in the next few weeks.

The aim of this fundraising project was to get books back into the affected learning environments in a fair and equitable way that gives agency to those who lead them to choose books suitable for their akonga. Ngā mihi to our many generous donors around the motu who have supported the Books Back Better project. Thanks to your generous donations, we have raised over $20,000 to distribute to those schools hit hardest by the cyclone. It was heartwarming to hear about students in other schools doing wonderful fundraising projects to contribute to Books Back Better. Through the applications received we have heard some heartbreaking stories of kura, kohanga reo and kindergartens who lost so much in this major weather event. Many are still displaced and the book tokens to purchase new books will certainly give the akonga in those learning environments something to look forward to.

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All About the Books MICHELLE SIMMS - TE TOTARA PRIMARY SCHOOL

One of the easiest, cheapest, and most successful ways of promoting books in our library is putting images of the covers of books I have read during the year on my windows and door. I try to read from a range of genres so that there is something for everyone. Students often reserve books from this display and they know they can talk to me about the books when they have read them. I don’t have to be around for them to get inspiration for what they could read.

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SLANZA Study Grant Recipient IMOGEN LOAKMAN - AVONSIDE GIRLS’ & SHIRLEY BOYS’ HIGH SCHOOLS

I have always been interested in archiving, the idea that you could delve into the history of a society, community or preserve parts of history seemed fascinating to me as a young person. When I became an Assistant Librarian in 2019 at Avonside Girls’/Shirley Boys’ High Schools in Christchurch Ōtautahi, I hadn’t realised I would get the opportunity to experience archiving within my library profession. But luckily enough, during Covid-19, our small library team was able to begin tackling the digitalisation of Avonside’s archives whilst we were working from home. Over the next year we established Avonside’s digital archive by utilising the library management system, with which I’m sure most of you are familiar, namely Accessit! Throughout this process, we were continually struggling to find time to archive without distraction. This experience ignited my curiosity, I found the experience interesting and wanted to learn more. Hence, I looked at study options and with the support of my schools, and SLANZA awarding me the Study Grant for 2023, I have been able to complete one paper through the Victoria University of Wellington Te Herenga Waka about Record Management.

My next paper which begins in the second semester is called Archival Systems. I’m really looking forward to learning more about archiving protocols and seeing how I can implement my knowledge of records management and use it from an archival perspective. I hope that the outcome of this study will be a greater comprehension of archiving practice and the value it can bring to any establishment. I hope to use these new-found skills to benefit my schools, colleagues, staff and the students I serve. I am extremely appreciative of SLANZA and the SLANZA Grant Committee for their generous financial support and their trust and belief in me to achieve more with this study; I plan to use the knowledge gained to enhance my librarianship skills and contribute to the wider school community. I am thankful that SLANZA and both Avonside’s and Shirley’s Principals have supported me and enabled me to begin this study journey.

The impact of this first course has been foundational. I have gained an understanding of the regulations and legislations behind New Zealand’s information acts and policies that govern information management. Questions and topics were covered such as: How to classify documents. How the organisation or environment you’re working in can alter the context and therefore affect how records are managed and most importantly, what differentiates a document from a record.

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Reading Ambassadors MICHELE COOMBRIDGE - PINEHURST SCHOOL

It has just been confirmed that Alan Dingley, Te Awhi Rito NZ Reading Ambassador, will be the SLANZA Tamaki Makaurau Auckland speaker at our end of year celebration party. That same day, I noticed that a new SLANZA podcast had been released and the theme was reading for pleasure. I tuned in to Alan, Sasha and Miriam cheerfully chatting about the refreshed English curriculum move to introduce reading for pleasure as an important teaching and learning goal in the New Zealand curriculum. The podcast was great listening as usual, and it inspired me to take a look at the wider changes to the English area of the refreshed New Zealand curriculum. Over the years, librarians have pivoted, morphed, and moved our focus to remain relevant and stay connected with the shifts of education. How wonderful then, that when the curriculum shifts back to where our hearts lie, the system acknowledges strength in the ground we have had to fight most for: books on shelves and reading for pleasure! Librarians as book experts, are well placed to source the reading requirements that this curriculum change will need. We are our own school’s reading ambassadors, experts in curating libraries with diverse and inclusive collections. The ministry’s acknowledgement that reading for pleasure is essential for literacy, strengthening one’s identity, can enable a reader to ‘walk in different worlds’, works well with our motto and deep belief, that school libraries transform. The underlying theme of Te Mātaiaho - Curriculum Refresh is that children need to see themselves in the literature around them, or at the very least, be able to choose a text that draws them in and appeals to something within their own being. Librarians have long known this to be true and that is why a leader for the space called the whare pukapuka (library) needs to be someone who has the skills to source the texts that their community of students will be drawn to.

As library managers, Kaitiakitanga pukapuka, or perhaps reading ambassadors - we do our core business best when we attain the opportunity to present books in front of classes. There are many ways to get resources in front of our students, however, and librarians are very resourceful at finding innovative ways to grow their reading culture and market books in varied ways, such as: • Book promotion on screen casts. • Regular book talks with year groups of all ages. • Reading advisory with individual students. • Knowing our readers. • Writing blogs and using social media platforms. • Providing comfortable spaces for reading. • Creating inviting displays to entice readers. • Book talks to English and classroom teachers – show them the trends and popular resources. • Put book reviews in morning student news. • Curate and select the best resources for your school community. • Reading the books! Through their research in reading and the school library environment, Christina Clark and Kate Rumbold (2006) discovered that children are more likely to read if they have a quiet space, support from role models, and access to books that represent them. They also found that reluctant readers, who did not enjoy reading at home, enjoyed reading more when they were at school.

The document outlines that students will:

School libraries are that quiet space, and librarians are the support, role models and curators of diverse and inclusive taonga. I am thrilled to see this research take form and embed reading for pleasure as part of the curriculum for New Zealand children. Let’s hope educationalists can also join the dots and realise school libraries are an essential part of its success.

‘Read for pleasure every day, including texts that I have chosen myself ’ (P.7) and ‘Regularly read for pleasure, sometimes selecting texts based on my own preferences and interests, and sometimes exploring new authors and texts outside my comfort zone’ (P. 13).

Te pānui hei whakangahau, hei whakapārekareka | Reading for pleasure. Reading for pleasure involves choosing a variety of texts (including written texts) based on our own preferences and interests. p.11

The reading of the document implies a potential to boost the engagement with school libraries and open up the opportunity for every school to have a well-resourced school library.

Mā te reo, ka mōhio; mā te reo ka mārama; mā te reo ka ora. Language and literature give us insights into ourselves and others. p.6

English school library champions Clare Brumpton and Elizabeth Hutchinson are familiar with the disparity between school library spaces. They reflect: ‘Many schools believe they have a library when they have a room full of books that they issue and return. However, in order for a school library to meet its core purpose, it needs a school librarian – not only to manage the collection, but to engage with students and teachers across the curriculum.‘

Links: Te Mataiaho. Learning area, English https://curriculumrefreshlive-assetstorages3bucket-l5w0dsj7zmbm.s3.amazonaws.com/ s3fs-public/2023-08/CO3101_MOE_English-A4_JULY_002_0. pdf?VersionId=T0LCvWIeD74A0XM1gR0vVvX6aU1V0k02 https://www.sec-ed.co.uk/content/best-practice/school-libraries-andreading-development https://literacytrust.org.uk/research-services/research-reports/ reading-pleasure-research-overview/

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The English department reading lists of Aotearoa, investigated and reviewed JENNIFER SMART

Reprinted with permission from The Spinoff https://thespinoff.co.nz/books/28-08-2023/what-books-are-youngpeople-studying-at-school-these-days For many young adults in Aotearoa, the set text for English class may be the only novel they read — or pretend to read — all year. Former teacher Jen Smart underwent a mammoth investigation into the current state of the country’s book rooms to assess what’s on the shelves, and why. If you ever want to see an English teacher get super fizzed, ask them what books they’re teaching at the moment. That’s because the selection of that book is one of the most agonising decisions they will make all year. The Class Text, after all, represents a huge chunk of time and energy – probably between six and eight weeks of teaching, revising and assessing time over a school year. They’ll mark and feed back on a stupid number of essays about this book and by the time term four rolls around, everyone will be thoroughly sick of it. These days, though, some high school students may not study a novel at all. People are often surprised to learn that in Aotearoa there’s no “required reading” or any obligation for schools to teach an extended text: English teachers may choose to focus on teaching short texts or poetry with students responding to them in the end of year exam. Gone are the days when the Shakespeare texts were prescribed at the start of each year, that’s for sure. This is a good thing. Although there is strong guidance from subject associations and NZQA examiner’s reports around titles, it’s entirely up to individual English departments and teachers to make decisions around what gets bought and taught – as long as it meets the complexity and sophistication criteria set out by the New Zealand Curriculum. This creates endless opportunities for teachers to create lively, engaging programmes centred around texts that reflect the students studying them. English teachers (lifetime lovers of metaphor) often talk about teaching a blend of “mirror and window” texts; some that reflect the reader’s world and others that allow a view of unfamiliar territory. This is not to say all reading in secondary English classes is of taught texts; with chapter questions, plot summaries, theme analysis and all those things that ruin the allure of a story well told – so the teenagers say, anyway. As English teachers take great pride in noting, theirs is the only learning area that mentions “enjoyment” in the curriculum document so plenty of student-selected and just-because reading happens in classrooms too.

