New Zealand Libraries Partnership Programme — Final Delivery Report

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Introduction

Led by Te Puna Mātauranga o Aotearoa the National Library of New Zealand (National Library), the New Zealand Libraries Partnership Programme (NZLPP) was established from Budget 2020 funding as a time-limited delivery programme in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. The programme’s purpose was to support librarians and library services to be retained in New Zealand libraries and assist them to support community recovery. (1) To achieve this purpose, multiple initiatives and projects were funded — supporting the work of libraries and positioning the library sector to be sustainable post-pandemic. (2)

The purpose of this Final Delivery Report is to summarise the programme’s mahi and spending — from its establishment in July 2020 to the formal programme closure at the end of June 2022.

We have contracted MartinJenkins for the delivery of an impact evaluation to assess the direct impact of the programme and the extent to which the programme's objectives have been met. The impact evaluation report contains a mix of quantitative data analysis and qualitative case studies (3), stories and narrative. The report, completed at end of August 2022, is published on the National Library website.

As we have reached the end of the main funding allocation for public library partnerships, free public internet and fee waivers, the National Library is transitioning the remaining NZLPP mahi into the hands of the sector through transition support funding and Whiria Te Tāngata, our sector-led sustainability project. Our sister programme for schools and young people in greatest need, Kōkiri Whakamua, runs for a further year before becoming part of the National Library’s ongoing service delivery from July 2023.

About the NZLPP

The New Zealand Libraries Partnership Programme (NZLPP) has supported librarians and library services to be retained in New Zealand libraries and assisted them to support community recovery.

The Government provided funding of $58.8 million, over 2 to 4 years to lead and support this COVID-19 recovery work across New Zealand’s library sector, especially through partnerships with public libraries. A further $1.6m over 4 years was provided to the Public Lending Right for New Zealand Authors (PLR) in recognition of their books being available in New Zealand libraries.

The main programme ran from July 2020 to the end of June 2022. It aimed to deliver at least 170 jobs for library workers in public libraries; training and upskilling of library workers; free internet through all public libraries; and relief for New Zealand libraries by waiving user charges. Some transitional funding continues until the end of June 2023. Funding for work to provide specialist library services for schools and young people and the increase to the PLR is ongoing.

“I want to thank you all wholeheartedly for all the amazing mahi you have contributed to Aotearoa's COVID-19 recovery in your communities. As I have visited libraries around the motu, I have seen for myself the vital services you all provided to your communities; and the very significant role you have played – supporting the wellbeing of New Zealanders in difficult times.

You’ve been delivering mahi in challenging circumstances. Although you may have felt frustration along the way about delays to programmes of work, I know that the cumulative impact you have achieved is massive.”

Minister of Internal Affairs, Hon Jan Tinetti (speaking to NZLPP Secondees, June 2022)

National Library’s role

The National Library has a leadership role in the libraries sector in Aotearoa. This is expressed through one of its statutory purposes to supplement and further the work of other libraries in New Zealand; and the role of the National Librarian to promote co-operation in library matters and provide assistance in the development of libraries (4). For these reasons, the Government gave the National Library the role to oversee and manage NZLPP funding and programme delivery.

How we got here

In April 2020, New Zealand was in lockdown. COVID-19 as we knew it was spreading quickly around the world and there were no available vaccines or treatments. The Government was nearing the end of its Budget 2020 process. In the face of the pandemic, many proposals for the Government's Budget 2020 were reprioritised and a new $50bn fund, the COVID-19 Response and Recovery Fund (CRRF), was established to address the impacts of the pandemic. The Government’s strategy was clear. At the time it identified 3 'waves' of action.

The first wave was to respond to and fight the virus, cushioning the blow on the economy and on people's lives. It covered medical and health responses; public health and safety measures; and wage subsidies to keep people in jobs and to keep businesses afloat, while doors were closed under lockdown and post-lockdown.

The second wave, a central part of Budget 2020 and the CRRF announcement, was positioning the country for recovery. This was the primary focus of the NZLPP funding.

Wave 3 was described as reset and rebuild. It focused on the post-pandemic environment, looking at what investment might be needed to help get New Zealand back on to a level footing again. The idea of building back better was a common theme — both in New Zealand and overseas.

The Minister of Internal Affairs asked the National Library to work with the Ministry for Culture and Heritage on a response and recovery package for the Arts, Culture and Heritage sector, including libraries. A big concern for Ministers was loss of jobs and the impact on the community of COVID-19.

For libraries, the concern was also the cutting of services alongside long-term loss of jobs and library expertise at the very time a greater demand for services could be expected by those impacted. NZLPP was developed to help address these concerns and work to support and protect libraries in their role in helping communities during the recovery from the pandemic and beyond.

In 2020, during the initial lockdowns, LIANZA reported a surge in online memberships and e-lending at public libraries across the motu (5). This is consistent with international evidence of usage of public libraries increasing during times of recession (6).

Programme principles

It was only after the Budget 2020 announcement that the National Library could fully engage with the library sector to agree the priorities and final scope for an equitable programme of work. Soon after the announcement a series of hui with sector stakeholder groups and a cross-sector online workshop helped us develop the following principles which guided all early decision-making:

1. Library submissions needed to be consistent with the priority areas of the initiative:

   • Retention and/or creation of job opportunities for librarians

   • Skills enhancement for librarians to support community recovery and strengthen the profession

   • Maintaining current library service levels to the public during the time of community recovery

   • Skills enhancement in the community to support community recovery

2. Focus on mātauranga Māori

3. Support communities that are most in need

4. Leverage existing partnerships and initiatives

5. Support for sector sustainability

Programme outcomes

The image below shows, in a nutshell, the key outcomes that are expected from the NZLPP funding, for both communities and libraries, as well as the impacts the funding was designed to achieve: sustainable libraries remaining at the heart of communities, helping their communities to thrive.

As part of our programme establishment, we commissioned the creation of a monitoring and evaluation framework. This was updated as an intervention logic (Appendix 1) to support the final programme evaluation and reporting.

Focus areas

We used the programme principles to develop six focus area options for public library staff supported by the programme. As part of an Expression of Interest process, when signing up to the programme each public library selected one or more of the following focus areas for their community:

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.

The programme developed and rolled out training, coaching and facilitation of Communities of Practice related to each focus area to make the greatest possible impact in communities.

