Community Profile

Emily Belton

Youth Development Facilitator

I was born and raised in Greymouth, West Coast, before moving to Lincoln to complete my Sport & Recreation Management degree at Lincoln University (2015). While in my final year I was offered the job of Youth & Development Coordinator at Bowls Canterbury which I accepted, even though I had never played bowls before. I was employed by Bowls Canterbury from 2014–2021. Even though I have left Bowls Canterbury, Bowls is still a big part of my life, as I am on my Bowling Club’s executive committee, I play competitively, and coach at both Club and Representative Levels. Also in my spare time, I enjoy playing netball during the winter, instructing Zumba, and I am currently training for the National CrossFit Team event in October, and when possible I like to head home to the Coast for the weekend to go water skiing with family. It was also at Lincoln University that I met my now husband, Jordan. We have been together for eight years, married in December 2020 after our first date being delayed due to COVID. We also have our dog, Charlie who is two and a Fox terrier cross. Now, I am excited to be moving to a new challenge at the Waimakariri District Council as the Youth Development Facilitator. I am looking forward to this change and figuring out how I can support the youth community in Waimakariri District. Feel free to contact me Monday to Friday 8.30am–4.30pm on emily.belton@wmk.govt.nz or phone 0800 965 468. I look forward to meeting everyone soon.

Local Heritage Coordinators

Sally O’Connell and Beth Tavui have recently been appointed as Local Heritage Coordinators. This is another New Zealand Libraries Partnership Programme position for a term of 12 months. After an initial planning meeting Sally and Beth have identified five key areas to focus on over their term. This includes: the New Zealand collections across all the branches, building relationships with our district’s museums and special interest groups, assessing and working out the support required for local schools with the changes coming next year for the Aotearoa/New Zealand histories curriculum, heritage events and further developing the libraries’ digitisation programme. Sally has lived in t 210629105756 he Waimakariri District all her life and Beth for over 20 years. Between them and their connections in our local community they hope to make a real difference to our libraries’ heritage sector. They both bring a passion and enthusiasm for making these projects happen. They want everybody to feel included and have a voice. Their aim is for our fascinating history to be brought alive and for it to have more prominence and visibility in our libraries.

Feel free to contact Sally and Beth.

Sally’s contact details:

Sally’s hours: Monday 8am-4pm & Tuesday-Friday 8am-3pm Email: sally.oconnell@wmk.govt.nz or phone: 03 311 8901

Beth’s contact details:

Beth’s hours: Monday/Tuesday 8.30am-5pm & Wednesday/Thursday 10.30am-5pm Email: beth.tavui@wmk.govt.nz or phone: 03 311 8901