We are celebrating the twentieth anniversary of The National Library of New Zealand Te Puna Mātauranga o Aotearoa’s (NLNZ) contributions to the NSLA collaboration. After participating as an observer since 2003, NLNZ officially joined as a full member of the ‘Council of Australian State Librarians’ (CASL), as NSLA was then known, at a meeting on 31 March 2005 in Hobart, Tasmania. CASL changed its name to NSLA in 2006, to better reflect its new membership.
The inclusion of NLNZ has broadened NSLA’s horizons and strengthened its leadership role in the library and information sectors of Australia and New Zealand Aotearoa. NLNZ’s return to NSLA in 2021 under National Librarian and current NSLA Chair, Rachel Esson, has further enriched our collaborative spirit, as reflected in our strategic plan, Leading Together.
NLNZ’s involvement underscores the profound benefits of regional and international collaboration. CEO of the State Library of Western Australia and NSLA Deputy Chair, Catherine Clark, notes that NLNZ’s membership has extended NSLA’s knowledge and understanding in many strategic areas, strengthening capacity and outcomes for each individual library. Catherine writes, “A particularly significant contribution from New Zealand Aotearoa has been in policy and practice that represents culturally informed and respectful ways of working with First Nations colleagues, communities and collections.”
Acting Chief Librarian of the Alexander Turnbull Library, Jess Moran, highlights the value of connecting with Australian colleagues: “The NSLA Heads of Collections Advisory Group is one of my most important professional networks, and affords me the opportunity to share and learn from colleagues working in different institutions but often facing the same sort of challenges.”
NSLA continues to strengthen its relationship with the broader library sector in New Zealand Aotearoa, including recently with Public Libraries New Zealand (PLNZ). Executive Director Bernie Hawke writes: “PLNZ’s collaboration with NSLA provides an opportunity to explore and better understand public library performance data, identify benchmarking opportunities, and share knowledge and experience.”
Executive Director Simon Polson has visited New Zealand Aotearoa twice on behalf of NSLA, meeting with NSLA’s First Nations Advisory Group at Waitangi in October 2024 and with colleagues at the National Library of New Zealand in Wellington in February 2025. “Sitting in a meeting room with Rachel Esson, we heard the library’s waiata group (choir) in the next room rehearsing during their lunchtime break. We paused to listen and appreciate. It was a wonderful moment that spoke to the power of in-person connections and collaboration.”
“Thank you, National Library of New Zealand, for being so generous in sharing your experience and knowledge with your colleagues ‘across the ditch’. We are all richer for your membership of NSLA.”
– Vicki McDonald AM FALIA, NSLA Chair (2022-23)