Governance

Following its establishment phase, the programme was supported by a Board and a Sector Reference Group (formerly the Steering Group).

The purpose of the Programme Board was to ensure the successful delivery of the programme. In particular, the Board provided oversight and decision-making to ensure the objectives of the programme were achieved and long-term outcomes kept on track. Chaired by the Programme Director, it brought together Māori, public library and digital expertise alongside National Library perspectives. The National Librarian took on the role as Programme Sponsor, while the Library and Information Advisory Commission (LIAC) provided external oversight and visibility for the Minister of Internal Affairs.

The purpose of the Sector Reference Group was to champion the programme and provide advice, guidance, and support during the programme’s lifecycle, to ensure it remained on track to achieve its objectives and steer towards long-term outcomes. Sector Reference Group membership included representatives from Taituarā; The Library and Information Association of New Zealand Aotearoa (LIANZA); Te Rōpū Whakahau; Public Libraries New Zealand (PLNZ); Local Government New Zealand Te Kahui Kaunihera ō Aotearoa (LGNZ); The Council of University Librarians (CONZUL); and the School Library Association of New Zealand (SLANZA).

Other than support from the programme team, the only costs incurred for our volunteer governance group members were for three in-person hui held in December 2020, August 2021, and June 2022.

Programme advisory

Programme advisory groups were set up during the establishment phase to provide advice and guidance to the programme team as the secondment project was implemented. This included training, coaching and facilitation of Communities of Practice for each area of focus. During this phase, there were two advisory groups:

1. The Training Advisory Group was a small group of representatives from partners, public libraries and ITO’s available to the Programme Director and team. They used their expertise across training, skills enhancement and the public library sector to support and guide initiatives.

2. The Programme Advisory Group brought together people with technical skills to discuss and deal with operational issues for the programme and individual workstreams. They provided advice and guidance as subject matter experts to support programme delivery.

The training and programme advisory groups were volunteers who generously provided their library sector expertise, advice, and guidance to the programme at no cost.

The programme also had a Working Group made up of internal National Library staff and programme team members. It met weekly to discuss programme progress and seek feedback and input from relevant National Library subject matter experts.

What was funded?

The Budget 2020 CRRF summary decisions describe the initiative as follows:

“This initiative supports librarians and library services to be retained in New Zealand libraries to support community recovery. This will be done through upskilling and providing specialist librarians; bolstering reading and digital literacy and learning activity; providing free public internet through all public libraries; providing relief for New Zealand libraries by waiving user charges and procurement costs for collaborative library services; and increasing Public Lending Right payments for authors.” (7)

The table below summarises the COVID Response and Recovery Funding (CRRF) received and used to deliver the programme. Figures are accurate as of 30 June 2022.

NZ Libraries Partnership Programme	FY21 Actuals ($m)	FY22 (8) Budget ($m)	FY23 Budget ($m)	FY24 Budget ($m)	TOTAL ($m)	Beehive release ($m)
Public library partnerships	9.184	17.539	2.233	-	28.956	30.000
Strategic partnerships - sector grants	5.024	0.810	-	-	5.834
APNK Extension	0.198	0.582	0.400	-	1.180	4.000
Services to Schools uplift	1.167	2.348	4.311	3.736	11.562	13.300
National Library Fee and Procurement Relief						11.500
EPIC Fee Relief	2.822	2.915	-	-	5.737
Te Puna Fee Relief	0.808	0.894	0.970	-	2.672
APNK Fee Relief	0.575	0.563	0.097	-	1.235
Kōtui Procurement Relief	0.250		-	-	0.250
Digitisation and Internet Fee Relief	0.179	0.326	-	-	0.505
Public Lending Right	0.400	0.400	0.400	0.400	1.600	1.600
NZ Libraries Partnership Programme total	20.608	26.377	8.411	4.136	59.532	60.400
Underspend returned to Centre	0.028	0.793*	-	-	0.821
Budget 2020 — CRRF Initiatives	24.813	27.443	3.961	4.136	60.353

* $0.365m of the underspend returned to centre in 2021/22 was related to Services to Schools Uplift.

Approximately half of NZLPP funding was allocated to support public library partnerships to fund and upskill librarians in public libraries. This enabled greater support for library users and helped bolster reading and digital literacy. NZLPP’s programme team support, primarily focused on these partnerships, formed part of this allocation.

The dual outcome to support librarians, as well as local communities and jobseekers, meant a partnership model was chosen in preference to a contestable grants model. The partnership model, applied through letters of agreement, meant that accountability for delivery was shared between the National Library and public libraries.

NZLPP provided full salary and project funding; training; communities of practice; and coaching. Libraries took on the management and delivery of secondees working on one or more of the NZLPP focus areas in their communities. The programme was also able to provide relief for cost pressures associated with lock downs and heightened COVID-19 settings. This reduced the burden on local councils, while allowing greater flexibility for the programme to quickly respond to changing needs. This worked exceptionally well and has been evidenced by the findings of the programme’s audits.

Beyond public libraries, the programme included fee waivers for New Zealand libraries and specialist library services for schools and young people, reflecting the impact of the pandemic on other library services including in education. National Library was funded for the loss of income as a consequence of fee waivers to the library sector, with this amount being fiscally neutral.

Due to fee waivers, every public library provided free digital access to a wide range of e-resources to their local communities with e-resources available through public libraries increasing by over 25%.

Through NZLPP funding, every local council was enabled to provide free internet access and devices through their public libraries (with APNK libraries having 11,000 users daily). This included eight library locations (over four Councils) being added as new memberships in the last two years. There is a further Council with another eight locations still to go live in October 2022. Upgrades to fibre connection from VDSL were completed for 74 locations.

In June 2021 Strategic Partnership Grants worth just over $5.0 million were provided to the sector, including $1.5 million for study grants to support a qualification uplift for library staff and $0.2 million for marae-based mātauranga Māori professional development.

Towards the end of the programme, $2.8 million in transition funding support and strategic partnership grant top-ups were also provided.

All NZLPP funding was ringfenced for support of the COVID-19 response and recovery, with Cabinet requiring any underspends to be returned to the centre.

Programme delivery staff

To establish and run a programme of this size, with the need for specialist expertise in some areas and working to significant time constraints, we took a multi-pronged approach. The team engaged to deliver the programme comprised a combination of fixed term or seconded staff, contractors, and provider partners. Where possible, we drew on the library sector to provide coaches and subject matter expertise.

