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Newsletter to schools — Term 1 2025

Here's what's in our Term 1 newsletter:

Explore your local histories
Tools and resources to support reading and literacy
Offer reading as an exciting adventure
Professional learning
Lending news — important dates and tips
Online resources for Term 1

Explore your local histories

Screenshot of the Many Answers landing page showing regional resources tab.

AnyQuestions is a free, online service for all New Zealand school students, using live text chat. We are now open for 2025 and are excited to help your ākonga become critically literate citizens.

Since launching in 2024, our regional resources have helped students learn about their local histories. These resources support te ao tangata | social sciences learning area of the New Zealand Curriculum. They use simple icons and plain language to make information easy to access.

Librarians have chosen all the resources and provide context to help students understand why certain sources are recommended and what to expect.

Check out the regional resources

Each region has 3 sections: people, places and events

Each section starts with important examples from that region. Recommended sources include online resources and places ākonga can visit for more information. Examples include:

Auckland | Tāmaki Makaurau has its own collection of 15 topics. This collection focuses on local perspectives, such as:

The regional resources were created with help from our public library partners and the School Library Association of New Zealand Aotearoa (SLANZA).

Tools and resources to support reading and literacy

We have some great tools and resources to support teaching reading and literacy in your school.

School Reading Culture Roadmap

Use our new School Reading Culture Roadmap. It's a step-by-step guide to help you build a sustainable reading culture in your school community.

School Reading Culture Roadmap

Reading Identity Cards

Reading identity refers to who you are as a reader. It's about your reading attitude, habits, behaviours, choices and motivation. Reading identity is one specific focus of National Library's Teachers Creating Readers Framework. It's an integral part of being a reader.

The cards help you reflect on, develop and share your reading identity and support others to develop theirs too. They are a great resource to use with staff and students, especially at the start of the school year.

Download our Reading Identity Cards and Chatterbox

Buy packs of cards from the National Library store, Te Āmiki.

Request books to support reading for pleasure and the curriculum

Exposing students to a rich variety of books is essential. This:

nurtures reading enjoyment
sparks curiosity and imagination
supports wellbeing
enhances cultural understanding
supports critical thinking
helps build a foundation of knowledge.

Picture books, poetry, non-fiction and culturally diverse stories expand young minds. These texts introduce new worlds, complex ideas and vibrant vocabulary, all while nurturing a lifelong love of reading.

Boost your reading and writing programmes with books from the National Library.

Find books and strategies to develop a love of reading that work seamlessly alongside structured literacy approaches: Books and strategies to use alongside structured literacy approaches.

Request loans of books tailored to support reading for pleasure or the curriculum: Check out our lending service.

Explore our expert advice, proven strategies and tools to support reading and literacy.

When children read what they enjoy, they are more likely to develop a positive attitude towards reading.

Offer reading as an exciting adventure

A very tall ladder going up towards the sky.

Image credit: Ladder, 2010 by fdecomite. Wikimedia Commons. Some rights reserved: CC BY 2.0. Image cropped.

In his latest blog post, current Te Awhi Rito Reading Ambassador Alan Dingley recommends supporting children's reading choices.

For children, the journey into the world of books is best offered and experienced as an exciting adventure, a pick-a-path amble, a rocket ship they are at the controls of … not a race.

If children feel pressured to progress quickly through reading levels or to choose ‘more advanced’ books, their enjoyment of reading can decline.

Read Alan's post: Don’t get hung up on the rung.

Professional learning

Participants at a National Library Services to Schools' learning event.

Learn with us in Term 1

Now is the time to plan your professional development for the year! Our 2025 learning programme is free and online so you can attend wherever you are in Aotearoa New Zealand.

Sign up for some of our learning opportunities in Term 1:

26 February — New school library staff: Getting started in your new role
9 April — New school library staff: Reflecting on Term 1
27 February to 2 April — workshop series: Making the most of National Library's digital resources
4 March to 1 April — workshop series: Cultivating keen readers
13 March — first webinar in the ‘Making the most of National Library’s books for schools’ series: Read-alouds.

Keep an eye out for more learning opportunities — bookmark our Professional learning courses and events page.

Niche Academy

This term, we're launching the first of our new self-paced, bite-sized learning tutorials on Niche Academy. The tutorials complement information on our website and include tips and step-by-step examples.

No sign-up is required and all tutorials are free to do.

Check out newly published tutorials on using our school lending service.

Lending news — important dates and tips

Calendar with pencil to enter dates to order or return your school loan.

Submit your Term 1 topics selection and extra reading requests by 7 March. Term 1 books are due back to us by 11 April. Request books for Term 2 2025 from 8 March.

Check out our 2025 request and return dates

Find out what schools can borrow from us

Top tips to get the most from our service

Here are 3 tips to help your school make the most from our lending service.

Submit multiple, small requests as they are ready so your books arrive sooner. We process requests in the order we receive them. So submit requests as you compile them until you reach your school’s term allocation. Don't wait until all of your term's orders are ready before pressing submit!

Maximise the number of books you receive by using a new topic selection request for each curriculum area rather than combining a range of topics into one request.

Use NZ Post's Services to Schools special discounted delivery rates to return books. It takes about 10 minutes to order the book of return courier tickets but the savings are incredible. Only $7–$8 per box for most.