Kia ora koutou

I start this week with a new staffing announcement – it’s my pleasure to announce that Jaz Crowther has been appointed into the permanent role as our Tautāwhi/Administrator. Jaz will work alongside the management team to support Library-wide activities and projects.  She comes to us from the SPCA Christchurch Centre which she has been working as their Foster and Volunteer Team Leader.  Jaz has a passion for supporting others and a wealth of experience of dealing with challenging situations. We look forward to welcoming Jaz to our team on Monday 3 April.

Also this week, I met with the VC for coffee.  Cheryl had much approbation for our services and the quality of our services.  And she is excited to see where we might go with future developments, particularly in terms of the digital experience and use of technology to enable learners to engage with library services and learning content.  I took the opportunity to underscore the importance for all people in our university community of human relationships, establishing connection, conveying manaakitanga and providing a sense of belonging.  From a ‘life cycle’ viewpoint, I stressed how crucial we believe this is to establish from the get-go, as one of the formative and first experiences of university life.  I also emphasised the drawcard that is the physical library, and how the presence of physical items does many valuable things for the in-person experience, including setting visual identity, shaping and defining spaces, and for some disciplines, conveying necessary and unique content. I did note though that we’re well underway with a multiyear project across PJH and EPS to reset the balance between physical library items on shelves, and flexible, welcoming learner spaces for both collaborative, social learning, and quiet, individual study.  The VC is eager to see what opportunities and ideas may be forthcoming in the future, both from us, and as a result of the external peer review.

With that in mind, we’re looking now at whom we might identify and approach for forming our peer review panel.  Aurelia and I have some kōrero with university colleagues lined up next week to explore further, and I am approaching university librarian colleagues who’ll be in attendance at the upcoming IFLA Library Buildings section conference at the University of Sydney in a fortnight.  I’m so looking forward to attending this myself and seeing first-hand where spatial developments and in-person user experiences are at the moment, in some of our counterpart Australian libraries (more on this, next week, and a presentation to follow once I’m back!).

On the topic of sector contacts and networks, Library Managers have this week started a Partnerships Register on Teams | Library All Staff (along the top menu bar).

Without being too onerous, this is an attempt to capture in one place all our wonderful collaborations, groups and partners so we can see whom to contact for certain things and so we know who might contact us for what reason.  I’m also really interested in the “visiting or hosting” column in this register and encourage you to fill it out as and when you host teams here, or visit other places.  This will mean we all have an awareness when visitors are in our midst, and can collectively manaaki them at our wonderful libraries!

Finally this week, I want to circle back to the 2023 Library Ops Plan and draw important links with Ngā Awa e Rua, which has recently been updated.  Specifically, we’ve removed years “2016-2020” – this is because the strategy remains relevant.  And we have updated the associated documentation to the latest versions of the Library Strategic Plan, Te Rautaki Māori and UC Values.

Please also take our Ops Plan as an evolving document, which needs to and will evolve and stretch as various themes take fuller shape, and as priorities shift over the year to come.  I feel keenly that some themes may not seem comprehensive enough at this early stage, or some initiatives may need and deserve extra thought and detail.  I encourage all to do this, with your manager as part of your Mahi Tahi, and/or amongst small (or large!) groups.  The management team and I are really keen to hear and share your feedback.  (Also noting we’ll have much more lead time, and a more inclusive, co-design process, for our 2024 Library Ops Plan!)

Happy weekend for now!

Kat

Kia ora koutou

And just like that, it’s March!

I’ve enjoyed spending some time this week (as with prior weeks) in kōrero with many of you, sometimes one-on-one, sometimes in a group setting (thank you ELS for inviting me, Aurelia and Helen to your team hui this week!); sometimes booked; sometimes spontaneous; but always, without fail, so very valuable.  These conversations and moments of sharing are helping me form a fuller picture and appreciation of all that’s come before to get us to where we are now. This, in turn, will help guide us into the future.