In addition to a core team of 10.5 FTE, APNK staff (2 FTE) and the additional capability roles within Services to Schools/ Kōkiri Whakamua (12 FTE),for some specialist areas, NZLPP procured external consultants and providers:

• Synapsys provided training support, including the implementation of a Learning Management system.

• Inspire Group provided coaching and facilitation support for our secondees and Communities of Practice along with the development of the sector Workforce Capability Framework as part of the sustainability mahi.

• Allen + Clarke provided both the Data, Research and Evidence Strategy and the stakeholder analysis for the Strategic Review of Services to Libraries, where they worked alongside SageBush who provided support with cost modelling of the Services to Libraries and options for a sustainable delivery model.

Our Assurance and Audit partner was KPMG who provided Independent Quality Assessments (IQA) and Audit reporting to the programme. MartinJenkins were our evaluation partner for the delivery phase, contributing the final evaluation report around the secondee mahi; fee waivers and free public internet delivery.

The programme supplied part-time coaches (40) and facilitators (4) to support secondees. These roles contributed to delivering employment; education and training programmes; and services to support people into employment. We also engaged Sue Sutherland to provide library subject matter expertise to support our external consultants.

All NZLPP expenditure on consultants and contractors is publicly reported to Parliament as part of the annual financial review.

Secondees

A key part of the programme was upskilling library workers, so that they could provide greater support for library users coping with the disruption and change inherent in the impacts of the pandemic.

Six focus area options (as outlined above) 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 implemented support and training needed for each focus area to make the greatest possible difference for the community. A series of hui in 2021, kick-started the Secondees’ communities of practice.

At the close of the programme, 30 June 2022, the cumulative number of people who were hired and actively working in public libraries across the motu as a direct result of the programme funding was 242. At its peak in October 2021 the Programme had 194 Secondees working in public libraries, surpassing our initial target of 170. We highlighted their work on our webpage (9).

Examples included digital literacy classes to help people gain confidence and independence using the internet. Buller District Libraries’ digital literacy classes for seniors were so popular that more needed to be scheduled. Community engagement librarian Nicky Meadowcroft says the council’s library team started running Better Digital Futures for Seniors Pathways in May 2021. “There has been a huge uptake. We are rapt to be able to help our senior community members with their digital literacy.”

The Waimate District Library welcomed two fixed-term specialist librarians to their team, with the Libraries Partnership funding. The roles helped serve a changing demand for library services, including a specific emphasis on community outreach. Commenting on the initiative, Waimate District Library senior librarian Tony Morton said the library landscape is continually evolving, pointing out now is the ideal time to adapt to the changes.

“The mediums librarians are using have changed and it’s important now to better understand the need to cater for all varying levels of use...and that’s where these two specialist roles come in to play,” Morton said.

A secondee zHui titled Harvest | Te Hauhake was developed to support and celebrate secondees in their last four months of the NZLPP programme. The goal was to provide them with an opportunity over two days to reflect on what they have achieved and fill their kete with skills and tools to assist them in their transition to the next career stage. This zHui was well received and provided some much needed personal and handover support and guidance to our secondee cohort.

A final shorter zHui was held for the end of the programme, late June as a final wrap-up and goodbye for those secondees still with the programme. Internal Affairs’ Minister, the Hon Jan Tinetti, attended this zHui and congratulated all secondees on their mahi and achievements.

Ongoing regular Coaching/mentoring continued for the duration of the project with 66 secondees taking up the opportunity. The coaches recruited were all from the library sector (either retired or with spare capacity). The coaches themselves formed their own networking community of practice and have expressed a high degree of satisfaction with being involved in this part of the project.

Secondees’ learning and support tools

A senior capability consultant developed a capability and skills framework (see Appendix 2) to support the secondees and form the basis for the provision of training.

Secondee learning and support tools included a Learning Management System (LMS) and community of practice platform. The LMS is being kept post-programme to assist the testing and implementation of the sustainability mahi.

Learning Management System

The Learning Management System site was developed and hosted by Synapsys, to NZLPP specifications, using the New Zealand open-source Totara Learning management platform.

It was funded as part of the $30m over two years to fund and upskill librarians in public libraries and access is offered only to secondees and PLNZ members. The full cost of establishing and implementing the LMS was $0.511m, which also included sourcing suitable and appropriate learning/training opportunities and populating the LMS with these opportunities for access by the secondees.

Synapsys developed the LMS in consultation with both the Training Advisory Group and Programme Advisory Group, which included library managers. A full competency framework was designed as the backbone to the LMS covering our six focus areas (Workforce Development, Te Reo & Mātauranga Māori, Reading for Pleasure, Digital Literacy, Content Creation and Community Engagement). Training available within the sector and aligned to these areas was then identified and uploaded to the platform.

Data was updated fortnightly and reported to the Programme Board via a monthly snapshot report. It included information about courses offered, registrations and completion rates.

As of 30 June 2022, 3033 courses had been added to learning plans, 389 free courses had been marked as complete and 487 paid courses had been marked as complete. The greatest single uptake of training offered to secondees related to community engagement.

This was consistent with the programme objectives to upskill and enhancing the capability of librarians to support their community through the recovery from COVID-19, recognising that some of the calls on library staff from their communities may not be in traditional areas of librarianship.

Completion of cost-free courses relied on the user marking the course as complete. Completion of cost-associated courses are indicated by the course provider.

While the upskilling and training element of the secondee programme was not mandatory and there was limited time for training in a busy library role, professional development was a core element of the funding allocated by the Government. It was positive to see a significant uptake that grew each month.

For more experienced secondee library workers there were opportunities to play a role in supporting and upskilling others via the Communities of Practice and Slack channel. Several secondees were also involved in developing or delivering training to library staff in their own public library or district.

The LMS was extended to Public Libraries New Zealand (PLNZ) during the delivery phase as a platform for library managers to engage and share messages/content within the membership of the PLNZ, as required. Managerial approval was required for secondees to enrol in costed courses so the majority of the PLNZ membership were already members of the LMS in their capacity as approvers of costed-course applications. It was, therefore, not a lot of effort to extend the LMS functionality to include PLNZ as a secure document sharing group. All costs associated with this increase in functionality were accommodated within the project budget.