Reading a book for pleasure is not the same as reading for an English class, though, and students too often associate reading with school work. This can add tension to the selection process knowing that for some students, it will be the only book they read this year. Do you go with something with a pop culture connection, or something that they “should” read? The battle royale nature of The Hunger Games gives a contemporary context to the ages-old story of class struggle, but maybe Animal Farm has more literary merit? No matter what I ended up choosing, I’d always hope that this would be the book to turn my students back onto reading, or at the very least invite them to take a perspective different to their own. The shared reading experience is a powerful one, particularly in a class with 26+ young and emerging worldviews in the mix. SO HOW DOES A TEACHER CHOOSE A BOOK? More often than not, it comes down to pragmatics: what’s in the actual, literal book room. When an English teacher begins at a new school, it’s the first place they go. Those stacks of titles on tinny bookshelves, sealed in slightly wrinkled covering film, with yellowing paper lists of student names glued to the inside back cover – they have a subtext all of their own. Is this a safety-first English department that sticks to the classics? Are they committed to the representation of diverse voices? Would they take a risk on a Booker Prize shortlisted novel just to try something new? Are they running on a shoestring, patching up old editions each year? Choices can be majorly limited by budget. It’s very expensive to buy a class set of books for the simple reason that books cost a bomb in New Zealand. This is more so the case for contemporary literature, and is one reason why a head of department might choose to top up existing sets of “classic” texts (usually cheaper) instead of buying something new. The purchase of 32 copies of a new book is one of the bigger financial decisions an English department has to make and it’s usually made the year before as part of a school’s budgeting process. In the departments I’ve worked in, this has been a collaborative effort – teachers put forward a new text they’d love to teach and a group decision is made — hence the recent appearance in book rooms of popular fiction like Where the Crawdads Sing, Nic Stone’s Dear Martin, Station Eleven by Emily St John Mandel or Naomi Alderman’s The Power. They may also decide to bring back an old fave in light of current events or discourse — Orwell’s 1984 made a Trump-era comeback and The Handmaid’s Tale will remain a staple as long as women’s reproductive rights are a topic for “debate” (so, forever?).

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POPULAR FICTION IN BOOK ROOMS RECENTLY. I remember taking up a new position as head of English at a rural Southland area school – among the piles of 1980s PAT tests (the ones with the excellent brown and beige diagonal design) and inexplicable Ministry of Education-produced booklets on the practice of flogging (a social sciences unit?) was a magnificent class set of Ronald Hugh Morrieson’s The Scarecrow. Who on earth was the bold educator who picked Taranaki Gothic for the seventh formers of this little timber-milling town? I live in hope of meeting them. Along with student voice and course design, the literary merit of a text is obviously a factor in a teacher’s choice. For text responses being assessed in the external exams, the taught text tends to have support from critics, either a canonical text designated “worthy of study” or one that has appeared on a shortlist somewhere. Often we see texts appearing that teachers have themselves studied at uni — which is perhaps how The Things They Carried by Tim O’Brien made its way into book rooms. Is this evidence that we choose literature that has been established as “important” in longer-standing literary canons? Maybe.

WHAT BOOKS ARE YOUNG PEOPLE STUDYING AT HIGH SCHOOL THESE DAYS? This quest to create a zippy literary listicle required the big guns: the New Zealand Association for Teachers of English (NZATE) and the School Librarians Association of New Zealand Aotearoa (SLANZA). I started with a long list from my experience of stocktaking and organising school book rooms around Te Waipounamu, and 12 years spent with English teachers. From there, I went through the examiners’ reports for the written texts standards at NCEA Level 1, 2 and 3 which often comment on which titles were successful in the exam and those that were less so. I cross-referenced this short list with the results of a survey run by NZATE in 2022, one that simply asked teachers what titles they were teaching at each year level. I then took my refined list to the school librarians to confirm. (August 7 – 11 was School Library Week, just saying. Go thank a librarian.) What came out of this process were the titles below. While the lack of diversity and Aotearoa voices might surprise some, be reassured that there is wider representation in texts chosen for study – but probably not in novels. Students are more likely to encounter a wider range of voices in the study of short stories, poetry, film and non-fiction texts.

The book needs to have “performed well” in past exams, meaning that students must be able to respond to it critically, with insight and originality. And back to pragmatics — it’s helpful if there are teaching resources available (meaning pre-created documents laying out ways to interrogate or respond to the text). An English teacher will likely have at least four classes, each studying a different novel throughout the year.

The 2022 Level 3 examiner’s report notes: “Many candidates seem highly engaged with their chosen texts which included good numbers of New Zealand and Pasifika texts. However, the most common texts include The Handmaid’s Tale (Margaret Atwood), The Great Gatsby (F. Scott Fitzgerald), 1984 (George Orwell), The Things They Carried (Tim O’Brien), and Othello (Shakespeare).”

As it turns out, trying to review the books rooms of English departments of Aotearoa was a ridiculous undertaking – there isn’t any current and reliable research into typically studied texts in secondary schools.

The use of fresher texts was also encouraged back in 2020’s Level 2 report, saying it was “pleasing to see a range of contemporary Māori and Pasifika writers being studied, including Kathy Jetnil-Kijiner, Tayi Tibble, and Glen Colquhoun.” Editorial note: Glenn Colquhoun is in fact Pākehā.

So I narrowed the scope in an attempt to find the ten most commonly taught novels (or “extended written texts” in English-teacher-speak) at senior levels, Year 11 – 13 (that’s Form 5 – 7 for those of us who grew up going to English class without a cellphone in our pocket).

Anyway, here are the titles that cropped up most, with a bit of commentary, where available, from young people who have studied them.

I know from experience that schools are looking hard at their book rooms and working to include more voices that reflect contemporary Aotearoa, its indigenous perspectives and diasporic complexity. It appears though, that there is plenty of room to be made for such voices at the senior end of the curriculum, which seems to be dominated by some very familiar titles.

The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood (1985) Hats off to Margaret. She’s a multidisciplinary powerhouse who continues to impress young people with her scarily relevant dystopian settings. Despite being published when I was one year old, this was the title that appeared most frequently across all the sources I looked at. Increasingly students are studying the television series as a visual text too.

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Lord of the Flies by William Golding (1954)

The Great Gatsby by F Scott Fitzgerald (1925) There was a big resurgence in teaching Gatsby after the lush Baz Luhrmann adaptation came out (pop culture making literature relevant again, yay!). I get that the critique of vapid consumerism is useful for young folk nowadays, but is pursuit of the American dream a relevant theme? “Some of the messages we learn from The Great Gatsby we see a lot through other media and even celebrities’ lives. I also think that some of the older English texts and films we do in class make it feel like we’re holding on to the old views that aren’t progressive in the way that we are trying to be now… Personally, my favourite English studies I have done were in year 9 and 10 and they were ones written or directed by women, or newer ones that support and celebrate all people. So, my view on whether The Great Gatsby is worth studying is that, yes it can be. It is worth learning from, but maybe we should be making an effort to do newer texts and films, especially in the senior school, instead of just defaulting to the ‘classics’.” (Sienna, Year 12) To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee (1960) If it was published today, would this novel receive the same response from literary critics as it did in 1960? I re-read it a few years back and was surprised at what a drag it was. It’s a series of vignettes (admittedly some very powerful ones) rather than a cohesive narrative. Given there are so many stories of racism and corruption in the justice system these days – and from people with lived experience of it – there has to be better options. One of them is Craig Silvey’s Jasper Jones, which was mentioned a lot by teachers and is essentially To Kill A Mockingbird set in Australia. Maybe it’s time for Scout to sign off? “There are a plethora of newer books covering similar topics in more fun and interesting ways that should be explored more. Although the book has a large amount of resources to assist with studying and covers important topics, To Kill A Mockingbird is an outdated story that students will find uninteresting due to its challenging vocabulary and slow plotline, and there are far better books for kids to study that will keep them engaged and actively learning, as opposed to feeling forced into reading a boring book they don’t enjoy.” (Oscar, Year 11) Animal Farm by George Orwell (1945) I’m not going to lie, what this book really has going for it in a classroom setting is its length. It’s short but packed with teachable moments – satire, allegory, propaganda and totalitarian regimes. It’s one of those novels whose context is perhaps more appealing to young people than the narrative itself, given that curiosity about history and politics often builds in Year 10 and 11. If I had to choose one novel to study with a class though, for me, this wouldn’t be it. “Animal Farm exhibits how quickly a communist government can collapse and become a complete dictatorship, as well as explaining the in-depth hierarchy of the supposed communism. Animal Farm has a very important theme that is documented to the readers throughout the entire novel, which is the theme of power and how it corrupts. This novel constantly challenges students’ ideas around dictatorship and hierarchy, and has very specific moments that will open students’ eyes to a different understanding about communism and the corruption of power. Overall, I believe Animal Farm is an important book to study in New Zealand’s education system.” (Melody, Year 11)

