This is the first of what I intend to be a weekly (or regular, at least!) update, summarising the week just been and/or sharing what’s coming up of topical and strategic interest to our Library.

Firstly, I want to echo the sentiments I expressed verbally this morning at the beautiful welcome morning tea. The manaakitanga I’ve experienced this week has been standout.  From the cheery hellos everywhere I go, to the glorious bouquet of flowers gracing my office desk, to the kai and kōrero shared earlier this morning with so many of you – I’m touched by the warmth of welcome extended, and deeply appreciate being received into the team in this way.

As I said this morning, I am truly delighted to have this opportunity to join, enable and lead such a well-established and well-regarded Library team and service.  One week in, and I can already see the many strong pillars we have in place and platforms to leap from – e.g. (in no particular order):

• a well-developed service ethic, provided by a team full of committed, talented people;
• high use of our services and spaces;
• thought-provoking engagement from our large and lively Library Committee;
• established momentum in the Open Access landscape and related opportunities to lift our game further in research data management and Māori data sovereignty;
• our MLM Project and the opportunities for workflow and service enhancements this can provide;
• continuing bicultural service development & delivery and our NZLPP-funded research project well in train;
• domestic and international enrolment numbers for 2023 looking really good and how we can continue to provide the “stickiest” spaces and most enriching in-person and digital experiences for such a large and diverse student cohort.

And this is only a sample of what I’ve seen over my first few days here – ka pai!

My immediate focus though is on getting to know you all better.  Your insights and experiences are absolutely key to informing and achieving all our mahi ahead!  I’m also keen to outreach and connect where you, where our staff colleagues and where our student communities are. To that end, I extend an offer to each and every one of you, to come kōrero with me, at a time, date and place that suits you. We can meet on Level 2, in my office, at the EPS or Macmillan Brown Libraries, in a café, or anywhere on campus you like!

I’d love to hear anything you’d like to share about yourself and your role, your vision for the Library and our place (physical and digital) at the University, and your aspirations for us for the future.  And I would be very happy to share my thoughts and impressions on these sorts of themes too!  Please just book a 15-30mins slot in my calendar, and we’ll go from there.

I do appreciate that one-on-ones aren’t necessarily everyone’s cuppa, so will also be making time to join every team meeting sometime soon, where we can hui together in bigger numbers.

Insights from these kōrero will be so valuable for me to form a broad and nuanced understanding of the context of our service, and the many challenges and opportunities we face in the future.  So I express appreciation in advance for your time and input to this knowledge-sharing.

For now, kia pai ō rā whakatā!