The LMS is being kept post the programme by the Whiria Te Tāngata project to assist the testing and implementation of the sustainability mahi. It will focus on four workstreams designed to further the sustainability initiatives by supporting their operationalisation in the sector. The workstreams are Mātauranga Māori; Workforce Capability Framework; Data, Research and Evidence; and Collective Impact. The LMS also remains available to PLNZ members for a further year.

Community of Practice platform

We also set up a well-used Community of Practice platform, on 14 dedicated Slack channels, including ones for each focus area: digital inclusion, reading for pleasure, community engagement, workforce development, te reo and mātauranga Māori, and content creation. We had 308 members (including guests and other library staff who participated in the Niche Academy Channel) with half of these active online on any given week.

Slack is a business communication platform that uses features such as chat rooms or ‘channels’ that can be organised by topic, groups, and direct messages. It has been adopted as a community platform, replacing message boards or social media groups.

The NZLPP Slack channel was funded as part of the $30m over two years to fund and upskill librarians in public libraries. The cost of establishing and implementing the Slack channel was $0.037m.

Month-by-month usage data/analytics told us that an average of 50 messages were sent per day, an average of four files uploaded per day, and there was an average of 40 active daily users. A total of 11,680 messages were sent, and 699 files uploaded.

Fee waivers

NZLPP has provided relief for New Zealand libraries by the waiver of National Library user charges and procurement costs for collaborative library services. These charges were waived for all non-government libraries for two years. Libraries taking part in our digitisation partnership programmes also received support with 50% of digitisation fees being covered by NZLPP funding.

Waivers for EPIC, Te Puna and APNK libraries removed uncertainty of costs and budget for individual libraries and their members. Libraries could use funding released by the waiver to increase the collaborative services they received in the period (e.g., more e-resources or wi-fi access points), or to help minimise other library service reductions. Kōtui libraries’ unbudgeted costs to support their next phase of procurement were also funded to remove that as a cost pressure.

Most libraries are EPIC and Te Puna subscribers, and all public libraries were offered an APNK membership. Kōtui is used exclusively by 43 councils’ libraries.

Via NZLPP funding, the National Library has also been able to use existing EPIC supplier relationships to extend digital resources to a wider group of libraries than was previously possible. This includes making it possible for all New Zealand public libraries to provide their users with access to EBSCO online resources (10) and the digital newspaper platform PressReader. NZLPP funding also enabled the introduction of Niche Academy, an online tool able to be used by librarians for creating online training experiences for library users.

Libraries are benefiting from fee waivers for the services outlined below:

EPIC

EPIC (Electronic Purchasing in Collaboration) is the national electronic licensing initiative that makes quality electronic resources available to New Zealanders through libraries who are consortium members.Through the EPIC consortium, NZ libraries can get online access to thousands of high-quality journals, magazines, books, audio-visual items, images, and other online content for less money by working together. EPIC subscription fees were waived for the period 1 July 2020 to 30 June 2022, with the exception of some State sector organisations which have most of their budgets funded by Government Vote.

Te Puna

Te Puna Services (11) is a collection of online tools and services created with the help of NZ librarians to support daily tasks of searching, cataloguing, sharing resources, and managing collections. Te Puna Services are only available to member libraries. Te Puna member subscription fees were originally waived for the period 1 July 2020 to 30 June 2022, with the exception of some State sector organisations which have most of their budgets funded by Government Vote. The Te Puna fee waiver has now been extended to June 2023.

Kōtui

Kōtui is a consortium of New Zealand public libraries, offering a modern shared library management and resource discovery service.Kōtui is an affordable, efficient option to help libraries manage their collections, with leading-edge functionality for library users that would otherwise be unaffordable for many councils.

Through NZLPP, the Kōtui consortium received one-off relief of $0.25m in 2020 for unbudgeted procurement costs relating to the supplier contract.

APNK extension and free public internet

Aotearoa Peoples’ Network Kaharoa (APNK) has been operating since 2008. It provides free public internet and managed devices for public use in libraries and is a partially subsidised service with local authorities contributing to the direct financial costs. At the start of NZLPP, 17 local authorities were not current APNK members and membership was capped due to the limit on the government portion of the subsidy.

COVID-19 has helped underline the importance of public access to the internet for information and services without cost being a barrier. The NZLPP offer of a subsidised APNK public internet service to all public libraries was designed to enable all members of the public to get free internet access and use of devices through their public library. This assists the public with digital transactions with government, financial institutions, and online job applications.

The programme has worked to achieve this through:

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

• working with Auckland, Wellington, and Christchurch libraries to support their existing free internet offers; and

• providing all remaining Councils with the opportunity to join the APNK service at no charge and offering to support free public internet and device provision in those libraries — for a period of two years.

Five councils (including the Chatham Islands) joined APNK and another five were provided with assistance to keep their public library internet free of charge.

Strategic Partnership Grants

The NZLPP Strategic Partnership Grants (12) were announced by the Minister of Internal Affairs, Hon Jan Tinetti, in mid-2021. They were a way to broaden the library sector’s involvement in helping support librarians and library services to be retained in New Zealand libraries to support community recovery.

Our early engagement and planning with the sector highlighted workforce, funding, and service challenges, already faced by the sector, being made worse by the pandemic.

Concern from library sector partners about the impact of COVID-19 on the sustainability of the wider sector led the programme to support the upskilling, recovery, and rebuilding of the sector through strategic partnership grants. These grants are intended to support collaborative and strategic initiatives and to have sustainable impact across the library sector.

The amount available for payment of Strategic Partnership Grants reflects both budgeted grant spending and unallocated funding within the first year due to delays in recruitment and procurement. These delays within local councils and interruptions to supply chains were due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Despite the unallocated funding, all public library requests for secondment and operational funding were able to be funded where they met NZLPP funding criteria.

Eleven Strategic Partnership Grants were awarded in June 2021, totalling $5.024m. Sector organisations were encouraged to partner with others and seven of the successful projects are formal collaborations. Grant proposals were assessed with assistance from the Library and Information Advisory Commission (LIAC) and final decisions were informed by their recommendations.

To be considered, Strategic Partnership Grants needed to demonstrate alignment to programme goals that are directly related to these funding intentions.

Feedback from the library sector was strongly supportive of offering these grants.