Like Animal Farm, Golding’s novel tends to be taught at Year 11 or lower down in the school. It was worth including though, given the number of times the title came up. I was ready to loudly proclaim that the teens-in-the-wilderness trope is now covered by Yellowjackets, The Wilds and Steph Matuku’s Flight of the Fantail but the students who reviewed it were really quite positive. “It’s worth noting what Lord of the Flies is really about, it teaches us of the dark side of humanity and about how civilisation is related to its name, it keeps us civil. Without societal expectations, there would be chaos. Lord of the Flies is an important book to make us realise how unreasonable people can become, it gives us multiple perspectives of the situation and really puts the reader into the boots of the characters. As well as teaching students the importance of civility, this book is able to provide us with a broad range of vocabulary which is important for a student to understand and thrive. Overall, I think that this book is a worthy read and conveys an important message, so I would recommend it to teachers.” (McKellar, Year 11) Macbeth by Shakespeare The Bard that launched a thousand teacher resource guides and graphic novel treatments is still a firm favourite for Year 12 students, and occasionally Year 11. I studied it in sixth form and could probably still write an essay about “vaulting ambition which o’erleaps itself.” The themes are timeless of course, but what’s beautiful about teaching Shakespeare is taking students into the linguistic swirls and layers. 1984 by George Orwell (1949) Is there a more iconic year in all of literature? Anthony Burgess, author of A Clockwork Orange, called 1984 “an apocalyptical codex of our worst fears”. When things get scary and messy, when language becomes meaningless and truths are mangled, this is the book we want young people to have read. It’s widely taught in Englishspeaking curricula around the world, so most people will encounter this novel as a young person. It may not strike a chord until much later in life, though. The Things They Carried by Tim O’Brien (1990) It was surprising to see this title turn up so often. There is some relevance for young New Zealanders given our minor involvement in the Vietnam War, I suppose. The book grapples with a society’s emerging understanding of PTSD and the impact of witnessing such atrocities on a generation which must be an interesting perspective for young people to take. It is likely to be a student’s first experience with postmodern literature too – the dismembered order of stories, blurring of fiction and truth and a damaged, unreliable narrator make great teaching fodder. Othello by Shakespeare Annalise (Year 13) has the popularity of this text choice nailed: “Othello presents students with an ultimatum; think critically, or suffer the consequences. In order to thrive in a world heavily influenced by ‘truth’ presented by mainstream and social media, students must each learn to critically analyse every piece of information brought before us. By bearing witness to the dire consequences suffered by Othello as he refuses to think with a critical

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mind, students in New Zealand are able to learn from Othello’s mistakes and learn for themselves the utmost importance of critical thinking. And, in a world growing significantly more rampant with misinformation and disinformation, it would be a moral crime to not teach the emerging generations how to live a life unaffected and unmanipulated by the modern day Iago; fake news.” The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini (2003) Friendship, loyalty, betrayal – and a swift-moving plot. It’s long but students find the story quite compelling. It has been popular for a while now though, and word on the street is that it’s becoming difficult for students to write an original take on it in exam conditions. “Having done this year’s novel study on The Kite Runner, I believe that, although graphic, the emotions and thoughts that it provokes make it a stark reminder of the events constantly happening around the world that we are often completely blind to. Writing about the text from this perspective makes real world connections and in-depth analysis simpler to make and means that ‘perceptive’ insights are also easier to make. Therefore, I think that, as long as the teacher prefaces the reading of this book by ensuring students do a small amount of research about Afghanistan during this era and a general idea of the events in Kabul at the time, The Kite Runner that has both a plotline and features that make it easy to analyse. Beyond this, it is simply a very interesting read.” (Abby, Year 12) WHERE ARE THE LOCAL WRITERS? While they may not be widely represented in the novels taught at senior level, Aotearoa voices certainly are being studied in schools. The vast majority of teachers reported that they use New Zealand texts in their programme (or want to include more of them). However it appears that our voices are more likely to be heard in poetry, short story collections or on screen. Names like Chris Tse, Tayi Tibble, Tusiata Avia and Selina Tusitala Marsh regularly came up, as did Witi Ihimaera, Hone Tuwhare, James K Baxter, Fleur Adcock and Brian Turner.

It could be a whiff of cultural cringe haunting us – we’re over that with New Zealand film now, thanks to Taika, so let’s hope literature is next in line for the “they really like us!” treatment. There are trends to contend with too. Texts fall in and out of favour, and reports of new ones that “work” with students can take a while to filter through the English teaching kūmara vine. There’s budget constraints, of course, and the considerable time investment that comes with developing resources for new texts. Currently, New Zealand publishing is in a very healthy state, with guidance around fresh local texts strengthening all the time. Read NZ Te Pou Muramura’s wonderful teacher-curated selection, Reading Stories from Aotearoa New Zealand displays the many merit-worthy titles on offer for teachers. As the introduction mentions: “Having a living, up-to-date list of books that represent our place and our people has never been more important.” There’s also the Aotearoa New Zealand Review of Books, publishing monthly reviews of new releases, and the Academy of New Zealand Literature who publish in-depth features, “exploring the diverse strands and vibrant voices of our contemporary fiction, poetry and creative nonfiction.” Both have .com URLs, a digital planting of our flag on the international landscape of literary criticism. What then, does the Aotearoa New Zealand literary canon include? Which of our writers should young people encounter in their time at school? Every time we put a book in front of students to study, we’re saying “this literature is worthy of your close attention”; “these words and ideas are important”. But what does it say about our self-image if we’re not setting New Zealand novels for close study? When we prioritise external voices and experiences over our own for those six weeks of intensive shared reading, we’re stunting our literary growth. As Te Mātaiaho, the refreshed NZ Curriculum turns teachers more strongly towards place and identity, our book rooms are a good place to start conversations.

In discussions about extended texts, a few New Zealand titles did appear, dominated by Patricia Grace: Cousins (the film seems to be more popular though), Tu and Pōtiki. Lloyd Jones’ Mister Pip is still going strong and there were a few contemporary offerings that could easily become mainstays in the book room: Tina Makereti’s Where the Rekohu Bone Sings, Bulibasha by Witi Ihimaera, Coco Solid’s How To Loiter in a Turf War and Rebecca K Reilly’s Greta & Valdin. Becky Manawatu’s Auē came up too – one to “go carefully” with, as the curators of Reading Stories From Aotearoa say. If literary merit is a driving factor in text choice though, we’d be seeing a lot more Katherine Mansfield, Janet Frame, Keri Hulme, Eleanor Catton and Ashleigh Young mentioned in the examiner’s reports, surely. Their work is no less accessible for rangatahi than the top ten listed above and has international recognition, yet we hesitate to offer it up for study at higher levels of the curriculum.

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READING FOR PLEASURE PENNY WALCH Reading for pleasure - what does it actually look like for a school library? Recently I have been pondering this idea of reading for pleasure and what that might mean to a child, and therefore to me in our library.

• Reading enjoyment has been reported as more important for children’s educational success than their family’s socio-economic status (OECD, 2002). • There is a positive link between positive attitudes towards reading and scoring well on reading assessments (Twist et al, 2007).

I had a chat with my line manager and she asked me to put some ideas down on paper so we could discuss them further. She may since have regretted this, because I went off on quite the ramble.

• Regularly reading stories or novels outside of school is associated with higher scores in reading assessments (PIRLS, 2006; PISA, 2009).

My first thought was to actually define reading for pleasure, so I dug out these two definitions, which I felt covered things nicely....

• International evidence supports these findings; US research reports that independent reading is the best predictor of reading achievement (Anderson, Wilson and Fielding, 1988).

WHAT IS READING FOR PLEASURE?

• Evidence suggests that reading for pleasure is an activity that has emotional and social consequences (Clark and Rumbold, 2006).

Definitions: “When one is free to select one’s own reading materials without constraints, whether these be books, magazines, manga, poetry, story sharing apps, paper comics, or online webcomics etc…This applies both in and out of school.” Kids’ Lit Quiz Tips and Tricks for Talented Tweens and Terrific Teachers “Reading we do of our own free will, anticipating the satisfaction that we will get from reading” and “...it’s also reading that may have begun at someone else’s request, which we continue because we are interested in it. Christina Clark and Kate Rumbold note that reading for pleasure can be described as an act of play, which allows us to experience different worlds in our imagination and a creative and active / interactive process.” UK National Literacy Trust Having found a definition, I thought I should find out what the benefits of reading for pleasure actually are, and so I rambled on... (reading this a couple of months later, I would want to dig a bit deeper into how reading can assist with well-being...another ramble for another time...) • There is a growing body of evidence which illustrates the importance of reading for pleasure for both educational purposes as well as personal development (cited in Clark and Rumbold, 2006).

