Kia ora koutou

Such a buzz seeing so many students here on campus!  I’m told this is back to pre-Covid levels of presence and energy – how wonderful to be kanohi ki te kanohi again after so long.

A big shout out to all our kaimahi who contributed to wonderful Eke Panuku celebrations on Monday, and who have staffed our Orientation stall, and our floating “meet & greet” presence at the Central Library.  We’ve always known, but how great to see first-hand, the positive power of a smile and “kia ora”. This week has presented such a great opportunity for us to be visible, make connections and share proudly the range of valuable services and support we offer!  Thank you all for embracing this opportunity 😊

Simon, Fiona and Juliet welcoming new students (and me!) on our Library Orientation stall

On a more sobering note, this week has brought true devastation to a number of communities further north, and I send my aroha to them and to you, particularly if you have whānau and loved ones affected in any way by these events.

Seems an appropriate moment to promote a Wellbeing webinar that has recently been posted, and which many of you attended a few weeks ago.  Check out this Unleash Your Wellbeing Potential Webinar  for guidance on how to equip ourselves with skills and capabilities to sustain a wellbeing culture.  I’ve had a quick dip and will definitely be carving out some time to ingest these insights more fully!

Finally this week, I attended a CONZUL briefing session with Sue Roberts and Kim Tairi (University Librarians at University of Auckland and AUT respectively), ahead of my first CONZUL meeting next Monday.  I was pleased to learn that CONZUL are currently exploring a re-name from “Council of New Zealand University Librarians” to “Council of Aotearoa New Zealand University Libraries”, to articulate how much more inclusive, and relevant to ‘whole-of-library’, the team intends to be.

Have a great weekend all.  The weather looks as though it’s going to go back to “full on summer” again!