The grant criteria were:

1. Alignment to the NZLPP objective to support librarians and library services to be retained in New Zealand libraries to support community recovery from COVID-19.

2. Is consistent with the priorities of the programme, specifically one or more of the following:

   • Retention and/or creation of job opportunities for librarians

   • Skills enhancement for librarians to support community recovery and strengthen the profession

   • Maintenance of library services to the public during the time of community recovery

   • Skills enhancement in the community to support communities most in need

   • Focus on mātauranga Māori

   • Leveraging existing partnerships and initiatives

   • Specialist library services and services to address inequities in provision of books and library services for young people with the greatest need.

3. Assists access to library collections, heritage information and/or other information provided through or by libraries.

4. Demonstrates sector collaboration. Noting that a proposal can cover more than one initiative and may include partnering with other organisations for effective delivery.

5. Supports long-term sector sustainability.

6. Is not a capital initiative.

Eight of these grants were topped up by an additional $0.810 million in June 2022 to further support the sustainability of the library sector.

The project details, and status as of 31 August 2022, for the strategic grants are as follows:

Organisation	Programme	Grant	Top-up
Te Rōpū Whakahau	Mātauranga Māori Professional Development project.	$200,000	$50,000
Te Rōpū Whakahau	Te Takarangi ki te Ao, expanding knowledge and appreciation for Māori scholarship, mātauranga and academic excellence.	$500,000	$50,000
LIANZA	New Zealand Book Awards for Children and Young Adults — Books Alive events — delivered on 10 August 2021.	$76,000	--
SLANZA	Communities of Learning/ Kahui Ako and School Libraries Collaboration Pilot Programme	$48,000	--
SLANZA	School Librarians Collaboration with Many Answers Pilot Programme.	$200,000	--
SLANZA	A Bit Sus, a misinformation education involving school libraries.	$150,000	$80,000
LGNZ	Employing a full time ‘Libraries Adviser’ for 2 years.	$450,000	$112,500
PLNZ and Taituarā	Public Libraries Co‐Cre8 — a coordinated approach to national data collection.	$550,000	$168,000
LIANZA and SLANZA	Strengthening the Library and Information Workforce: Tertiary Grants.	$1,500,000	$100,000
Te Puna Foundation	Communities of Readers (CoR) Phase 2: Strengthening reading engagement through library and community partnerships.	$850,000	$115,000
Auckland Libraries, CONZUL and University of Canterbury	He Kupenga Horopounamu — a programme of work to change libraries’ practice and service design to achieve better outcomes for Māori Communities.	$500,000	$125,000

Project partners include: Te Takarangi, New Zealand Book Awards Trust, Tohatoha, National Library’s Services to Schools and the University of Canterbury.

Many of these grants will continue to be delivered over the next year or more, supporting sector sustainability, and will be monitored by the National Library until they are fully expended.

Kōkiri Whakamua

The provision of specialist library services for schools and young people in greatest need through an uplift of National Library’s Services to Schools was included in scope of NZLPP for the first year as the programme was established with joint governance and resourcing. NZLPP funding included $13.3m over four years for this mahi (2020–2024).

In the first year of NZLPP, Services to Schools were enabled to recruit additional staff to uplift their capability to provide targeted support for schools and young people and initiate pilot projects with a focus on improving equity. Through Strategic Partnership Grants, funding was allocated to support SLANZA’s participation in Communities of Learning/ Kahui Ako and school librarians’ collaboration with an AnyQuestions/Many Answers Pilot Programme. Also funded was a misinformation education programme delivered through school libraries, and the LIANZA/SLANZA partnership relating to tertiary grants and an extension of the Communities of Readers programme.

Due to the complexities of the environment for schools during the pandemic and the significant differences in the focus of the mahi, the Services to Schools uplift was decoupled from NZLPP when the programme was re-baselined in June 2021 and established as a sister programme Kōkiri Whakamua. The programmes retained multiple strategic connections and areas of common interest between them.

The Kōkiri Whakamua Programme, which will run until June 2023, aims to improve, develop, and strengthen the National Library’s Services to Schools capability to provide school communities and young people with greatest need with equitable access to library services, resources, and support.

The programme funding will help support improvements across the sector with a focus on equity. Within the context of recovery and post-pandemic rebuilding, this includes additional support for a suite of national reading initiatives, including Communities of Readers, aimed at engaging children and young people with reading for pleasure and wellbeing.

Financial relief and transition funding

Further financial relief was allocated to public libraries during the delivery phase including COVID-19 immediate relief funding post the 2021 COVID lockdowns across NZ and Transition Payments, including Hardship relief.

The COVID-19 relief funding of $0.330m was allocated to public libraries to support them re-opening to the public in a COVID Level 2 environment and intended to pay for items such as masks, hand sanitiser and Perspex screens etc. as well as online tools for community access and engagement. Funding approved in the 2020/21 In Principle Expense Transfer (IPET) was utilised for this purpose.

Transition payments and hardship relief worth $2.052m was provided in the final months of the programme to support public libraries to transition out of the programme. By pooling together unspent allocations and redistributing them back out to the sector in the form of transition payments, libraries could apply for a single transition payment amount of up to $30k as well as applying for hardship relief of up to $10k if they met the relevant criteria.

Towards the end of the programme, library sector strategic partners were also supplied with $0.810m in top-ups to several of their existing 2021 Strategic Partnership Grants, primarily where these contribute to sector sustainability and where their initial grant applications were scaled back.

Public Lending Right

The Public Lending Right for New Zealand Authors (PLR) scheme was formalised in legislation in 2008 to provide for New Zealand authors, illustrators, and editors to receive payments in recognition of the fact that their books are available for use in New Zealand libraries.

The PLR fund (13) is divided annually among registered authors, based on how many copies of their works are held by libraries.

The Budget 2020 announcement for NZLPP included a 20% increase to the previous $2m PLR fund, bringing it to $2.4m annually. This amounts to $1.6m extra paid to authors across the four-year COVID-19 response and recovery fund period (between 2020 and 2023) compared to the previous funding. The 20% increase matches the rate of General CPI movement between December 2008 and the date of the announcement.

First year achievements

The establishment phase of the NZLPP programme was completed in March 2021, including the implementation of governance and accountability processes and the standing up of the programme delivery team.