On which note, this week saw the ‘launch’ of the 2023 Library Ops Plan!  As highlighted in my Counterculture post, while the Ops Plan provides opportunities for us all to get involved with strategic initiatives and whole-of-team development, the Library Management Team and I also want to underscore and value the crucial Business as Usual (BAU) mahi that we all undertake every day, as part of our core service and in line with our core values. Also please note this is an organic, evolving document which should and will flex and evolve, as priorities shift through the year and/or new opportunities arise.

This week I thoroughly enjoyed reading my first Hui-tanguru Pānui, and welcome future questions and discussion themes for me to ponder and respond to, through this channel 😊

I also spent some time this week meeting Jane Angel, the new Executive Director of CAUL (Council of Australian University Librarians). Jane and I shared a bit about our backgrounds, and I reflected with her on our (Aotearoa) bicultural commitment and what this means for our service and how we undertake our work.  I found our kōrero to be so uplifting, as CAUL seem very keen to learn how they can be more inclusive for Aotearoa membership and wonder how best that might be achieved.  I’ve started a discussion on this with CONZUL colleagues, to seek their views, and am finding this a very thoughtful and reflective process which I appreciate.

I also met today with Dr Katharina Stirland, Researcher Development Team Leader in the newly formed Te Kura Tāura (Graduate School).  Katharina (known as Kat, just to keep everyone around us on their toes!) and I identified numerous touchpoints and collaborations already in place between our teams (L, T & R and the Graduate School in particular).  We’re looking at coming together in an extended team hui in a few months, once Kat has appointed two new Kaitoko in her team, to support the ongoing development and delivery of this mahi.

Kia pai tō rā whakatā!

Coming soon to a mahi tahi near you, here’s the freshly minted Library Operations Plan for 2023
Co-created by the Library Management Team, our Plan for this year seeks to strike a happy balance between aspirational and achievable. We want to acknowledge and value the crucial Business as Usual (BAU) mahi that we all undertake every day , as part of our core service and in line with our core values.
And we want to provide inspiring opportunities for strategic initiatives, and whole of team development programmes.
There is, we hope, something in here for everyone!
That said, this is an organic, living document which can and should evolve, as new opportunities arise and as Business from Leftfield (BFL) makes an unexpected appearance!
Any questions or comments most welcome 🙂
Kat and the Library Management Team

Kia ora koutou

A week of two halves weather-wise, catapulting from +30 degrees on Tuesday to rainy chill on Wednesday!

Quite a busy week too (understatement?!) as students began cascading back onto campus in their droves. I’m thrilled to see our ongoing commitment to welcoming all people back for the year, be that in classes, in passing, through our service channels and desks, and as part of our floating “meet and greet” presence!

On a similar theme, I’ve spent a bit of time meeting many of you for one-on-one kōrero this week, and deeply appreciate the chance to get to know each other better, hear what’s on top, and share thoughts on the year ahead.  Thank you also to those continuing – with great forbearance – to be “bumped” for later days/times, as I wait for my calendar to settle into a more predictable rhythm (this may never happen, I realise!!).

This week I attended my first CONZUL (Council of Aotearoa New Zealand University Libraries) hui. Aurelia, joined by Judith Waaka and Bron Austin from Auckland City Council, attended part of the meeting to provide an update on the journey to date with our NZLPP-funded mahi (New Zealand Libraries Partnership Programme), and next steps.  The presentation and kōrero that followed was powerful and illuminating, particularly around what meaningful engagement with our ākonga Māori, communities and kaimahi can and will look like.  CONZUL are committed to considering what contribution we can make (collectively, and at each member library), to ensure the research findings effect positive changes on our service offer and to ensure we are accountable in this mahi.

Also discussed at this meeting was a desire to share with staff in CONZUL member libraries what CONZUL is all about, how/if it has impact for us, and how to learn more and get involved.  I’ve volunteered, along with Michelle Blake (UL at Waikato) to co-lead this presentation, as a newcomer learning about all this myself!

This week I also attended my first Research Committee meeting, where Open Access was discussed (yay!) as well as a stated desire to uplift the volume of research outputs deposited in our institutional repositories (across all 8 universities in Aotearoa). Our institutional repositories are freely accessible for all, and the more research deposited there, the more on-flow benefits for increased research impact and long-term positive social outcomes.

