The NSLA Board met last week over two days of online meetings. This provided a forum for Board Directors to review the progress of ongoing work across the NSLA program, and to begin discussions and set directions for future work that will continue NSLA’s mission, which is to advance Australia and Aotearoa New Zealand’s national, state and territory libraries and to drive positive, respectful change for the benefit of Australians and New Zealanders.
Topics for discussion included approaches to public library statistics and how to most effectively tell stories and engage with audiences to champion the value of libraries; respectful stewardship of First Nations community collections; implementation of Official RDA within the Australian library context; the intersection of emerging AI technologies with library collections and operations; and the upcoming fifth anniversary of the National edeposit service (NED), which was officially launched on 16 August 2019, and continues as a world-class example of library collaboration for the benefit of creators, publishers and library users.
NSLA meetings, which are scheduled three times per year, are also a valuable opportunity for the Board to recognise and share in the expertise of the library sector across Australia and Aotearoa New Zealand. Last week, the Board heard guest presentations on the strategic priorities of LIANZA and ALIA, and State Library of Queensland’s First Nations Strategy.
The meeting also coincided with NSLA’s AGM, at which outgoing chair Sue McKerracher presented the 2023-2024 Annual Report and reflected on NSLA’s achievements over the past year. The Annual Report has now been deposited into NED and is accessible via Trove. With Sue McKerracher’s departure from the NSLA Board, members extended a warm ‘welcome back’ to Patrick Gregory (Acting Executive Director, Libraries Tasmania), and welcomed new Board member Peta Harding (Executive Branch Manager, Libraries ACT).
Rachel Esson (Te Pouhuaki | National Librarian, Te Puna Mātauranga o Aotearoa | National Library of New Zealand) and Catherine Clark (Chief Executive Officer and State Librarian, State Library of Western Australia) now serve as NSLA’s Chair and Deputy Chair, with responsibility for guiding the NSLA collaboration for the next two years. Reflecting at the close of the meeting, Rachel and Catherine noted that while online meetings offer different experiences, challenges and opportunities compared to in-person meetings, they also have significant environmental benefits. For instance, it would have taken 200 trees one year to absorb the carbon emissions required to bring the Board’s ten members together for this occasion.
The NSLA Board next meets in November in Sydney at the State Library of New South Wales, and will continue to collaborate remotely until then.