As at 31 March 2021 the programme had signed agreements with 65 councils and committed to fund 197 staff positions. One year in, 174 people had been hired and were actively working in public libraries as a direct result of the programme funding.

A full training, coaching and Communities of Practice programme was designed to be wrapped around these funded positions, with Communities of Practice being extended to all library staff who are currently working in the identified focus areas.

User charges were waived for collaborative library services such as EPIC and Te Puna to the value of $8.743m over the two financial years and fee waivers are also in place for subscriptions to the Aotearoa People’s Network Kaharoa (APNK).

At that point, five Councils were seeking to join the APNK as new members, and fibre upgrades were planned in several regions. Analysis work began to investigate and define the future direction of the APNK service so that it would be suitable, sustainable, and supportable for large metropolitan libraries.

A process was established to fund a small number of non-contestable strategic partnership grants to library sector organisations that will help achieve the programme’s objectives and support long-term sector sustainability for NZ libraries.

The Libraries Sector mahi was initiated and the programme evaluation got underway with the development of a Programme Monitoring & Evaluation (M&E) framework.

“I’ve been reflecting on June 2020, when the COVID recovery fund money came through to NZLPP, thinking what an extraordinary and exciting moment that was. I’ve also been reflecting on the enormous effort, goodwill and collaboration that has gone in to getting us to this point. Right from the outset, we designed the programme with the sector. With people who have given so much of their time and really enabled the programme to be successful. Now we're at the point where that funding is coming to an end and looking at our options, considering how we can lock in the benefits and positive things that have come from the programme and how we can best position the sector for the future.”

— Rachel Esson, National Librarian Te Pouhuaki

Programme Re-set

In September 2021, a full programme reset was undertaken (post establishment phase) responding to the sector’s desire for ongoing sustainability of the library sector post-NZLPP funding and to re-baseline the programme. The reset included shifting the Steering Group into a more strategic role (renamed as the Sector Reference Group) that had the potential to be sustained after the programme closure.

NZLPP presented a rare opportunity to think beyond the life of its funding and towards the long-term sustainability of a libraries sector that is widely valued, used, enabled, and supported to deliver positive social and economic outcomes for people, whānau, communities, iwi and Aotearoa. The overarching objective of the reset was to prioritise our remaining resources to help enable this.

In consultation with the Sector Reference Group, the Programme Board therefore agreed that NZLPP provide an ‘incubation role’ for strategic/sustainability mahi that will live beyond the life of the programme and ultimately need to be owned and implemented by the Sector.

Programme transition approach

NZLPP was confirmed to have a role in delivering against ‘Horizon 1’ initiatives and activities, initiate and contribute to ‘Horizon 2’ initiatives and activities, whilst setting up the National Library and the Sector for ‘Horizon 3’ transformational activities as per the image below.

It was agreed that NZLPP follow a transition and ultimately a programme closure approach in the 2022 calendar year as per the image below. The delivery phase was intended to initiate and deliver as much Horizon 2 mahi as possible in the first half of the 2021/22 financial year with a deliberate shift into transition post-Christmas 2021.

The transition phase has run from January 2022 through to Programme closure with a deliberate focus on winding down the programme in parallel with broad stakeholder engagement and consultation about what the 2022/23 financial year and beyond looks like. Multiple options exist around ongoing sector collaboration and governance, including how the sustainability mahi is to be implemented post Programme through the Whiria te Tāngata project.

Future sustainability focus

Early stakeholder engagement through the core programme highlighted concerns about the time-limited nature of support for the sector. For stakeholders, supporting recovery from the pandemic also meant having a future sustainability focus for the post-pandemic and post-CRRF funding environment; and not leaving libraries and library services worse off after the programme and additional financial support ends.

In response, NZLPP ran an Investment Logic Mapping (ILM) process to identify problems that threaten the long-term health of the sector. The ILM process also provided a high-level view of potential responses to address the problems and achieve the benefits identified.

The ILM process identified 3 key problems that threaten the long-term health of the sector:

1. insufficient data and evidence about the value of libraries services makes it difficult to make evidence-based decisions and the case for funding;

2. inadequate capability within the libraries sector leading to variability in the range and quality of services offered by libraries; and

3. libraries are funded at the discretion of decision-makers, which means that in times of financial constraint or competing priorities, libraries are vulnerable to funding cuts.

The benefits that would arise from addressing these challenges include better evidence-based decision-making; more qualified and trained librarians; library services that better meet diverse community needs; and greater equity of access to library services.

While fully addressing the challenges is beyond the resources and lifespan of the programme, NZLPP has worked with the sector to prioritise 3 areas that take steps towards the desired outcomes and engaged with sector stakeholders to:

• develop a sector data, research, and evidence strategy — to lay the foundations for a strong data culture and data, research and evidence base on the social and economic value library services deliver;

• develop a workforce capability framework — building the infrastructure to support broadening and strengthening libraries workforce capability; and

• review services to libraries — to identify operational efficiencies and inform future sustainability options for National Library services to the sector

Strategic Partnership Grants are also continuing to build capability in areas that reinforce the sustainability workstream objectives. NZLPP has retained a Senior Advisor post-programme to continue to work closely with grant recipients to ensure they have access to the resources and support they need to deliver project benefits for the sector and the communities they serve.

Sustainability mahi

After the above-mentioned ILM process, three sustainability projects were established within NZLPP to meet the identified priority areas, supporting the longer-term future of libraries in meeting the needs of people, communities, iwi and Aotearoa.

The intention of this mahi was to ensure the NZLPP programme objectives supported the conditions needed for the sustainability of library services, so they could continue to support community wellbeing.

Sector representatives and experts engaged closely in each of these projects, which concluded in June 2022. Each delivered strategies or frameworks that require sector ownership and implementation (See above diagram illustrating the NZLPP Sustainability Assets development process).

Data, Research and Evidence — demonstrating the value of the libraries sector

The overarching objective of the NZLPP reset in mid-2021 was to prioritise our remaining unallocated resources to assist libraries and library services. We needed this support to work through and beyond the pandemic recovery; to be sustainable and enduring; be meeting community needs; and be supported by decision-makers.

To support this, the programme is helping lay the foundations for a strong data culture; and data, research and evidence base. We want these to collectively demonstrate the positive impact library services have in their communities, including those enabled by the NZLPP.

