About New Zealand Libraries Partnership Programme

Page updated October 2022

NZLPP closure update

The New Zealand Libraries Partnership Programme closed on June 30, 2022.

Library profiles were developed and distributed to public libraries involved in the Workforce Capability secondee project and an open data set of Programme data is now available online to aid further research and advocacy. The Programme’s final evaluation report and final delivery report are available online along with the Data Research and Evidence Strategy and the Workforce Capability Framework.

New Zealand Library Partnership Programme Reports

In addition to the initial funding for fee waivers, public internet and secondee library workers, the Programme delivered immediate-relief funding after the 2022 COVID lockdowns across NZ. Recognising the continued impacts of the pandemic on communities and library services as the Programme closed we made transition support payments to public libraries, including hardship relief.

Our Sector Reference Group has also identified multiple benefits achieved from increased innovation and collaboration in the libraries sector, enabled by the freeing up of sector resources.

After the Programme’s closure some activity continues comprising the Strategic Partnership Grant projects; the Whiria te Tāngata project to support the sustainability initiatives; and APNK support for newly joined libraries.

Workforce Capability Project

As part of the Workforce Capability Project, approximately 242 secondees were hired cumulatively over the course of the programme. Of these, 66 secondees took up the opportunity of coaching/mentoring, with an additional 22 taking up career coaching in final months.

All secondees and 108 managers engaged with the Learning Management System (LMS) and it was extended to Public Libraries of NZ members. The LMS was very popular with 3032 courses added to users’ learning plans. Although 743 courses were marked as complete, we believe many more courses were finished.

Throughout this period, the lively Communities of Practice were well facilitated by Inspire Group. The Slack channel saw high utilisation with approximately 308 members engaging on the platform.

A two-and-a-half day secondee zHui Harvest|Te Hauhake was developed to support and celebrate secondees in their last months.

Fee waivers & APNK subscriptions

Fee waivers have continued as planned with the inclusion of a free subscription to Niche Academy. Niche has attracted a large cohort of users across NZ libraries and a community of practice has been established in the programmes Slack channel to facilitate the sharing of ideas and support across this user group.

Five additional libraries have joined the APNK service, providing another 19 locations for the community to access free Wi-Fi. Fibre upgrades to 64 sites have also progressed in the final phases of the programme. Additionally, Te Puna Services subscription fees will be waived for a further year (1 July 2022 to 30 June 2023) with the exception of the same State sector organisations previously excluded. Overall evaluation of the fee waivers will be included in the programme evaluation report and outputs.

Sustainability initiatives

The sustainability initiatives are currently transitioning to a project with the working title of Whiria te Tāngata – Kia toitu te matauranga, which speaks of weaving the people together for the sustainability of the sector. This project will work to further the sustainability goals of the library sector in Aotearoa, including to build the capability and skills; communicate the value of the sector and how it supports community recovery and resilience; and take an ‘action learning’ approach to implementing sustainability.

Strategic partnership grants

Over the course of the programme, eleven Strategic Partnership Grants have been awarded, totalling $5.024m. The majority of the grants have end dates beyond 30 June 30 so will continue on with support from the Senior Advisor.

Five of the eleven grants took the three-month respite option offered to ensure the effects of wide-spread COVID-19 did not hinder progress. All the grants are meeting their milestones and progressing well.

New Zealand’s library system COVID-19 recovery

The Government is entrusted the National Library to lead and support COVID-19 recovery work across New Zealand’s library system, especially in public libraries, with a funding package of $58.8 million, over two to four years, announced on 29 May 2020. The New Zealand Libraries Partnership Programme (NZLPP) supported librarians and library services to be retained in NZ libraries and assisted them to support community recovery.

Read the Beehive announcement on the original funding package

Have a look at the New Zealand Libraries Partnership Programme in action

Programme outcomes

The NZLPP worked in partnerships to enable the programme to turn goals into outcomes. The libraries we worked with support: hapū, iwi and other minority ethnic communities; community organisations; schools and kura; ministries; and NGOs.

We supported retention of collaborative library services such as cataloguing, resource licensing and library management systems. We enabled public internet to be available free of charge in public libraries throughout Aotearoa. We built capability through training, mentoring and upskilling secondee librarians.

Short-term outcomes for the first one to two years are:

• key stakeholders value libraries

• enhanced engagement and reach with key communities

• improved skills of librarians and community

• broader range of services that meet local community needs

• increased community access to digital services and support

• increased diversity of partnerships.

Medium-term outcomes over the following three to five years are:

• improved partnering with other libraries and organisations

• retaining and strengthening librarian skills and services

• improved rates of library usage by broader range of people and groups

• wider variety of pathways into library work.

Long-term outcomes over the further six to ten years are:

• improved sustainability of libraries

• improved diversity in libraries

• improved library capability.

Focus areas

Six focus area options for library staff supported by the programme were identified through early stakeholder engagement. When signing up to the programme each library selected one or more focus areas for their community. The programme developed the level of support and training needed for each focus area to make the greatest possible difference for the community in:

1. Digital inclusion, supporting and assisting job seekers and learners – including digital literacy for seniors, children and young people.

2. Library workforce development, supporting an increasingly diverse workforce – including retention and development of Māori and Pasifika staff, leadership development, trainee recruitment and career progression development.

