Download our 2023-2026 strategy, Leading Together.
Introduction
A renewed identity
NSLA became an incorporated association in February 2022 after five decades of collaboration between its ten member libraries.
This coalition between the national, state and territory libraries of Australia and New Zealand provides a vehicle to tackle some of the library sector’s most intractable challenges, and creates real opportunities to make change for the common good.
Among our greatest collective achievements are the ‘big bang’ Reimagining Libraries program, revolutionising our approach to library collections, services and collaboration; collaborative newspaper digitisation; tools and public campaigns to further digital collecting and preservation; development of online virtual reference services; consortium purchase of online databases; training in cultural capability and working with First Nations collections; and the National edeposit service (NED), collecting all Australian electronic publications.
Our vision
Our vision is that our collective action creates long-term benefits for our libraries and communities. In order to achieve this, we must ensure that:
- our collections are connected, rich and sustainable
- libraries are at the heart of the cultural life of Australia and Aotearoa New Zealand
- our workforce is skilled and diverse
- libraries are trusted and valued.
Our mission
Our mission as an association is to share knowledge, resources and expertise to advance our libraries and to drive positive, respectful change for the benefit of Australians and New Zealanders.
We do this by supporting professional staff networks and advisory groups, funded projects, research, shared digital infrastructure, collaboration with external organisations, submissions to government, and creation of policies, guidelines, and resources for the library sector.
Members of NSLA acknowledge the Traditional Custodians and Kaitiaki of the lands on which our libraries do their daily work. We are committed to making libraries culturally safe places and to working with First Nations communities and collections in culturally informed and respectful ways.
Our strategic direction
This strategic plan considers the shared priorities of NSLA libraries and identifies where we can be most effective as a collective at this particular moment in time. Individual member libraries will continue to pursue their own jurisdictional strategic objectives alongside the collaborative program.
See below for our four shared strategic priorities for 2023-2026.
Collections
We will evolve our understanding of and approach to collection development and stewardship.
NSLA libraries recognise the need for critical librarianship in the way that we acquire, describe, manage and store collections. This means that we need to be open to interrogating our selection decisions, adapting and updating our use of descriptive language, and respecting cultural protocols that may be attached to collections. Our approach to collection development and stewardship continues to be guided by a combination of library science, data, and relationships. We must also continue to respond to changes in technology – both advantageous and problematic – that govern what and how we collect digitally, and how accessible those digital collections may be.
First Nations
We will strengthen respectful and responsive relationships between libraries, First Nations library graduates, leaders and professionals, and tangata whenua.
NSLA libraries will continue making changes to policy and practice in order to sustain and insist upon culturally informed and respectful ways of working with First Nations colleagues, communities and collections. We will continue to build and monitor cultural safety for staff within our institutions, with a view to making NSLA libraries welcoming, supportive and desirable places to work for First Nations graduates, leaders and professionals in the sector. Through this continued effort and demonstrated change within each institution, we will strive to build stronger and more enduring relationships between libraries and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander, Māori and Pasifika communities in Australia and Aotearoa.
People
We will recognise and share expertise; develop our people.
Library professionals are driven to help others to seek and learn. NSLA libraries recognise that we must also foster this culture of seeking and learning among ourselves and our colleagues, rewarding curiosity and facilitating lifelong learning. We will continue to provide opportunities for collaboration, and to develop the skills required to collaborate well. We will nourish optimism, courage and tenacity among staff in the work that we do together. We will provide and promote accessible professional development events and resources that draw upon the expertise of colleagues within and outside of NSLA libraries.
Audience and advocacy
We will champion equity, access, and the value of libraries.
NSLA’s fifty-year history as a collaboration is founded upon advocacy. We will continue this tradition by speaking on behalf of NSLA libraries and the sector more broadly through government submissions, stakeholder engagement, publications, presentations, social media, and representation on external sector committees with specific agendas for change. We will push for greater visibility as a voice to government and within the GLAM sector, championing the value of libraries and the principles of open and equitable access to information for all.