• Other benefits to reading for pleasure include: text comprehension and grammar, positive reading attitudes, pleasure in reading in later life, increased general knowledge (Clark and Rumbold, 2006). • Research reports a link between library use and reading for pleasure; young people that use their public library are nearly twice as likely to be reading outside of class every day (Clark and Hawkins, 2011). “Reading for pleasure has shown positive influences not only on students’ vocabularies, content knowledge and their ability to use or explore grammatical constructions, but also upon their academic performances. Non-literary benefits, such as increased empathy, reduced depression and overall well-being have also been observed.” Kids’ Lit Quiz Tips and Tricks for Talented Tweens and Terrific Teachers I then brought this all back to my own library space, and thought about what I wanted to achieve. READING FOR PLEASURE - WHAT DO I WANT FROM LIBRARY SESSIONS? • Initially - to cultivate a love of story, reading, inquiry and knowledge.

• Evidence suggests that there is a positive relationship between reading frequency, reading enjoyment and attainment (Clark 2011; Clark and Douglas 2011).

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•

Graduating into - an independent reading for pleasure habit. (Hence ensuring time allocated for silent reading and the focus on reaching the Ahhhh Moment - a non-technical term we use in our library for when everyone is immersed in their reading and the library breathes a sigh of relief. It is an actual thing!!)

• Collaborating with the class teacher, who knows the students and who can advocate for them or assist students themselves.

• Keep nudging kids out of comfort zone. Then, we must consider what the students themselves want from their library times. READING FOR PLEASURE - WHAT DO STUDENTS WANT FROM LIBRARY SESSIONS?

This led to some ponderings...

This is a tricky one, because, of course, students don’t know what they don’t know, so they don’t always know what is possible.

PONDERINGS

My informal research has shown that …

• Reflecting on the definition of reading for pleasure, should students be able to read anything when in the library?

• They like teaching time spent highlighting new books and golden oldies.

•

• They like being given the opportunity to read their own books/ reading material for pleasure.

Is it my job to simply provide the opportunity for reading for pleasure and leave it at that, or should I be nudging students to step out of their comfort zone? Students don’t know what they don’t know, so we need to assist them!

• I think it is important to encourage reading for pleasure because the weekly session in the library may well be one of the only times some students have that opportunity. • What if my philosophy clashes with a teacher’s philosophy? • What about the students who take liberties?

• They like the more informal atmosphere in the library. Some students embrace stepping out of their comfort zones independently, but most find that a really hard thing to do, we need to strategically teach that as a skill. All this thinking made my head hurt...and also led to more thinking about what it means to nudge students out of their comfort zones.

These ponderings also led on to thinking about what our teachers want for their students when they come to the library.

My colleague and I have been experimenting with some ideas around this in our library sessions - it doesn’t look dissimilar to things we have done in the past, but it feels a bit more strategic.

READING FOR PLEASURE - WHAT DO CLASSROOM TEACHERS WANT FROM LIBRARY SESSIONS?

The ramble is most definitely NOT a short one, and is still going. I am not sure where the journey will end up, but I am enjoying myself.

(I wasn’t thinking about resourcing/inquiry at this point, which is another big aspect of what we do.) • Exposure to new books. • Time for students to read. (Is this reading for pleasure in its purest form or is it nudging children towards something they might not normally read?)

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MAUNGARAKI NEW SCHOOL-PUBLIC LIBRARY PARTNERSHIP ANGELA CAIRNCROSS Maungaraki School Library is a new school-public library partnership that opened in March 2023 on the western hills of Lower Hutt. Article reprinted with permission from Te Rau Ora Library Life Issue 497, June 2023. School principal, Shane Robinson, is a Hutt Valley local who is passionate about this community and his school. He has been the principal at Maungaraki School for six years and says that “The school aspires to be the heart of the community”.

The building was already well underway when Shane reached out to Hutt City Libraries, hoping to gain support to open the library to the community outside of school hours. Liz Castle, Collections Services Manager at Hutt City Libraries, says that the library jumped at the opportunity.

Maungaraki School serves a diverse community and strongly values its school/community links. The school has been fast-growing over the last few years. As a result, the old library space was converted into two classrooms and the library was set up in a Portacom. This did a disservice to the students who wanted a quiet space, those who wanted to read, and the books. The ability of the Ministry of Education to build school libraries has been declining, says Shane. “We had to fight very hard to get this library here and it was the only one built over the last year.”

Jacquie Arnot, Shane Robinson, Darian Schulz and Liz Castle in the library space

The school lobbied over three years for a new library and community space, which was made possible by joint support from the school board, the community, and staff persistence. The school worked closely with the Ministry of Education to show that the resource was needed.

“We came for an initial meetup and to talk about what we could do, thinking it was anything from providing deleted book stock to running a full public library, and I was blown away. They (the school) didn’t want anything for themselves but for the community. And they already had the building.”

“We knew other models out there had worked well and I wanted to see what we could do with the public library. I saw this building as a community resource not just here for the school. So, we approached Hutt City Libraries.”

“It was a gift for us,” says Liz. The building was already here (this was December 2022) and there was no library presence in the area. Hutt City Libraries has eight library sites, all on the Hutt Valley floor area, yet around 20% of the Hutt Valley population live in the hills.”

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“Everyone was so excited about the library opening – the children, the Hutt City Council, the community. Yesterday I had 80-90 children in this space, and they just love it. But the librarian input here has been crucial,” says Shane. A very elderly lady came in when Jacqui Arnot was working in the library. The lady looked around in awe and commented, “I’ve lived in Maungaraki for years and years and I always wished this would happen – and here it is finally”. “It works for us too – it gives us a direct foothold into this community, and it allows us to provide professional library skills where they are needed,” says Jacquie, who is currently acting Neighbourhood Hubs Manager for Hutt City Libraries.

Maungaraki School Library. Image credit: Angie Cairncross

“While there is a boutique collection of books here, whatever you can get on the valley floor you can get at the Maungaraki library.” The school can keep the library well stocked with books and e-resources from the collections of Hutt City Libraries. SMART Libraries, a public and tertiary collaboration is available, and the school can now get the reference books that previously would be sourced from the National Library of New Zealand. “We had no idea what the shelving would look like or what books would be here. Many of the school’s existing book stock was unusable after being in the Portacom. The adult library books were put on portable shelves and are kept in a separate room during school time,” says Liz. Two days a week the school library space is used for Māori storytelling and classes come through other times to use the library. There are Māori whānau nights held after school hours and other community use of the space is currently being looked at. “It’s been a fantastic thing to be part of,” says Jacquie.

Students using the self-issue equipment. Image credit: Angie Cairncross

Shane says, “I didn’t expect too much –and so when we had the initial conversation and asked if we could have public library books here – I was blown away with their response”. “We did a lot of community surveys and consultation, and libraries and shared spaces were high on the list for the community.” There had been a space in front of the school earmarked for a library for years – but was never built. When Hutt City Libraries suggested that they supply the books and provide staff to enable the library to open after school hours and six days a week, Shane and the school board jumped at the offer, saying, “Let’s just make this happen.” Within three months the school library was opened, in March 2023.

“I was really impressed by the support we got,” says Liz. “We had a new manager who came on board last year. She took this to council senior management, and they made the call to just let the library get on with it.” Shane says, “There was a real need and a real solution, so it was hard to argue against. I’ve seen the joy it gives the community, but we can do much more with this space. I feel like it’s only the first step. The more community collaboration we can get the better.” Check out the enthusiasm of Maungaraki School students on Facebook.

There is a roster of professional librarians from Hutt City Libraries staffing the library which has been crucial to getting the library up and running. The school is currently seeking a school librarian. “We value the professionalism of librarianship, so we wanted to make sure our staff were involved, with two staff members available after school hours and Saturday,” says Liz. Volunteers now assist the public library staff members.

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SHOWCASING OUR BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR FOR CHILDREN AND YA SASHA EASTWOOD & CLARE FORREST We were lucky enough to attend the 2023 NZ Childrens and YA Book Awards which were held back in August, an event held annually to recognise and celebrate excellence in children’s and young adult’s literature in Aotearoa New Zealand. The awards began in 1982, as the New Zealand Government Publishing Awards with two categories, Children’s Book of the Year and Picture Book of the Year. After many names and iterations over the years, these awards are currently administered by the New Zealand Book Awards Trust. With more categories added over time it has grown to its current listing of six award 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). Since 2016, the crucial funding provided to the New Zealand Book Awards for Children and Young Adults by Creative New Zealand and LIANZA has been strengthened by the added support of sponsors HELL Pizza, Nielsen Book, Wellington City Council and Wright Family Foundation, who were all represented at the award ceremony. Pipitea Marae is certainly a stunning venue which set the stage nicely for an event to showcase the finalists and announce each of the category winners. It was an evening full of mana and smiles for an audience full of our literary finest and book industry stakeholders, congratulating finalists and winners on yet another year of quality publications that can be found in bookshops and libraries around the motu. These awards are judged by a panel of industry experts who spent their summer reading over 150 books to decide on the finalists for each category. We were particularly delighted that this year there was a youth voice added to support the judging panel with this hard task. We ‘interviewed’ the multitasking extraordinaire NZCYA Book Awards Administrator Joy Sellen about organising this aspect of these awards: WHAT WAS BEHIND THE DECISION TO BRING A ‘YOUTH VOICE’ TO THESE AWARDS?

