Te Wero: the challenge to reposition a library association
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/01435120610647965 |
| Published date | 01 January 2006 |
| Pages | 77-82 |
| Date | 01 January 2006 |
| Author | John Garraway |
| Subject Matter | Library & information science |
Te Wero: the challenge to
reposition a library association
John Garraway
Library and Learning Services, CPIT, Christchurch, New Zealand
Abstract
Purpose – The paper comments on the future of professional associations for librarianship and
information management as it applies in the New Zealand context.
Design/methodology/approach – The paper provides a concise overview of the history and
activities of LIANZA and relates these to the Association’s current direction.
Findings – In 2003 LIANZA reviewed its strategic direction in response to static growth in
membership. Subsequent decisions and actions have resulted in growth and a positive outlook for 2010
when the Association will celebrate its centenary.
Practical implications – Falling membership and a reduction in number of associations indicates
that interest in professional associations is waning. This article discusses recent efforts made by
LIANZA to reverse this trend and reinvent itself for relevance in the twenty-first century.
Originality/value – This article is a case study by the current LIANZA president, reflecting on
changes implemented by the Association since he joined the LIANZA National Council.
Keywords Professionalassociations, Libraries, New Zealand
Paper type Case study
Introduction
In 2010, the Library and Information Association of New Zealand – Aotearoa
(LIANZA): Te Rau Herenga o Aotearoa will celebrate its centenary in Dunedin. This
city in the South Island of New Zealand was the location for the first national
conference convened “of representatives from Public Libraries of New Zealand for the
purpose of discussing matters affecting the general conduct and management of
libraries” (McEldowney, 1962). At this conference, 15 delegates from seven libraries
formed the Libraries Association of New Zealand.
In the 95 years since the Association was founded, LIANZA has evolved from its
origin as an association of public libraries to one that supports both personal and
institutional members as “the pre-eminent professional body in Aotearoa New Zealand
for those engaged in librarianship and information management” (LIANZA, 2004).
Ironically this is very similar to the vision of those early delegates who had as the first
object of the original Association’s rules “to unite all person engaged or interested in
Library work in New Zealand” although, as McEldowney (1962) notes, for the first 25
years of its existence the membership was primarily public libraries!
This sense of some things change, some things remain the same, is illustrated too in
the various names by which the Association has been known in its history: from the
Libraries Association of New Zealand (1910), by way of the New Zealand Library
Association (1939) and New Zealand Library and Information Association (1993) to its
present incarnation as LIANZA (1998). At the name’s core is the body of professional
knowledge associated with the tradition of libraries, but it has expanded to maximise
The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available at
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Te Wero:
the challenge
77
Received 28 September 2005
Revised 11 October 2005
Accepted 24 October 2005
Library Management
Vol. 27 No. 1/2, 2006
pp. 77-82
qEmerald Group Publishing Limited
0143-5124
DOI 10.1108/01435120610647965
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