Key Note Speaker | Yumi Stynes | writer, broadcaster, television presenter, food fanatic, fitness enthusiast and mother-of-four

Yumi’s latest book is Welcome To Sex, others include Welcome To Your Period, and she is also the author of Zero F*cks Cooking and Endless Summer. Among her daily responsibilities she presents a national radio show on the KIIS network called The 3pm Pickup, and hosts an ABC podcast about women's health called Ladies, We Need to Talk.

Yumi presented an SBS documentary called 'Is Australia Sexist?', has given keynote speeches at Dark Mofo Festival of Dangerous Ideas, Department of Rural Health Sexual Health Conference, The Australian Women's Leadership Symposium, One of One International Women's Day Conference and was the fearless MC at the 2019 Women's March in Sydney.

Tesh Randall | Co-Founder Raglan Yoghurt Company | Little Libraries | The Values Trust

Tesh Randall, an enterprising entrepreneur, founded Raglan Food Co in 2014 from her home kitchen. The company has since expanded to supply over 750 stores across New Zealand, Singapore, Hong Kong, China, United Arab Emirates, and the Pacific Islands. She is a multifaceted individual, engaged in various ventures including writing books, philanthropy, managing the Raglan Rural Retreat glamping accommodation, and serving as a celebrant. Tesh is renowned for her commitment to using business as a force for positive change. She resides in Whaingaroa Raglan, actively participating in the local community.

Laurinda Thomas | Manager, Libraries and Community Spaces, Wellington City Council

Laurinda Thomas is the Manager, Libraries and Community Spaces at Wellington City Council. Laurinda has worked across the libraries and information field for more than 20 years, holding positions across both the private and public sector.

She is a former President of LIANZA and lifelong advocate for the transformative power of libraries, speaking at TEDxWellington in 2016. Laurinda also sits on the boards of the Digital Inclusion Alliance Aotearoa, and the Aurora Foundation.

Louise LaHatte | Chair of the LIANZA Standing Committee on Freedom of Information

Having worked for local government in Auckland for 36 years, she has experienced the rich tapestry of change that working in a political environment can bring, as well as the evolution of libraries in response to societal and technological changes. She has been actively involved in LIANZA and PLNZ and in campaigns to protect the freedom to read and to remove barriers to library use.


Find the Freedom to Read Toolkit here

Ernestyne Walsh| Service Lead for Māori Data, Nicholson Consulting, Ngāti Porou, Te Whānau-ā-Apanui

Ernestynne is the service lead for Māori data at Nicholson Consulting. She has led several projects on Māori businesses, te reo Māori revitalisation, iwi data insights and Māori data governance implementations. She has a Master of Science and a Master of Māori and Indigenous Leadership specialising in Māori data sovereignty implementation and indigenous data governance. Ernestynne was part of the team that won a Te Hapori Matihiko award for contributions to Māori tech in the public sector. She was also a finalist in the corporate change category. In her spare time, she runs a charitable trust called Te Rau Hihiri, that advocates for Māori succeeding as Māori in the public sector and is one of eight amonuku (Māori associate director) selected for He Tukutuku Koiora, a kaupapa to grow the next generation of Māori governance leaders.

Manakore Rickus Graham | Kaiatawhai Raraunga Māori, Nicholson Consulting |Waitaha, Rapuwai, Hotu Māmoe, Kāi Tahu, Ngāti Tama ki Te Waipounamu, Te Atiawa, Ngāti Toa Rangatira   

Manakore Rickus-Graham grew up under the guidance of Te Aho Matua and graduated as a Raukura of Kura Kaupapa Māori, where she gained her passion for advocating to embed Te Ao Māori concepts within digital systems and looking for avenues in which all Māori can thrive.

Manakore works as a data scientist at Nicholson Consulting in the Māori Data service area. Manakore has experience with Indigenous approaches - applying principles of Māori data sovereignty (MDS), and Māori data governance frameworks - to transform data ecosystems. She was involved in creating MDS guidelines for Taumata Arowai, supporting them to use Māori data in a safe manner and to give effect to the Te Mana o te Wai agreement. She has also worked with Tokona Te Raki, the Kāi Tahu future thinking arm, to identify data insights and future trend insights to act as strategic prompts for whānau discussion with their 2050 Project.

Kate Macnaught | PLNZ Wellbeing's advisor

Kate was born in Scotland and trained as a teacher in Edinburgh. After ten years teaching she moved to England where her career moved sideways into management training and development. She worked with large businesses on Teesside, such as ICI, and public sector organisations such as Durham Constabulary.