There was a clear need to develop a slightly more structured process that gave judges comparable information about each book, in a way that was easy to digest. It was also important that this was an exercise that helped young readers to develop critical thinking skills, that made them think about the ideas in books, how writers use language, and how books are created – and how all these things combine to make great books. We also wanted young readers to feel that they were an integral part of the awards process, that the shortlisted books weren’t just ones that adults thought they ought to read but were books that young readers would actually want to read, that resonated with them in some way. HOW DID YOU CHOOSE THE SCHOOLS THAT PARTICIPATED? Time constraints meant that we had to limit the number of schools that could be involved this year, so we sent invitations out to around 30 schools countrywide that we knew had a record of regularly engaging with the awards – e.g. by entering the annual Back-a-Book video trailer competitions, attending Books Alive events or the Great NZ Book Trip online author events offered by the awards-associated HELL Reading Challenge, or creating amazing awards-related displays and events. 15 of these schools said they were interested in taking part, and we were able to include all of them in the process. DO YOU THINK YOU WILL REPEAT THIS OPPORTUNITY AGAIN NEXT YEAR? Absolutely! This year’s children’s panels programme follows a successful pilot in schools around Palmerston North last year. The 2022 and 2023 judges really valued the input from the young readers and referred back to their comments often during their deliberations. We’d like to give interested schools the opportunity to put their names forward for the 2024 awards before the end of this year, so we can start sending out books earlier next year, to give everyone more time to read and consider them. Photos by Vijay Paul (via NZ Book Awards Trust). Sasha Eastwood & Clare Forrest

Judges have always been encouraged to share books with young readers, to listen to what they say and use these insights to inform their decisions – but this has tended to be done fairly informally.

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Inside Pipitea Marae

Junior Fiction Award winner David Hill

Supreme Award winner Mat Tait

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BOOKS ABOUT BOOKS CLAUDINE CRABTREE I love books about books. Books about reading, books about libraries, and books about how to become a better librarian. I thought I would share some of my favourites, and a few others that might be of interest. Some are picture books, some are little books, and some are beautiful big books. They are each special in their own way, with information and advice, suggestions, book recommendations, illustrations, art, cartoons, quotes, laughs, and fun to be had within their pages. Enjoy and happy reading! MY FAVOURITES:

A VELOCITY OF BEING edited by Maria Popova and Claudia Bedrick

I WONDER BOOKSTORE by Shinsuke Yoshitake

The best and most beautiful book about reading – absolutely gorgeous and so wonderful to read aloud. Each double page spread is a short letter written to the young readers of today and tomorrow which shares how reading has sculpted the writer’s character and destiny. Each letter is paired with an illustrator, artist or graphic designer to bring the message to life visually. A joy to look at, read and share!

A delightful bestseller, first published in Japan, this charming illustrated book takes readers inside the magical realm of books, libraries, and bookstores.

A CHILD OF BOOKS by Oliver Jeffers

A stunning and timely creative callto-arms combining four extraordinary written pieces by Neil Gaiman. Drawn from Gaiman’s trove of published speeches, poems and creative manifestos, ‘ART MATTERS’ is an embodiment of this remarkable multimedia artist’s vision - an exploration of how reading, imagining, and creating can transform the world and our lives.

I am a child of books. I come from a world of stories. A little girl sails her raft across a sea of words, arriving at the house of a small boy. She invites him to go away with her on an adventure into the world of stories...where, with only a little imagination, anything at all can happen.

FUZZY DOODLE by Melinda Szymanik The metamorphosis of a caterpillar, the metamorphosis of a creative idea, the magic of creativity are all explored in this picture book. Language and artwork combine harmoniously to provide a rich experience for young readers.

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ART MATTERS by Chris Riddell and Neil Gaiman

A BOOK IS A BOOK by Jenny Bornholdt This book asks ‘What is a book?’ And celebrates books and reading. Although ‘told’ from a child’s view, it captures the value and magic of books felt by all voracious readers and is a perfect gift for book-lovers of all ages. A beautifully produced, small-format jacketed hardback with simple illustrations that are whimsical yet humorous.

THIS IS WHAT A LIBRARIAN LOOKS LIKE A delightful bestseller, first published in Japan, this charming illustrated book takes readers inside the magical realm of books, libraries, and bookstores.

PASSIONATE READERS by Pernille Ripp How do we inspire students to love reading and discovery? In Passionate Readers: The Art of Reaching and Engaging Every Child, classroom teacher, author, and speaker Pernille Ripp reveals the five keys to creating a passionate reading environment.

CREATING A SCHOOL LIBRARY WITH IMPACT by School Libraries Group of CILIP An introductory manual for anyone entering the exciting world of school librarianship. Everything you need to know and understand from day one of the role. Author visits, social media, reading schemes, information literacy, evaluating your library, space layout and so much more. passionate reading environment.

BOOK LOVE by Debbie Tung Bookworms rejoice! These charming comics capture exactly what it feels like to be head-over-heels for hardcovers. And paperbacks! And ebooks! And bookstores! And libraries!

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BANNED BOOKS – DK Books Banned Books explores why some of the world’s most important literary classics and seminal non-fiction titles were once deemed too controversial for the public to read, whether for challenging racial or sexual norms, satirizing public figures, or simply being deemed unfit for young readers.

BEDSIDE COMPANION FOR BOOK LOVERS edited by Jane McMorland Hunter Bedside Companion for Book Lovers contains an eclectic mix of fact and fiction, letters, diaries, essays and dedications, all suffused with the joys of books and reading. The perfect gift for the bibliophile in your life.

FOR THE LOVE OF BOOKS A Companion by Graham Tarrant Here is a light-hearted book about books and the people who write them for lovers of literature. A treasure trove of compelling facts, riveting anecdotes, and extraordinary characters, For the Love of Books is a book about books—and the inside stories about the people who write them.

WHEN YOU OPEN A BOOK by Caroline Derlatka “ An enchanting adventure that captures the spirit of storytelling.” ―Julian Lennon. A gorgeous book to read aloud and share with students of all ages.

HOW TO RAISE A READER by Pamela Paul and Maria Russo An indispensable guide to welcoming children—from babies to teens—to a lifelong love of reading, written by Pamela Paul and Maria Russo, editors of The New York Times Book Review.

I WILL JUDGE YOU BY YOUR BOOKSHELF by Grant Snider A look at the culture and fanaticism of book lovers, from the beloved New York Times illustrator and creator of Incidental Comics.

SCHOOL LIBRARIES SUPPORTING LITERACY AND WELLBEING by Margaret Merga Debates about literacy and how it can best be improved are never far from media headlines. However, relatively little consideration is given to the role that school libraries and their staff play in building and maintaining student literacy, despite research linking school libraries and qualified staff to student literacy gains. With the number of students who struggle with basic literacy skills increasing in many nations, school libraries can play an important role in improving the academic, vocational and social outcomes for these young people, thereby increasing their opportunities. Fostering student wellbeing is also a key priority for schools given the challenges young people face in current times.

THE CURIOUS READER READER, COME HOME by Maryanne Wolf The author of the acclaimed Proust and the Squid, follows up with a lively, ambitious, and deeply informative book that considers the future of the reading brain and our capacity for critical thinking, empathy, and reflection as we become increasingly dependent on digital technologies.

READING ENGAGEMENT FOR TWEENS AND TEENS by Margaret Merga Identifies evidence-backed and easy-toimplement strategies for encouraging young people to read, and helps you to position your library as an indispensable resource for supporting reading.

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Readers rejoice! Learn amazing facts about authors and their books, from Jane Austen to J.R.R. Tolkien. The ultimate book for lovers of literature. From Americanah to War and Peace, from Chinua Achebe and Jane Austen to Jesmyn Ward and George R.R. Martin, learn surprising facts about the world’s most famous novels and novelists. THE ENCHANTED HOUR by Meghan Cox Gurdon A Wall Street Journal writer’s conversation-changing look at how reading aloud makes adults and children smarter, happier, healthier, more successful and more closely attached, even as technology pulls in the other direction.

THE LITERARY ALMANAC

BOOK NERD by Holly Macguire

Discover over 300 seasonal book recommendations in the ultimate reading list for book lovers everywhere.

Charming, affectionate, and unabashed in its celebration of book nerdiness, this little love letter is for every avid reader. Every page is packed with bright, playful, intricately detailed illustrations by Holly Maguire, and wonderful mottos, definitions, relatable moments, and more.