A sector Data, Research and Evidence (DRE) strategy (14) has been developed with and for the sector. The strategy draws on the expertise and knowledge of representatives from different types of libraries to ensure it will be relevant, useful and actionable by the people who need it.

NZLPP has collected data from libraries reporting on progress towards their stated programme objectives. We have made this data openly available (15) to anyone who is doing research on the library sector. It has potential to demonstrate:

1. different approaches libraries have taken to delivering enhanced services when resourcing allowed;

2. the demand for IT literacy amongst certain sectors of society and how libraries supported that; and

3. support for the changing faces of public libraries (increasing focus on people and community support).

The DRE strategy sets the vision and high-level objectives to lift all aspects of data capability (collection, management, analysis and use) in the sector. The roadmap shows the pathways, based around a maturity model, for libraries to identify the steps they need to take in their context to realise the strategy objectives. The roadmap is supported by a plan of staged actions, intended to be achievable over a 12-month period.

Work towards a value narrative was designed to position the sector to tell the story to decision-makers and stakeholders of the values library services deliver in Aotearoa, so that libraries are supported and resourced over the long term. The DRE strategy focuses on the ‘how’ of building capability; the value narrative mahi guides the ‘what’ – for what purposes and what types of data are useful to demonstrate the benefits delivered?

The process of engagement carried out during the DRE mahi and resulting deliverables position the sector to address issues around all aspects of data capability. Over time, the sector will have an increasingly strong and compelling evidence base to support the story of the values and benefits libraries services in Aotearoa deliver for use with decision-makers and others who influence the development of library services in meeting users’ and communities’ needs.

NZLPP also supported Public Libraries of New Zealand (PLNZ) and Taituarā to deliver a more coordinated approach to public library data collection and presentation to council decision makers. The partnership is bringing together the data intelligence of the Taituarā Community Well-being Data Service, used in almost 50 councils, with PLNZ’s LibPAS data from more than 300 libraries nationally. Drawing these resources together is expected to help build an evidence base on the value of public libraries — now and into the future. A final report on this mahi is currently being produced by the grant recipients.

PLNZ have now published this project as a dashboard of interactive historical and current data, which will act as a repository going forward to support library managers with advocacy. They are currently training managers around the motu on how to best use it.

Taituarā have created resources for CEOs and managers, enabling them to advocate on their contribution to community well-being. Resources include webinars, a reporting template and Library of Best Practice informed by multiple surveys delivered

LIANZA was also funded to lead an evaluation and impact training initiative, which aimed to support participants to work out what exactly needs to be monitored; how to measure what matters; and ways to communicate effectively about the impact their library makes in their community.

Workforce capability

We heard early on from LIANZA, PLNZ, Te Rōpū Whakahau, SLANZA, and others that formal learning and completing qualifications were already a long-term challenge for the library sector, along with attracting a more diverse range of people into the profession. COVID-19 was expected to increase pressure on library training budgets.

With that and sector sustainability in mind, NZLPP has created a workforce capability framework, Te Tōtara (16), that libraries can use to assist their staff in creating development pathways.

NZLPP’s $1.5m grant for a partnership between LIANZA and SLANZA also aims to upskill the library and information sector workforce, providing an incentive to achieve tertiary library and information qualifications. The fund is being used for tertiary grants (17) to aid a qualification uplift across the entire library and information sector and introduce new people into the sector.

Te Rōpū Whakahau and SLANZA also received grants respectively to deliver a suite of mātauranga Māori workshops and train school librarians to help deliver a programme in schools focusing on NZ specific misinformation and disinformation.

Services to libraries

Part of the National Library’s purpose to supplement and further the work of other libraries in New Zealand involves coordinating and leading a range of collaborative library services to the sector, all of which have a cost recovery element. Almost every New Zealand library pays for one or more of these services at a recovered cost of around $8 million per year.

While the NZLPP fee waivers helped support libraries to retain these services for two years, the review was designed to understand how libraries in the sector perceive the value, affordability, and future of these services beyond the programme’s funding, particularly in the context of major changes in the environment within which they operate such as digital delivery, local government, and education reform.

The aim was to develop more equitable and sustainable models and services, and if necessary, put forward the case for change. This kind of review work is not business as usual for the National Library and will benefit the whole sector as well as the end users of these services.

With customer analysis largely complete, this work along with implementing recommendations on how to develop a sustainable delivery model for the sector has been transitioned to the National Library to progress over the next twelve months, including further engagement with the sector on more effective consortia approaches. In the meantime, transition, and hardship funding for public libraries along with an extension to the Te Puna Services fee waiver for another year have helped delay any immediate sustainability issues for these services.

Whiria te Tāngata

Kia toitu te mātauranga – weaving the people together, for the sustainability of the sector.

Whiria te Tāngata is a one-year NZLPP-funded initiative where the different sustainability initiatives and people within the sector are woven together to create action on the sustainability initiatives and further the aspirations of libraries within Aotearoa, New Zealand.

This project focuses on four areas:

1. implementing the DRE strategy and Workforce Capability Framework, using a sector-led approach that incorporates a te ao Māori and mātauranga Māori lens. The project is currently being established and the core deliverables and associated activities include:

   • Funding a sector-led collaborative project – taking a collective impact approach to sustainability within Aotearoa with National Library providing a small backbone support team (project management and collaboration platforms) post-NZLPP until June 2023.

   • Establishment of a project team, including a cohort of ‘sustainability champions’ from within the sector to pilot and test the sustainability initiatives within their organisations; and share their learnings and outcomes with the wider sector through the website and webinars.

   • Establishment of project governance.

2. Building sector capability and capacity for the project – by engaging a cohort of emerging talent and leaders from the sector along with Subject Matter Experts to take an ‘action learning’ approach to implementing sustainability mahi plans

   • Development of relevant Job Descriptions

   • Completion of recruitment

   • Establishment of working groups/task force(s)

   • Professional Development learning in action partner/platform to support

3. Establishing buy-in for a new coalition/alliance model to create collective impact by exploring a cross-sector model that focuses externally (e.g., advocacy and issues) with scope to be Te Tiriti-based and Aotearoa NZ values driven

   • Development of MoU/principles/agreement of some kind to implement a coalition model

   • Agreement on the funding model to support the coalition (approach/model defined)

4. Addressing the enablers for communication and collaboration – tackling the dated channels and mechanisms for communication and collaboration within the sector.

