2011 Ngā Kupu Ora Awards winners. Back row – Basil Keane (Te Ara), Jock Phillips (Te Ara), Derek Fox, Chris Winitana. Front row – Robert Jahnke, Trudy Meredith, Tina Makereti.

The Ngā Kupu Ora Māori Book Awards for 2011 were presented at a ceremony on 29 November at Te Pūtahi-a-toi/School of Māori Studies. The Library was honoured to again be involved in the organisation of the awards.

Most of the books are available for borrowing from Massey Library:

Massey News article: Ngā Kupu Ora Awards Celebrate Māori Publishing Milestones

The Ngā Kupu Ora Māori Book Awards winners for 2011 have been announced, ahead of the presentation ceremony on 29 November at Te Pūtahi-a-toi/School of Māori Studies.

Māori Information Services Librarian/Kaiwhakarato Pārongo Sheeanda Field has been involved in organising the awards from the first year in 2009, and was on the judging panel this year.

"More and more Māori are writing so it is good to be able to recognise Māori authorship with the Book Awards," she said. "I was honoured to be a part of the process and judging for the books this year."

Massey News article: First Fiction Winner at Ngā Kupu Ora Māori Book Awards

Dr. Spencer Lilley, the Library’s Kaihautū Māori/Māori Services Manager (Te Ātiawa, Muaūpoko and Ngāpuhi), graduated with a PhD degree at the College of Education Graduation Ceremony on 11th of May. He has also received a Fulbright-Ngā Pae o te Māramatanga Travel Award to present his work to American audiences.

Dr. Lilley's thesis The information seeking behaviours of Māori secondary school students (available on Massey Research Online) investigated how Māori students access and use information to make sense of the two worlds they live in. The research results demonstrated that they have a distinct preference for seeking information from other people, rather than print and electronic sources.

The Fulbright-Ngā Pae o te Māramatanga Travel Award allows him to visit America in June. He will be making presentations to the Tribal College Librarians’ Institute, the universities of Washington and Texas, and the American Library Association’s Annual Conference as part of the incoming President’s program. He returns to New Zealand at the beginning of July.

Congratulations Spencer!

Massey University Library carried high hopes into the the finals of the 3M Innovation in Libraries Award - taking two of the three finalist positions. Unfortunately it wasn't to be our year, with the overall winner being Upper Hutt City Libraries and their programme called “A Library Book in Every Bag”.

Spencer Lilley and Sheeanda Field, library Mâori Services staff, gained second place for developing the Ngâ Kupu Ora Mâori Book Awards. Heather Lamond, head of Distance Library Service, gained third place for the library’s sustainable strategic approach to online tutorials.

Our colleagues won't be returning empty handed however - Spencer and Sheeanda received a grant for professional development and Heather received a hamper of 3M products.

The award is presented annually by the Library and Information Association of New Zealand Aotearoa (LIANZA) and 3M to the most innovative and entrepreneurial projects in New Zealand libraries.

Congratulations to our colleagues at Upper Hutt City Libraries!

The Ngā Kupu Ora Book Awards helped Massey to win first place in the national Māori Language Awards presented last Saturday night at Rotorua.

Massey's entry consisted of several initiatives from across the university that celebrated Te Wiki o te Māori (Māori Language Week) this year, including the Ngā Kupu Ora Book Awards initiated by the Library, and the 'kōrero kawhe' card which particularly impressed the judges.

Massey News article: Massey wins national Māori language awards