The Committee also learned about EEARN (Early and Emerging Academic Researcher Network) which has formed somewhat organically in response to a need for ongoing support and cross-disciplinary sharing amongst anyone identifying as an early or emerging academic researcher here at UC.  The Network has evolved and grown in spades and they’re ready now to reach out for more formalised support. I’ve had a few quick discussions already with some of you, about how we can play a role here and get involved. Stay tuned!

Have a great weekend all.  I’m heading to the Kāpiti Coast to catch up with whānau and friends.  Safe travels if you’re venturing about as well.  Mā te wā!

Kia ora koutou

A nice short week, though I am feeling as though five days’ mahi crammed itself somehow into four calendar days!  And I sense it’s a “buckle your seatbelts” moment for what’s ahead over the coming few weeks, with Eke Panuku and a number of Orientation celebrations and activities taking place.  I’ll be out and about as much as poss for this and know you all will be too.  It’s such a key opportunity in the university calendar for us to be visible, make connections and share proudly the range of valuable services and support we offer!

On Tuesday this week, I presented to SLT (senior leadership team) about myself, my first impressions of UC life (as shared here in my first “kōrero with Kat” column) and the focus areas that are already in train, or emerging, for 2023.  These focus areas are shared below and will take shape as our Library Operations Plan for the year ahead.

It was also signalled at this SLT meeting that an external peer review of the Library will take place during the year ahead.  There are four main outcomes sought from this peer review.  Findings will enable us to:

• Define our value proposition and service offer, and share this so that we (library staff) can see where we contribute and can on-share this message with our community
• Ensure our services, people, content, spaces, technology align directly with the University’s strategic priorities
• Flexibly reconfigure our physical spaces in all UC Library locations, to best meet student learning needs at different stages of their university experience
• Ensure we are as effective and as efficient as we can be

I see this as a great opportunity, as findings from this peer review will ‘future-shape’ and clearly define our strategic focus. It is early days – the terms of reference and scope are yet to be drafted – but I’d welcome any kōrero and pātai you may have about this. This could be together with colleagues, your manager, or one-on-one.

And here are the emergent, or in-train, focus areas for 2023 (in no presumed order of priority):

• Continuing UX of our physical and digital environments, to inform design, wayfinding, visual identity and layouts of buildings and systems, to provide manaakitanga for all
• Focus on bicultural library service development & delivery, and developing our teamwide cultural competence and confidence (Library managers had a planning hui on this earlier today)
• Library Management System (Horizon replacement) project
• Activate our UC Library Engagement Strategy to increase connection with our university community
• Undertake workforce planning & development – with a focus on change and change leadership, and bicultural competence – to support our staff hauora wellbeing and success
• Review our internal library communications/governance – are our comms channels and meeting set-ups working well or do they need a revamp?
• Increase awareness of Open Access publishing and its positive social and research impacts, and support our UC research community to submit more outputs more regularly into the UC Research Repository
• Increase awareness and use/creation of Open Educational Resources to support our curricula

This afternoon I attended my first Academic Board meeting, so regrettably missed the Digital Library UX (user experience) workshop some of you participated in today. I did however get a preview session with Rhiannon from Purple Shirt UX yesterday, so have had the chance to share some of my views already. Looking forward to seeing what emerges this afternoon too!

Have a great weekend all.  Enjoy the slightly cooler, but still lovely, weather.

Kia ora koutou

Summer sure is making its presence felt today… take care all, and rest, hydrate etc. as need be.

It’s been a busy week, and I’ve had a number of one-on-one catch ups with many of you.  I’m finding these kōrero a wonderful way to broaden my understanding of our service, history and context, and to get to know people!  Please feel free to book in a future catch up with me, if you’ve not had the chance already.

In other highlights this week, I spent some time in our Te Rua | Makerspace (ngā mihi Jessica and Rachel!), sewing myself a wheat pack. I really appreciated the chance for some hands-on experiential learning in our primo ‘bump space’.