Identification of the relevant communications and collaboration platform(s) including the development of business requirements and evaluation of current platforms to determine future fit

Successful implementation of the plans from the work commissioned from NZLPP – The implementation plans delivered or in-flight

The benefits of the Whiria te Tāngata project will be:

• The growth of the capacity and confidence within the wider sector, to deliver the sustainability initiatives

• Developed foundations for a strong data culture and data, research and evidence base on the social and economic value libraries services deliver

• Infrastructure to support broadening and strengthening capability in the workforce

• The foundation for a Sector-wide collaborative model

Interim governance will be established by the time NZLPP ends with the first formal governance meeting in August 2022.

Conclusion

NZLPP was a historically unique programme for the library sector. While it was created out of adversity, the COVID-19 response and recovery effort also presented libraries in New Zealand with the opportunity to coordinate and collaborate more closely.

The focus of NZLPP mahi has brought the sector together, helping strengthen cross-sector relationships, while Strategic Partnership Grants triggered collaborations between a diversity of organisations within and beyond the library sector. The NZLPP also enhanced National Library’s relationships with the sector and helped bring focus to its roles to supplement and further the work of New Zealand libraries and promote co-operation.

The programme’s final evaluation (18),produced by MartinJenkins, concluded that NZLPP played a significant role in ensuring libraries could protect jobs and retain skilled and valued staff.

The report shows that the sector believes the support and guidance offered by the NZLPP team was hugely beneficial, with universal appreciation of the NZLPP team for their prompt responses to questions and supporting libraries with their applications.

The evaluation also concluded that the vast majority of work delivered through the NZLPP was either completely new and made possible by the programme or is a major increase on existing areas of work; and that due to NZLPP funding libraries have achieved a considerable amount for their communities over the past two years including work undertaken to target support to vulnerable and marginalised groups.

Library staff have experienced an increase in their skills and capabilities through NZLPP, with their exposure to different skills and specialities – youth engagement digital literacy specialists, Māori liaison specialists, te reo Māori teachers – having had a considerable impact on the workforce through on-the-job learning.

In mid-2022, all indications are that COVID-19 and its impacts will be with us for some time. The Government has committed to providing support where it is most urgently needed. Budget 2022 saw the remaining COVID-19 Response and Recovery Fund targeted at providing further economic support for the rising cost of living as well as provision for immediate public health needs. It also marked the formal close of the Fund, with future COVID-19 related costs to be managed within the standard Budget process.

As the programme drew to a close, the NZLPP team worked closely with library partners to ensure the existing funding was directed at helping libraries as effectively as possible to sustain the benefits beyond the life of the programme.

NZLPP has endeavoured to plan and position the library sector for the future to support rebuilding in a post-pandemic environment. It is our hope that the NZLPP sustainability mahi will have long-reaching impacts that benefit libraries and their communities for years to come.

Waiho i te toipoto, kaua i te toiroa

Let us keep close together, not far apart

Appendix 1: intervention logic

Appendix 2: workforce capability skills

National Zealand libraries partnership programme (NZLPP) — workforce capability skills

The (NZLPP) will support librarians, library staff and library services to be retained in NZ libraries and assist them to support community recovery.

Common skills and knowledge

General skills across all six focus areas. Note: these are not all the skills a librarian needs, only those needed for success in the six focus areas

• Time management

• Cultural intelligence

• Project management

• Communication

• Resilience and wellbeing

• Marketing and promotion

• Working with the community

• Teaching adults

• Relationship building

• Public speaking

• Work with volunteers

• Problem solving

• Political awareness

• Customer service

Digital inclusion

Supporting and assisting job seekers and learners — including digital literacy for children and young people

• Digital inclusion — barriers, inclusions, and co-design

• Digital literacy — strategies, barriers, and inclusion

• Online safety

• Statutory obligations

• Digital know how — using library systems/tools

• Support consumers of content

• Support producers of content

• Support job seekers and learners — including help with careers

Workforce development

Supporting an increasingly diverse workforce — including retention and development of Māori and Pasifika staff, leadership development, trainee recruitment and career progression development

• Understanding factors impacting library workforce

• Diversity

• Professional development

• Inclusive leadership

• Recruitment and retention

• Career development

Community engagement

Including capability building, co-design skills, programming, and outreach and by targeting non-users

• Community development methodologies — including co-design

• Understand, support, and actively apply Te Tiriti o Waitangi

• Manage volunteers and sustain their activities

• Communicating with the community

Reading for pleasure

Supporting wellbeing — including local programming, partnerships and support for young people, whanau, and communities

• Implementing strategies to encourage reading

• Getting to know the community and barriers to reading

• Supporting reading for pleasure

• Communicating and understanding children and youth

Te Reo and mātauranga Māori

Supporting local iwi — including staff skills development

• Working with Iwi to optimise library services

• Te reo Māori knowledge and use

• Te Ao Māori in the information environment

• Contributing mātauranga Māori to libraries

Content creation

And curation of online New Zealand resources, with a focus on local resources

• Supporting local community to create and curate own archive

• Create and manage historical archives

• Digitisation skills

• Complying with rights framework

• Creating inviting and accessible multi-media

• Best practices for caring for artefacts

Glossary:
Te Reo – the language (Māori language)
Mātauranga Māori – Māori knowledge/experience/understanding

Footnotes

1. Beehive announcement

2. See: NZLPP webpage

3. NZLPP in action

4. See: National Library of New Zealand (Te Puna Mātauranga o Aotearoa) Act 2003

5. See: ​Libraries in the time of COVID-19 – our stories

6. Rooney‐Browne, C. (2009), "Rising to the challenge: a look at the role of public libraries in times of recession", Library Review, Vol. 58 No. 5, pp. 341-352.

7. Summary of Initiatives in the COVID-19 Response and Recovery Fund (CRRF) Foundational Package

8. Noting 2021-22 figures are unaudited and subject to change.

9. New Zealand Libraries Partnership Programme in action

10. 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.

11. Read more about Te Puna

12. Strategic partnership grants — New Zealand Libraries Partnership Programme

13. Read more about the PLR here

14. Data, research and evidence strategy resources

15. New Zealand Library Partnerships Programme data

16. Library sector workforce capability framework project

17. Tertiary Grant Funding - Libraries Aotearoa

18. Evaluation of the New Zealand Libraries Partnership Programme