Over 400 library and information professionals will be meeting in Wellington next week to share and discuss the changing nature of libraries and how they sustain their wide range of users and communities.

“In an ever-changing environment, the LIANZA 2025 Conference acknowledges the need for the library and information sector to adapt to change and respond to the needs of our communities in sustainable ways,” says Library and Information Association (LIANZA) President, Mark Crookston.

“The breadth and depth of the interesting and important mahi that is happening all over Aotearoa will be showcased. With strong sessions addressing the important issues of now, reinforcing my long-held belief that libraries are on the front line of the issues that matter - AI, climate action, censorship and freedoms, literacies, and the shifting role of public libraries.”

Featured on the programme is Te Paea Paringatai (Waikato, Ngāti Porou), President-elect 2025-2027 of the International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions (IFLA), and a passionate advocate for libraries as spaces of connection, cultural resilience and collective stewardship.

Dr Monty Soutar (Ngāti Porou, Ngāti Awa, Ngāi Tai ki Tāmaki and Ngāti Kahungunu) will talk about how sharing stories, whether in non-fiction or historical fiction, can promote understanding, challenge stereotypes, and contribute to a more inclusive society for all.

Library kaimahi will also talk about what it’s like working in a prison library - the unseen libraries in our communities – behind bars! With no computers, no internet, and strictly no cell phones allowed.

AI in libraries features strongly in the programme. Research exploring the role of New Zealand university libraries in supporting generative AI within teaching and learning environments will be explored. As well as strategies to foster ethical AI usage, build digital capabilities, and prepare libraries for future technological advances.

Many of the presentations show the massive transformation in library services over recent decades, debunking the myth that libraries are places where people sit quietly reading on their own. From podcasts to escape rooms, night cafés, innovative publishing programmes, wellbeing programmes and ‘reading aloud’ in a communal setting, LIANZA 2025 will look at the Aotearoa New Zealand libraries innovating to meet the needs of their communities.

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