Presidential Centenary Gala Evening to Celebrate 100 Years of LIANZA – organised by the Te Upoko o Te Ika a Maui (Wellington) region this event lived up to its grand and glamorous name.  The New Zealand Film Archive was a great venue – that wonderful combination of urban café and cultural institution.  Dressing up was encouraged, my nod to this was wearing my Cluedo T shirt accusing Colonel Mustard, in the library, with a dagger .  While costumes were few, they were impressive.  Paddy Plunket was particularly stunning, someone was taking photos so keep an eye out for them.

While enjoying scrummy drinks and nibbles we were treated to a few words from LIANZA president, Barbara Garriock.  Barbara’s speech was both humorous and thought provoking – what stayed in my mind was the importance of library managers engaging with their teams, particularly front line staff with their insight into customer wants, needs and expectations.

Then we had birthday cake – yum – followed by a screening of Aunt Daisy and the Dancing Cossacks.  This was a hilarious collection of NZ cinema and television advertising made between 1930 and 2000.  Lots of memorable clips, naturally (working for a NZ company) the one with  most resonance for me was from the 1930s encouraging NZers to buy kiwi made!

Happy Birthday LIANZA