Kate moved to New Zealand in 2005 and joined New Plymouth District Council’s policy team. In 2011 she moved to Wellington and began working for Local Government New Zealand, including a period as Acting CEO. Kate then set up her own consultancy, KMac Associates, before joining the team at Taituarā in 2018. Following the COVID pandemic, Kate left Wellington to live in Tasman District with her husband Bill. They both believe in the immense value of libraries and librarians.

Mandy Hager | Author
Mandy Hager is a multi-award winning New Zealand author. In 2019 she received the Storylines Margaret Mahy Medal, for life-time achievement and a distinguished contribution to NZ’s literature for young people. She has also been awarded the 2012 Beatson Fellowship, the 2014 Katherine Mansfield Menton Fellowship and the 2015 Waikato University Writer in Residence.

In 2015 her novel ‘Singing Home the Whale’ was named Margaret Mahy Book of the Year in the NZ Book Awards for Children and Young Adults. She also writes adult fiction, short stories, non-fiction, educational resources, blogs and articles, and tutored the Novel Course at Whitireia for ten years. She is the immediate past President of the New Zealand Society of Authors and a director on the board of Copyright Licencing NZ.

Dr Megg Spriggs | Dementia Friendly Senior Advisor

Dr Meg Spriggs completed her PhD in psychology at the University of Auckland before spending several years working as a Research Fellow in the UK. Having returned to Aotearoa New Zealand in 2023, Meg is now the Senior Advisor Dementia Friendly for Alzheimers New Zealand.

In her role with Alzheimers New Zealand, Meg works with communities and organisations across the motu to embody Alzheimers New Zealand’s vision of a Dementia Friendly Aotearoa. That is, an Aotearoa where people living with dementia mate wareware can exercise their right to feel valued and safe, can contribute to and participate in their communities, and where they get the help and support they need. As part of this work, Meg is supporting libraries across the motu who are keen to create inclusive environments for people with dementia mate wareware in their community.

Meg is also a research consultant, speaker, and advocate for mental health. Across all her roles, Meg is passionate about lived experience, equity, and systems change.

Appointed Te Pouhuaki National Librarian on 17 December 2020, Rachel Esson is responsible for leading all National Library services in New Zealand.  She also contributes to the leadership of the Information and Knowledge Services branch of the Department of Internal Affairs.

Previously Director Content Services of the National Library, Rachel is the first internal appointment to the role. Rachel is a professionally registered librarian who has held senior and strategic roles in academic and research libraries for many years. She has researched and published in the area of evaluation of library services.

Her previous roles have included Associate Chief Librarian Alexander Turnbull Library, Associate Director Library Academic Services at Victoria University, and Medical Librarian (University of Otago, Wellington). She is a fellow of the Library and Information Association of New Zealand Aotearoa (LIANZA) and is actively involved with association governance.

Former leadership roles in the sector include Associate Chief Librarian in the Alexander Turnbull Library, Principal Advisor to the Chief Archivist at Archives NZ, Secretary-General of the Pacific Branch of the International Council on Archives, and Programme Director Documentary Heritage at the National Library of New Zealand. Mark loves developing sustainable collaborations, connecting people and communities to their histories, and managing collections that support societal memory, people’s rights, accountability, and scholarship. He lives in Petone, Te Awakairangi (Lower Hutt) with his family.

Marion Read | Local Government New Zealand Libraries Advisor

Marion Read is the Libraries Advisor for LGNZ taking up the role in November 2021 after spending 6 years as the Libraries Manager, Upper Hutt City.
Previously Marion’s library management experience included senior roles in Invercargill, Whangarei, Tauranga, and Auckland. In 2021, Marion was awarded the LIANZA Fellowship in recognition of her contribution to New Zealand Libraries.
Marion is known for her passion for public libraries and the communities they serve. In 2020 Marion successfully advocated for the removal of overdue fines including historic fines debt and has since used this experience to provide support for the Fines Free Aotearoa 2025 project.
In her role as LGNZ Libraries Advisor, Marion draws on her key strengths of advocacy and building positive working relationships to achieve positive outcomes for public libraries throughout Aotearoa. In her presentation she will discuss key elements of successful advocacy as she describes her role within LGNZ and how Library Managers can support this mahi.  

Executive Committee Public Libraries of New Zealand | PLNZ

Rob Baigent - Chair | PLNZ
Joann Ransom - Chair elect | PLNZ
Glenn Davison - PLNZ Representative Northland
Julianne Wilkinson - PLNZ Representative Waikato & Bay of Plenty
Lois Haddon - PLNZ Representative Region 3 - Central North Island
Mallory Mattmuller - PLNZ Representative Wellington, Wairarapa & Chatham Islands
Chris Hay - PLNZ Representative Upper South Island
Anne-Maree Wigley - PLNZ Representative Lower South Island
Judy Ryder - PLNZ Treasurer