A couple of Finance meetings took place, giving me a deep dive into our 2023 budget and financial reporting.  And I received an introduction to library projects and Project Board (ngā mihi, Stuart!).  I’m really impressed at the rigour here, to support us all to progress, monitor and deliver on various initiatives. Fab to see.

On that note (initiatives to deliver on), library managers will looking in detail over the next couple of weeks at finalising our Operational Plan for 2023. We have a hui coming up next week on our bicultural services mahi, and then the week following another hui is booked to draw all themes together for the coming year.

I’ve also been invited to present to SLT next Tuesday on my background, initial impressions here at UC Library (as described in my first “kōrero with Kat” column) and thoughts on our focus areas for the coming year.  This is essentially headlines from our 2023 Operational Plan, and as this takes further shape, we’ll look forward to sharing this with you all!

For now, I hope you’re finding some way/place to keep cool in this sultry weather. Have a safe and happy long weekend.

Kia ora koutou

Wow – what a week!
I attended an Academic Board (AB) induction on Monday, where the VC shared her optimism for the year ahead, epitomised by 150^th celebrations, by our ability to re-galvanise in-person and kanohi ki te kanohi again (after various Covid disruptions over the last 3 years), and by our positive enrolment numbers which are tracking above target.

My main observations from this are that we have a flatter governance and reporting structure, and more membership and ‘voice’ at AB (50-80 attendees, depending on agenda items), than I’ve seen in other Universities. The emphasis on casting a pan-University lens over our full suite of academic endeavours was also evident, and the focus on consistency of practice, and consistently good practice.  Great to see!

I had the first of my regular fortnightly catch-ups with Ian earlier this week as well.  We focussed on the finance and health & safety aspects of my induction, and I’m pleased to report (after some excellent time with both Finance and Library colleagues) that I’m feeling well-informed and ready for action, on both scores.

I also shared with Ian feedback from many of you about how nice it was to see and hear from him at my wonderful welcome morning tea last week.  Ian said he’d be very happy to join us again at the next opportunity, to give a “state of the nation” update and answer questions.  We’ll keep this a promise!

And Ian will arrange some time on an upcoming Senior Leadership Team (SLT) agenda for me to meet & greet the leadership team and share my initial impressions and focus for the coming year.  I’ve shared a bit of the former in my column here last week, and will be sure to share the latter also, in future columns.

Other hui this week included:

• a couple with Elizabeth Hopkins (Director of Research and Innovation) for a meet & greet, and to look (along with Helen, Stuart and Kiera) at our reporting KPIs and what else we might be keen and able to track in terms of research funding, outputs and open access activity
• My first of the weekly catch-ups with Te Pātaka leads, which focussed on O-Week activities and an agreement on the importance of lots of visible staff (e.g. wearing large lanyards) to provide manaakitanga and ‘sense-making’ help to all our newcomers coming to campus
• An initial meeting with Dana Burnett (Director of Product and Delivery) and Nancy Godwin (Product Manager UC Online) to talk through all the exciting digital initiatives ahead for 2023 and start thinking about library input and support for UC Online

Outreach, connection, relationship-building and awareness-raising are all themes that have cropped up in many kōrero with various folks over the last two weeks, and I was delighted to see the culmination of these ideas in the launch of our UC Library Marketing Group Engagement Strategy 2023-2025 this week!  This is really impressive mahi, with so many hands/minds/hearts clearly involved, and such explicit connection into the UC values of manaakitanga, whanaungatanga and tiakitanga. I look forward to seeing this strategy guide and enable our efforts in this important area.

Finally, I’ve been really delighted by the spontaneous “kia ora” chats I’ve enjoyed with many of you, and have received a few calendar bookings to have a longer chat together in the next week or so.  Please do feel most welcome to flick me an invite, to get to know each other better as a first priority, rather than necessarily talk too much about work (but happy to do so, too!).

And I can’t pass up the opportunity now to comment on this weather.  Glorious!  I do hope you have something lovely lined up for the weekend ahead. Mā te wā!

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!