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NZ Mobile Library Conference 2007

27th – 29th January 2007
Taupo, New Zealand

 

WHEN

Saturday 27th January 2007 – Monday 29th January 2007

WHERE

Wairakei Resort
State Highway One
Taupo

CONVENOR'S REPORT - Feb 2007

I am pleased to report as convenor of the 2007 NZ Mobile Library Conference, that the three day event held at Wairakei Resort was a huge success. Conference attendees feedback stated that the “conference exceeded their expectations” and they “can’t wait for the next one”!!

In total 50 people attended the conference from NZ, Australia, the UK, USA and Singapore. A number of those people not only hadn’t been to Taupo before, but for some – it was their first time in beautiful NZ.

I’d like to thank again everybody who assisted in making the conference the success that it was. My thanks to all the speakers for making themselves available to share their knowledge and expertise for us all to benefit from; the mobile librarians who drove their wonderful buses to Taupo so we could all enjoy seeing firsthand a selection of what we deliver our mobile library services in; all the library associations, councils and sponsors who contributed financially to this worthwhile conference and the North Shore Library Foundation who at the very beginning of conference planning, agreed to underwrite and support this event. Thanks also to Councillor Kathryn Uvhagen for officially opening our conference, Wairakei Resort for their hospitality; NZ River Jet for taking us on their boats and into Orakei Karaka; Huka Vineyard Restaurant for a superb dinner and Faulty Towers for their outrageous show. Not to mention their dedication to the old saying “the show must go on”, when their car broke down at Waiouru and the three of them, along with all their gear had to hitchhike the last leg - and still managed to be on time and in good spirits to perform for us.

I’d like to share with you some of the positives for me, which have resulted from this conference. Beside the fact that I managed to get many of us altogether in one place, to network and enhance our skills and knowledge, and had the opportunity to make new friends and contacts - many of us also left Wairakei Resort with a number of ideas and initiatives able to be put into practice in our own work environment.

Kok Eng and Joanne from Singapore were thrilled with the opportune timing of our conference as Singapore had been exploring and developing the concept of a mobile library service over the last year. For them to see our buses, meet and talk directly with the people who operate our mobile library services, resulted in them gathering first hand evidence of how mobile library services operate and they have loads of enthusiasm to now really get the ball rolling back home, as I believe it is some 30 years since they had a mobile library service.

Although the conference was held in Taupo, which doesn’t have a mobile library service in operation; Philip van Zijl, Taupo’s new District Library Manager now thinks it is time that changed. He will be preparing a business case to initiate the process of starting a mobile library service for their region, and will be keeping a close eye on the opening for tenders for Manukau’s old bus, once their new one is up and running. I wish Philip and his team well on their challenge and will keep my fingers crossed for a positive outcome for them and their community.

We all know that before the Taupo conference, it was over 14 years since NZ Mobile Librarians had been together. Our Australian counterparts meet annually, circulating between the states of Victoria, New South Wales and Queensland. I have suggested to a number of the Australian conference organizers that it would be wonderful if NZ could become part of the Australian circuit, meaning that every fourth year there would be a combined Australian and New Zealand conference held here. The response has been extremely positive and those Australians who were at Taupo have indicated they would love to return. So, watch this space – there will be another NZ Mobile Library Conference, it may not happen overnight, but it will happen…..and within 14 years!

Please do keep in touch and don’t forget to check out the photos and video clip on the link provided. And if you have any photos you would like me to upload to the site, let me know.

Kind regards

Cathie Richards
North Shore Mobile Librarian and Convenor of the 2007 NZ Mobile Library Conference
Cathie.Richards@northshorecity.govt.nz

Conference Photos, Sessions & Speakers, Programme
Larry the Lizard!

Track Larry's adventures from Nebraska USA to New Zealand... http://www.geocaching.com/

 

For more information, contact Cathie Richards
Cathie.Richards@northshorecity.govt.nz
Fax +64 9 446 0825
Cell 021 039 9048