3. Community engagement, supporting community recovery – including capability building, co-design skills, programming and outreach and by targeting non-users.

4. Reading for pleasure, supporting wellbeing — including local programme, partnerships and support for young people, whānau and communities.

5. Te reo and mātauranga Māori, supporting local iwi – including skills development

6. Content creation and curation of online NZ resources, with a focus on local resources.

Sustainability initiatives

Now that we are at the end of the funded COVID recovery period, National Library are providing a small backbone support team that will work with the sector to implement the frameworks and strategies developed as part of NZLPP.

Having listened to feedback, hearing concerns around sustainability, the NZLPP team wanted to ensure that our two-year programme could have longer term impacts so that libraries can continue to support their communities to thrive.

The programme reset updated our programme team structure and governance, including shifting the Steering Group into a more strategic role that could be sustained after the programme closure.

The overarching objective of the reset was to prioritise the remaining resources to enable a sustainable and enduring libraries sector that meets community needs and is supported by decision-makers, by:

• laying the foundations for a strong data culture and data, research and evidence base on the social and economic value libraries services deliver, and building a compelling narrative on the value of libraries to communities and Aotearoa

• building the infrastructure to support broadening and strengthening libraries workforce capability, and

• considering collaborative business models for the sector, and policy and funding options that support sustainable and equitable libraries services across Aotearoa.

Key areas included were:

• Workforce Capability: Sector workforce development — this project worked towards addressing inadequate sector capability, by developing a sector workforce capability framework.

• Services to Libraries — this project aimed to identify service efficiencies and inform future sustainability options for National Library services to the sector, primarily APNK, EPIC, Te Puna and Kōtui.

• Libraries sector data, research and evidence — this project worked towards addressing the insufficiency of data about the libraries sector and evidence of the value of libraries, by developing a sector ‘value proposition’ and data, research and evidence strategy.

Strategic partnership grants

The National Library invited nine organisations to submit proposals for non-contestable grants that will benefit New Zealand’s wider library sector.

The grants were offered as an opportunity to build on the work already delivered by the NZLPP and broaden its support to the wider library sector in a strategic way that contributes to its sustainability.

The proposals were reviewed by members of the Library and Information Advisory Commission (LIAC), who are appointed by the Minister of Internal Affairs to provide her with advice on library and information issues, including mātauranga Māori.

Find out more about the New Zealand Libraries Partnership Programme strategic partnership grants

Free public internet

COVID-19 helped underline the importance of the public being able to access the internet for information and services without cost being a barrier.

The free internet provision was aimed at members of the public being able to access the internet for free through their local library wherever they are in New Zealand and regardless of whether they own a device. This provision ends 30 June 2022 with the programme. Support continues for new APNK libraries for a further year.

The programme aimed to achieve this through:

• waiving of subscription fees for Councils that use the Aotearoa People’s Network Kaharoa (APNK) service

Fee waivers

The programme is providing relief for New Zealand libraries by the waiver of user charges and procurement costs for collaborative library services. Libraries are free to use the value of the fee waiver on any library expense. The fee waiver does not cover the services provided by Kōtui.

Te Puna and EPIC fee waiver

EPIC and Te Puna member subscription fees have been waived for the period 1 July 2020 to 30 June 2022, with the exception of some State sector organisations.

Te Puna services subscription fees have been waived for a further year from through to 30 June 2023.

Te Puna services
EPIC

EPIC subscriptions covered by NZLPP

The NZLLP also funded the following additional subscriptions through EPIC to the end of June 2022.

• Press Reader — for all New Zealand public libraries

• Niche Academy — for all New Zealand public libraries

• EPIC EBSCO package services — which includes Australia/New Zealand Reference Centre Plus and MasterFILE Complete — for all New Zealand libraries with the exception of some State sector organisations.

Kōtui

Kōtui libraries will not receive a fee waiver; instead, the Kōtui consortium will get one-off relief from upcoming procurement costs relating to the supplier contract.

Kōtui

Secondees

A key part of the programme was to upskill librarians, so that they could provide greater support for library users coping with the disruption and change inherent in our COVID reality. Focus areas for development were as diverse as project management, digital inclusion, and te Reo and Mātauranga Māori.

New Zealand Libraries Partnership Programme in action

The programme’s Learning Management System (LMS) site offered courses across all priority areas. Interest in the LMS course offerings was high as evidenced by 3032 courses being added to users learning plans, essentially a wish list of courses a member would like to carry out at some point.

Costed courses were closed for enrolment from 1 May 2022 as there remained insufficient time to complete these courses before the close of the programme. 743 courses were marked by users as complete. 322 courses with fees, and 421 no-fee courses.

We also set up a well-used Community of Practice platform, on a dedicated Slack channel, for each focus area: digital inclusion, reading for pleasure, community engagement, workforce development, te reo and mātauranga Māori, and content creation.

The Slack channel also saw high utilisation with approximately 308 members engaging with the platform throughout the programme. Users of the platform included secondees, programme staff, facilitators, coaches, and some additional library staff sharing their Niche Academy training modules with the secondees.

Have a question?

Despite the programme’s closure, our inbox continues to be monitored. Get in touch if you have a question, email us at librariespartner@dia.govt.nz