BIBLIOPHILE by Jane Mount THE NOVEL CURE Structured like a reference book, readers simply look up their ailment, be it agoraphobia, boredom, or a midlife crisis, and are given a novel to read as the antidote. A novel is a story transmitted from the novelist to the reader. It offers distraction, entertainment, and an opportunity to unwind or focus. But it can also be something more powerful—a way to learn about how to live. Read at the right moment in your life, a novel can—quite literally—change it. THE STORY CURE The stories that shape our children’s lives are too important to be left to chance. With The Story Cure, bibliotherapists Ella Berthoud and Susan Elderkin have put together the perfect manual for grown-ups who want to initiate young readers into one of life’s greatest pleasures.

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Brimming with bookish treasures, all delightfully illustrated by avowed bibliophile, Jane Mount. • Find your next great read in lovingly curated stacks of books! • Test your knowledge of the written word with quizzes! • Sample the most famous fictional meals! • Peek inside the workspaces of their favourite authors! • Tour the world’s most beautiful bookstores! • And meet an adorable array of bookstore cats!

Contains Graphic Content reviews by Greig Daniels ENOLA HOLMES: THE GRAPHIC NOVELS: THE CASE OF THE PECULIAR PINK FAN, THE CASE OF THE CRYPTIC CRINOLINE, AND THE CASE OF BAKER STREET STATION (VOLUME 2) BY SERENA BLASCO ANDREWS MCMEEL | ISBN-13 : 978-1524871352 As a person of a certain age (ahem), I grew up reading lots of series fiction. One of my “go to” type of series was the mystery story. I accompanied Frank and Joe Hardy, Trixie Belden, Nancy Drew and the Three Investigators on their investigations. Clue finding and mystery solving were part of my reading life and led me on to other detective fiction as I grew older. My favourite was Alfred Hitchcock and the Three Investigators. I was interested in the movies even then! Nancy Drew and the Hardy Boys moved into other media and managed to find a place in our literary consciousness. There’s even a current Nancy Drew television series. There are also a slew of teen detective novels with protagonists from other media ranging from Veronica Mars to Velma from Scooby Doo! One of the media that kid detectives moved into was comics. The comics’ publishing model was the bastard child of Edward Stratemeyers publishing empire that Included Frank, Joe and Nancy. The use of house names (a fictitious author name that covered a host of writers writing in a prescribed style) continuing series in all genres such as The Rover Boys, Tom Swift etc, meant that numerous uncredited writers turned out the exploits of all these characters and they were updated for each succeeding generation. The comics industry followed suit. There are two detective series in comics at present that have caught my eye. One is “Enola Holmes” and the other is the more adult-themed “Friday” by Ed Brubaker The graphic novel adventures of Enola Holmes are based on a series of young adult novels by Nancy Springer. The novels have been adapted into graphic form by Serena Blasco and translated from French by Tanya Gold.

Enola Holmes, as the name implies, is part of the Holmes family and is younger sister to Sherlock and Mycroft Holmes. In the original stories their mother has disappeared, and Enola uses the family skills to find her. Her brothers don’t want her to be involved and so force her back home. She escapes and sets out to find her mother. In the interim she sets up her own detective practice and solves mysteries. The graphic novels have been published in English and each volume contains three stories and background matter. Volume Two contains “The Case of the Peculiar Pink Fan”, “The Case of the Cryptic Crinoline” and “The Case of The Baker Street Station”. The mysteries are well written, and Enola is a charming and resourceful protagonist. She has the skills of her brother and like Sherlock, is adept at disguises and mimicry. There is much information about social life in the Victorian era and in “The Case of the Peculiar Pink Fan”, Enola moves in high society to help a young woman in distress. The adaptations are well done and move along briskly. Blasco works in a loose cartoon-like style, but attention is paid to period details, and she also uses a charming colour palette that gives the effect of water colour or wash drawings to the page. My only regrets are that sometimes the art is too cartoony and therefore the threats lack menace. Her Enola is perhaps too cartoony to be believable and the character design isn’t always pleasing. The other thing missing from the settings is the dark, murky fog and mysterious night scenes of Conan Doyle’s London which add real atmosphere to the adventures of Sherlock Holmes. However, the series is entertaining and would be suited to readers from Year 7 to 10.

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Ed Brubaker has worked in both mainstream Marvel and DC comics, and in the independent publishing field. He is most well-regarded for his crime series, “Criminal” (about a low-level family of Boston criminals, the pulpy 60s “Reckless” detective series, the movie focussed crime series “Fadeout”, and the quasi-horror series “Fatale”. He knows his crime fiction and writes well about the American criminal underworld in a fresh way. His best work has been done with artist Sean Phillips, but in “Friday” he works with another accomplished artist, Marcos Martin. I felt a little ripped off by “Friday Volume One”. Its small format and negligible page count made me a little concerned. “Friday” started life as a web comic and while I always enjoy both Brubaker and Martin, I was a little concerned going in. The initial articles I read about “Friday” indicated it was about two teen detectives who had grown up. However, “Friday” is quite a bit more than that. The main character is Friday Fitzhugh who is returning to her hometown of King’s Hill. Friday is concerned about reconnecting with Lancelot Jones, her crime solving partner. She is speedily drawn into pursuit of a local criminal with her old friend. It seems like nothing has changed between them, but there are undertones of a crack in their relationship before she left for college. The story is told through Friday’s eyes as she discovers secrets in the town of King’s Hill, a New England town that would make H P Lovecraft proud.

Brubaker’s story has darker tones with a more adult feel. He makes Friday an intriguing character with distinct mannerisms and dialogue. She is a forthright and tough young woman who holds a certain amount of anger within. Her old friend Lancelot Jones is a little more lightly drawn, a character of more intellect than emotion. I did find the teen emotion and horror a bit of a difficult mix with one or two moments that didn’t ring true, but Brubaker’s narrative plot drives the story along. Marcos Martins’ clear line, character depiction, storytelling, and design sense all come into play here. His depiction of character is realistic, portraying a young woman who is confident and dynamic. Martin’s depiction of winter in King’s Hill is very well done, and his storytelling skills really shine in certain sequences. The chase in the forest in Chapter One, the meeting of Friday and the White Lady and the long winding journey to find Lancelot in Chapter Three are all well portrayed. Initially published as a web comic, “Friday” feels more substantive on the page. Despite my reservations about the format issues, the story works better as a book. Even though I had misgivings about some of the plot elements, I enjoyed the story and art, and would recommend this story to readers from Year 11 -13. NB: Those interested in the publishing phenomena of the Hardy Boys and Nancy Drew are encouraged to find and read “The Mysterious Case of Nancy Drew and the Hardy Boys by Marvin Heiferman and Carole Kismaric, a fascinating publishing history of these fictional characters.

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Book Reviews I AM AUTISTIC AND THIS IS ADHD – BY CHANELLE MORIAH Reviewed by Becky Howie, Middleton Grange Libraries Manager These home-grown books are must-have resources on the shelves at your school library, and in your bookcase at home. If you have neurodiverse students in your school (and believe me, you do), these books belong in your library. Detailing the many symptoms and variations within Autism and ADHD, I am Autistic and This is ADHD are ideal for educating adolescents and adults about these neurodevelopmental conditions. In these books, dignity is restored and reaffirmed to those with Autism and or ADHD. Whether diagnosed or not, someone who experiences many of the symptoms detailed will find comfort and genuine help within the pages of these books. The books themselves are beautiful and feature illustrations by the author. The language is easy to read, and significant concepts are made comprehensible, no matter the reader’s familiarity with the topics.

There is plenty of space for taking notes about each symptom which makes these books ideal for recording anecdotes, personal thoughts and experiences relating to the conditions, and for taking to diagnostic assessments and appointments. I recommend keeping them as referenceonly books in school libraries. This is not only because the pages are rather inviting for notetaking and doodling, but also to make them readily accessible for anyone and everyone intrigued. Display them face-out, and watch as students and staff peruse them with awe and delight. Give a firm word to anyone who chooses to make fun, and don’t be tempted to hide the books away because of it. Realise that in keeping them on display, you are helping to destigmatise these conditions, and giving everyone the opportunity to learn and grow.

FINDING GRACE KIMIHIA A GRACE – BY EMMA HINTON ILLUSTRATED BY NICKY HARTLEY Reviewed by Esther Casey, Teacher Librarian, Sylvia Park School The sing-song poetry of this bilingual book invites the reader and listener to explore their near environment, to notice the world and be still enough to appreciate the grace of what is around us. It is not a long story, just perfect for a slow savouring of the words and pictures with plenty of time for movement through drama or dance related to what Grace is experiencing. It would even work as a guided relaxation or - hardly surprisingly - a gorgeous read aloud outside under a tree, with the taonga of light and wind and leaves around you.

