SLANZA 10 years on

slanza_headerHappy Birthday to the School Library Association of New Zealand Aotearoa (SLANZA) whose members are meeting in Auckland and via video conference this afternoon to celebrate their 10 year anniversary, and to conduct the 2010 AGM.

We extend congratulations to current SLANZA President, Senga White and to recently announced President-elect Fiona Mackie, and wish the association all the best for the next 10 years.

SLANZA was launched in 2000 with the vision of strengthening and promoting the role of school libraries and enabling all school communities to become information literate, and has already had many successes in delivering the goals it sets itself to:

  • provide a national voice for school library teams
  • advocate for the critical role of school libraries in reading, teaching and learning
  • improve the professional standing, working conditions and qualifications for all staff involved with school libraries
  • support professional development through conferences, network meetings and regular newsletters
  • develop links with associated national and international professional organisations.

SLANZA conferences are always friendly and professionally stimulating events and planning is underway for July 2011 at St Cuthbert’s College, Auckland. Check out also the stunning latest issue of Collected magazine.

International School Library Day 2010

The SCIS team extends greetings and best wishes to school library staff everywhere as International School Library Day 2010 is celebrated today in Australia.

ISLD logo

Diversity Challenge Resilience
School Libraries Have it All

This year’s theme reflects well the reality of students, schools and collections diversifying, of the challenge of new buildings and technologies, and of the resilience required by library staff, systems and associations.
It also reminds us that good school libraries deliver positive outcomes in so many areas: cultural diversity, multiliteracies, literature and community learning.

Further information about International School Library Month is available from the International Association of School Librarianship and 2010 Coordinator Marie O’Brien.

A number of celebration events and awards are part of this significant day.

Australian Teacher Librarian of the Year Award 2010

Congratulations to Janice Wilson from Lake Tuggeranong College, ACT for winning the Australian Teacher Librarian of the Year 2010 awarded by the Australian School Library Association (ASLA) and Pledger Consulting (LinksPlus/Weblinks).
Described as a curriculum leader and effective manager in a very complex school library-public library environment, Janice exemplifies the criteria for this award as an exceptional Australian teacher librarian in a school setting whose professional practice has a positive impact on student achievement and information literacy. ASLA describes the role of a teacher librarian as having three key professional specialisations: curriculum leader, information specialist, and information services manager.

ASLA NSW Teacher Librarian of the Year 2010

NSW Teacher Librarian of the Year 2010 is Elizabeth Greef, St Andrew’s Cathedral School. Elizabeth’s citation refers to her work managing the resourcing of new programmes in the school including the International Baccalaureate and Gawura, the school’s indigenous program.

ASLA Tasmania Teacher Librarian of the Year 2010

Tasmanian Teacher Librarian of the Year is Kate Reid, of the Kindergarten – Year 8 Library at The Hutchins School Tasmania
Connect with @katemreid on twitter

Western Australian School Library Association

WASLA is holding an International School Library Day dinner in Subiaco tonight to celebrate the announcement of awards.
WA Teacher Librarian of the Year is Jane Graham, Wesley College, South Perth
WA Library Officer of the Year is Bronwyn Hogg, Helena College

School Library Association of Victoria online

SLAV celebrates today by inviting you to join in an Elluminate online webconferencing session at 11.00am (AEDST – check your time zone here) to launch the 2012 National Year of Reading (NYOR). Get your headset on, follow the link to Elluminate and join Sue McKerracher who will present details of the NYOR and the promotional material that is available for you to use in gaining support and interest at your school.

So how did you spend International School Library Day? We’d love to hear about it.