Māori librarian joins government advisory authority

New Zealand’s government has appointed leading Māori librarian Te Paea Paringatai as a commissioner at a national agency that provides independent advice on libraries.

Paringatai will join the NZ Library and Information Advisory Commission, which was set up in 2003 to advise the government on the cultural and economic role of libraries.

She is a board member of the International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions, chairing its Indigenous library services section. Paringatai is also customer services manager at the University of Canterbury library in Christchurch.