The images are stunning with backgrounds created by children which gives every picture energy and movement, and there are hidden treasures to find on the pages. This beautiful self-published book is a real treat for little people and their grownups, and I think it will become a classic in families, early learning settings and schools. Find teacher resources, events and purchase books from thelightlibrary.com

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LUCY BEE & SOLINE – BY ANNE INGRAM Reviewed by Lauryn Urquhart Lucy Bee & Soline is the third book in the Lucy Bee series, but you don’t need to have read the first two to enjoy this story. Fifteen-year-old Lucy lives a comfortable existence as an only child with her parents on the Kapiti Coast. When she welcomes French exchange student Soline to stay, she realises that she knows very little about the history of her surroundings and that of New Zealand as a country, nor does she have a plan for her future. Soline’s family lives in a chateau that has been in their family for generations, so this has given her an appreciation of her family history and is passionate about guardianship of the land for future generations. She is struck by the fact that New Zealand’s history seems less valued and says to Lucy “I think that you people do not value your history. What the people have done before you, good and bad, they make us who we are.”

This starts both girls on a path to understand more about New Zealand history and the effects of colonisation. When Soline receives bad news from home - that her family are on the brink of losing the chateau - she begins to see parallels with New Zealand writer, Patricia Grace’s battle to hold onto her ancestral land. Things only get worse as Soline’s grandmother has a heart-attack, so she must go back home. Soline’s mother asks that Lucy accompany her on the long flight. Upon Lucy’s arrival at the chateau, she is taken with the antiques and ancient weavings that have been preserved by past generations. With the help of Soline’s mother, Eleanor, Lucy begins a journey of self-discovery and at the same time unwittingly discovers a solution that will stop Soline’s family from losing the chateau.

HONEY TROUBLE – BY ASTRID KEIR-STANLEY ILLUSTRATIONS BY TASNEEM AMIRUDDIN Reviewed by Lauryn Urquhart This picture book is just a delight which reinforces the importance of kindness and friendship. Pip the little honey bee has not yet found her special talent despite trying all kinds of things. When her teacher announces a honey-making competition, Pip thinks this might be her chance to prove her talent by using her hive’s special honey recipe. Disaster strikes in the form of her classmate Alfie! Will Pip forgive him?

With whimsical illustrations and good narrative flow, this will make a nice class read aloud. It will also lend itself well as a supporting resource for a study unit on bees, as it has some good information on planting, pollination and an experiment in the back. Thank you to Astrid Keir-Stanley for the free review copy.

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This book will appeal to teen readers with an interest in history, travel or art, or maybe just a sense of adventure. Written in dual points of view, it is interesting to read both Lucy and Soline’s perspectives as they both explore what turangawaewae and heritage mean to them, both in New Zealand and in France. This book would also be a good supporting resource for the New Zealand histories curriculum. Thank you to Anne Ingram for the free review copy.

SKANDAR AND THE UNICORN THIEF – BY A.F. STEADMAN Reviewed by Michele Coombridge A wonderful fantasy adventure with all the feels and vibe of the Harry Potter years. Children on the mainland spend years studying to take their Hatchery exam. Passing the exam allows you to be taken to ‘The Island’, where semi-ferocious unicorns are bred and trained by honoured students who pass the bonding test.

Skandar successfully bonds with his unicorn egg, but hatches a unicorn with the colourings associated with evil. Skandar learns his unicorn is of the Spirit element; the element of death. Should anyone else realise this, Skandar could be expelled and never get to compete or become a dragon rider. Exciting and fun with a good plot and delightful friendships. 5/5 stars.

REBEL SKIES – BY ANN SEI LIN Reviewed by Michele Coombridge I listened to this one on Libby and loved hearing the Japanese pronunciation roll off the narrator’s tongue. I’m trying to get Wheelers to purchase the eAudio because it was really, so good. Rebel Skies is a fantasy suitable for readers from 8 to 12. It has wonderful world building featuring origami magical creations, airships, and sky cities all dominated by an evil princess.

The evil princess has created an empire of control by keeping the libraries of ancient knowledge and history away from the Crafters, who are mystic magicians. Separating them from this knowledge keeps them from understanding their purpose and their full power. Ends in a bit of a hurry, and will leave the reader in suspense. 4/5 stars.

KNIGHT OWL – BY CHRISTOPHER DENISE Reviewed by Michele Coombridge This picture book is just too cute. Caldecott Honor Winner and New York Times Bestseller 2023 Owl has always dreamed of becoming a real knight. He works very hard to qualify at Knight School and offers his services as a noble protector of the castle wall. He is very proud of his work, and the protectors

appreciate Owl and need him, as many of the workers seem to be disappearing. While out on duty owl witnesses what trouble can really look like. But with his smarts and bravery (and an enticing box of pizza) he saves the day and makes a new friend. A 5/5-star picture book where the illustrations and text are equally excellent.

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NIGHT TRIBE – BY PETER BUTLER Reviewed by Chris Reed (NZ Booklovers) Peter Butler’s newest novel, Night Tribe brings together so much of what is great about young adult fiction: suspense, drama, excitement, and wonderful writing. The novel is a reminder of how good storytelling can be. Set in quintessential New Zealand, the plot centres on Millie and Toby struggling through the dense kiwi bush to find help for their mum who has broken her leg. Through their adventures they find themselves seemingly watched and tracked which causes all kinds of suspicions and speculations keeping the audience guessing as much as the characters themselves.

Butler has a way of creating just the right amount of dialogue to bring the characters to life and to show appreciation for the world and its inhabitants. Overall, this is a quality piece of writing that takes the reader on a journey of their own. It’s magical, immersive, funny, and brilliantly paced for anyone who loves a darn good yarn…it really is one of those stories that ticks every box for any lover of adventure stories.

NEW DAWNING: THE EDGE OF LIGHT TRILOGY BOOK 1 – A.M. DIXON Reviewed by Chris Reed (NZ Booklovers) A.M. Dixon is a writer with a strong pedigree with her visions of post-apocalyptic worlds in her writing. In New Dawning - the first of the Edge of Light trilogy Dixon introduces Planet Earth resembling what we have now, but in the grips of the ramifications of drastic climate change… the main character Merel must find her way through some of the harshest conditions in order to survive. One key aspect is the ‘voice of the child’ which is a ceremony that occurs every seven years in the community. A ten year old starts their journey at the beginning of this novel - Estelle - only things aren’t all what they seem. Merel, 16 years old in the story, is one brought up by scientist parents who are often overlooked in this government controlled environment.

It is this tension, where political endeavour beats out science, that the real thrust of the novel sits. Dixon shows the impacts of poor governing leading up to the cataclysmic event as a message to those in power to take more note of the changes in weather, temperature, and rainfall, and how there will be long term ramifications if nothing is done to counter the carbon emissions. But it isn’t preachy or heavy handed, just saddening. It’s a fantastically enjoyable read and one that will surely entertain adolescent and adult readers alike.

Collected Magazine // www.slanza.org.nz

THE OTHER BROTHER – BY JAX CALDER Reviewed by Chris Reed (NZ Booklovers) Ryan has had seventeen years of being compared to Cody, part of his toxic fractured family, so you’ll forgive him for some epic eye-rolling when it comes to Mr Perfect. Although not related to him by blood, Cody has always been annoying background noise in Ryan’s life. It doesn’t help that Cody’s a high achieving musician, while Ryan’s life ambition doesn’t extend past catching the next wave.

One summer changes everything. It’s the summer when they become friends. And then more than friends. This moving, witty, and heartwarming romance encourages us all to be true to ourselves and to follow our hearts. Jax Calder is a top-selling writer in Amazon’s Teen & LGBTQ Romance category.

THREE WORD REVIEWS – BY RICCARTON HIGH SCHOOL BOOK CLUB Doritos, Oreos, and Books. Here’s what they are reading and their three-word (ish) reviews.

HARRY POTTER AND THE GOBLET OF FIRE…again… Magicky. Mystery. Competition.

SPIN BY REBECCA CAPRARA Feminist. Weaving. Mythology.

Collected Magazine // www.slanza.org.nz

MORE THAN JUST A PRETTY FACE BY SYED MASOOD Romantic. Delicious. Culture.

STRAIGHT UP BY RUBY TUI… Yr10 Readers Cup read Emotional. Inspiring. Educational.

DINOSAUR SANCTUARY 1 BY ITARU KINOSHITA Adorable. Jurassic. Realistic.

UNWIND BY NEAL SHUSTERMAN…another Yr10 Readers Cup read

THE FORGOTTEN GARDEN BY KATE MORTON Family. History. Fairy-tales.

Surgery. Dystopia. Soul.

THE SAVIOR’S BOOK CAFÉ STORY IN ANOTHER WORLD. Manga 1 by Omiya Isekai. Cosy. Romantic.

Collected Magazine // www.slanza.org.nz

THE BETROTHED BY KIERA CASS “She’s falling in love”.

Business Members

What about the books? Tips to get more engagement in your library While they are a fundamental aspect of the library, the humble book can be overlooked as more digital means of reading compete for students’ attention. These physical books are often also harder to promote outside the library walls and even within them in some cases. While technology can sometimes overshadow more traditional forms of reading, there are many ways that technology can be used to help champion your physical books. So, to give you a little inspiration we’ve pulled together our favourite ways the Accessit Web App can be used to help promote the books in your library! BOOK CAROUSELS These helpful little widgets mean that you can put any books you want on a rotating display for all your students to see. Carousels can draw data from any reading list and highlight the books within it. You could also have a carousel for new arrivals, books that were recently reviewed by staff or students, or just a handpicked collection of your choice. Carousels are a fun, dynamic way to make sure that your books don’t go unnoticed. CREATE A NEWS ITEM While carousels are great for highlighting a list of books, what happens when there’s a specific book that you want to give a little bit of extra love? That’s where News Items come in. You can create a new item displaying all the relevant information for your desired book, including the title, author, cover image and summary from the catalogue record. This means that users won’t even need click on a book before they start getting pulled in. EMBED VIDEOS Getting students to engage with books can be difficult but with the use of additional media like videos, you’ll be able to drum up some extra attention. The Accessit Webb App can host videos from sites like YouTube and Vimeo, meaning you can have book trailers, author interviews, movie trailers, and even book review videos right there on your page. Who doesn’t like an album more after they’ve seen the band live? EMBED PODCASTS Videos aren’t the only media that can be readily added to your Web App homepage, Podcasts are another useful tool for book promotion. You can embed author and illustrator interviews, book reviews, or even recordings of books being read aloud so that students can follow along💕 SYNDETICS UNBOUND ProQuest’s Syndetics Unbound could bring a whole new level of engagement to your catalogue. The additional data that Syndetics brings means that when students are exploring books, they’ll be shown a list of similar books from your catalogue, a list of similar authors, as well as any further books that might be in that series. With this data readily available to them, it will be even easier for students to find their next book. DASHBOARDS Accessit’s Web App allows you to create multiple dashboards for specific year levels, topics, or even events. These topic specific dashboards can be used to highlight specific books related to their topic and can be filled with other relevant supporting content. Create a Dashboard for a specific author, or a specific genre like poetry or graphic novels. Accessit even has some ready-made dashboards ready for you to download and customise and populate with your own books.

Collected Magazine // www.slanza.org.nz

Business Members

REVIEWS Book reviews are not only useful for students looking for books they might enjoy but is also a fun and engaging alternative to traditional book reports and reading logs. Through the Web App, students can like a book, give it a star rating, and even write a full review. Many schools have encouraged students to get involved by giving out prizes for the best review, which is a great way to boost engagement, enhance your schools reading culture and build a buzz around reading. COMPETITIONS In addition to the hunt for the best review, there are many other book-based competitions that Accessit can help you facilitate. You could give a shout out to the most popular book each month, to encourage students to recommend their favourite books to friends in the hope that it wins. Another idea could be to award prizes to the most active library borrowers; this data is easy to find with Accessit’s reporting features. SUBMISSIONS One of the best ways to ensure that students are engaging with the books in your library is to make sure that you have the right books. Google or Microsoft forms are a great way to set up a digital suggestion box from your staff and students to you. The Web App can host links to forms like ‘suggested books’ where students can suggest books that they would be interested in seeing added to your collection. Allowing students to have a say over the library catalogue also helps foster a sense of ownership and connection to the books within your library. These methods are a simple way of ensuring that your books are not forgotten. By not only highlighting the books themselves but the act of reading overall, you’ll be able to foster a strong reading culture within your school, and ensure that students have a healthy appetite for reading. So why not take 10 minutes to create some book carousels and news items on your Web App, and show your book collection some love. For any questions feel free to contact our support team at 0800 542 727! You can also read more about building a school wide reading culture on our website at https://accessitlibrary.com/project/creating-a-school-wide-readingculture/

Collected Magazine // www.slanza.org.nz

BWB’s 2023 catalogue is out now! Includes a full listing of books and Texts, our expanding BWB Talks Online videos programme, and details to access our digital BWB Collections and Education Outreach offerings. Click through to view the catalogue or contact us: info@bwb.co.nz

Collected Magazine // www.slanza.org.nz

Business Members

Gale Support Hub for New Zealand School Libraries

The Gale Support Hub is designed to help New Zealand Schools get the most out of your EPIC Gale subscriptions. Scan the QR code below to access or go to: https://www.gale.com/intl/anz-epic-schools. MATERIALS INCLUDE: • Training videos & Documents • Technical Support (access, support, statistics, MARC records) • Marketing (newsletters, guides, posters, social media images) New support materials & videos are added regularly to the hub. Contact Lynette Lewis & Alison Foster, Gale ANZ Tech Support for more information about the Gale Hub.

Collected Magazine // www.slanza.org.nz

FREE LIBRARY DESIGN CONSULTATION 45

To celebrate the pay equity settlement for all Aotearoa's hard working school Librarians and assistants, int. workspaces is offering a free library consultation to plan your next library upgrade or refurbish.

LOVE YOUR LIBRARY - WE DO! BOOK YOUR DESIGN CONSULTATION TODAY

0800 884 887

customercare@intworkspaces.co.nz www.intworkspaces.co.nz

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Business Members

NEW FROM ONE TREE HOUSE OUT OF THE EGG BILINGUAL EDITIONS English / Chinese | 9781990035272 English / Tongan | 9781990035265 English / Niuean | 9781990035326 $40.00 | 32PP | PB | 4+ | FICTION https://www.onetreehouse.co.nz/product-page/out-of-the-egg REVIEW: Out of the Egg is a beautiful book with fantastic woodcut prints and lyrical text that turns the tale of the Little Red Hen upside down . . . This book is timeless. Its message is about conservation. It is strikingly illustrated by author/illustrator Tina Matthews. – MYECE (www.myece.org.nz) Winner of the NZCYA Best First Book – 2008 THE OTHER BROTHER Jax Calder 9781990035319 | $27.00 | PB |288 PP | 13+ | FICTION Jax Calder is a top selling writer in the Amazon’s Teen & LGBTQ Romance category. A blistering read of first love, family tensions, parental expectations, and a secret that shredded a family. A stunning read. Dive in. You’ll love it! – Whatbooknext.com . . . snuggle up with a good cup or glass or tumbler and let these two young men capture your imagination, and more than that your heart, in an exceptional love story that we should all be so lucky to experience. – Reader review AMAZON https://www.onetreehouse.co.nz/product-page/the-other-brother

NIGHT TRIBE Peter Butler 9781990035333 | $27.00 | PB | 456PP | 12+ | FICTION Incredibly imaginative and authentic at the same time. Absolutely loved this gripping tale of caves, courage and people of the dark. – WhatBookNext.com Night Tribe really is one of those stories that ticks every box for any lover of adventure stories. – Chris Reed (NZ Booklovers) https://www.onetreehouse.co.nz/product-page/night-tribe CHECK OUT OUR EXTENSIVE COLLECTION OF E-BOOKS, BOTH NEW AND CLASSIC NEW ZEALAND READS HERE: https://www.onetreehouse.co.nz/e-books

Collected Magazine // www.slanza.org.nz

SLANZA is committed to providing quality professional development opportunities to its members, and we are very grateful for the ongoing sponsorship of professional development provided by Book Protection Products. This sponsorship is invaluable and greatly appreciated by the National Executive as it significantly broadens options for regional committees. The funding provided by The Book Protection Products team goes to the regional committees so they can organise professional development sessions that will fulfill your personal learning needs. Please continue to support Book Protection Products as they are SLANZA’s major sponsor, and if you have an idea or topic for professional development in your area, let your committee know!

BUSINESS MEMBERSHIP Business members support the work of SLANZA. Current members are:

WHY SHOULD YOU JOIN SLANZA The benefits of membership include: Connection and networking with other school library staff locally Discounted conference and professional development registrations Support for school libraries at a national level Opportunities to gain skills and professional development from people who do what you do Opportunity to apply for the SLANZA awards Opportunity to apply for study grant assistance with library–related studies Permission to use the cover images of publications of major publishing houses Access to the LIANZA professional registration scheme Access to our collection of Professional Development eBooks Fee-free study opportunities with the Open Polytechnic

Book Protection Products Limited Accessit Software Limited Bibliotheca

NEWS + CONTACT

Bridget Wilson Books Britannica Digital Learning Asia Pacific Cengage Digital Inclusion Alliance Aotearoa

If you’re not sure who does what or who can help you, check out our Contact page on our website. It links to all region representatives.

EDU SER AUS LTD SCIS

Follow our blog for up to date information

Education Television and Video Communications Trust

Check out our Facebook page.

eplatform Harper Collins

SLANZA Members can also join our group or follow us on Twitter

Int.workspaces KOWHAI LIMITED (NZ Geographic) The Library Supply Company Library Tech NZ Overdrive Perform Education Softlink Pacific Limited One Tree House Wheelers

Collected Magazine // www.slanza.org.nz