​Philippa Robinson – ​Research Library and Archives Manager at Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki.

Kia ora Philippa and thanks for sharing your career pathway with our readers. First up, can you tell us about your current role? What is your job title and what do you do day-to-day? Can you also tell us what qualifications you have?
Kia ora, thank you for the invitation to participate. I am the Research Library and Archives Manager of the EH McCormick Research Library at Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki. We are part of the larger curatorial and learning department. There are three of us in the team, including the Librarian/Archivist and Librarian, Access and Discovery. We manage all publications, serials, art archives, artists files and research for the gallery staff as well as the public. The library is open to the public and we welcome external researchers.As one of the few remaining specialist fine arts libraries in the country, we are establishing closer connections to tertiary institutions and increasingly working with artists. This involves ensuring our collection is relevant to current research interests, acquiring new artists archives and ensuring the archives are open, discoverable and accessible. Our online content is continually being added to which also assists researchers who are unable to visit us in person.

We work closely with the curators, here at the gallery, on new archival acquisitions and we support their exhibitions by providing research and archives for display. The library also has its own dedicated exhibition space, on the mezzanine floor adjacent to the library. This space allows us to showcase some of our amazing archive collections. We align this display with other exhibitions in the gallery. For example, our current display highlights our photographic archives collections and has run alongside Civilisation, Photography Now.

My undergraduate degree is in Art History and Film and Media Studies from Auckland University, I completed my MLIS from Victoria University in 2009. I also have a Post-Graduate Diploma in Museum Studies from Massey University.

Where you are now seems like such a natural progression from your undergraduate degree through to your postgraduate qualifications, how planned was that?
It was always a goal, but it was not a straight line to get there! Art History has always been my main interest in work and study. I worked as a Gallery Assistant at Auckland Art Gallery when studying for my undergraduate degree. My pathway has been through special libraries (tertiary, law and museums) as I am most drawn to documentary heritage collections. When the position came up at the Auckland Art Gallery it felt like a natural progression and back to where I started. I was fortunate enough to be offered the role and I love it. It is a great place to work – wonderful collections and people, not to mention the incredible building and spaces.

I snooped around your LinkedIn profile and saw you spent time in Papua New Guinea, how did you end up there?
While I was living in London, I had a volunteer stint in Nairobi, Kenya, where I worked on an arts project in one of the slums. On returning to New Zealand I signed up to job alerts via VSA (Volunteer Service Abroad) as I was interested in doing more volunteer work. The library project, in Arawa, Central Bougainville, was a joint initiative between Lloyd Jones (author of Mister Pip, a novel inspired by Lloyd’s time reporting on the crisis in Bougainville) and the Bougainville Heritage Foundation (a local heritage and cultural foundation). Lloyd was asked if he would assist in re-establishing the community library. The VSA came into the project with the build of the library. Once the building had been built the VSA advertised for a library manager. The timing was perfect for me and it was an amazing and enjoyable experience. I was tasked with setting up the library and mentoring the new team to take over. It has gone from strength to strength. It is still operating and has become a real hub of the community not just as a library but a meeting place and cultural centre. The current Manager, Allan Gioni, has a background in arts and culture and also runs cultural workshops out of the building. This is helping to rekindle and keep alive languages, arts and cultural practices, much of which was lost during the crisis.

Can you tell us about your previous roles at the Walsh Memorial Library and Auckland War Memorial Museum?
I started at Auckland War Memorial Museum on my return from Bougainville, as Manuscript Projects Librarian, under Theresa Graham. This was another step in my career and learning, the manuscript collection is immense and rich. It was a privilege to work with such a collection.

I left there to take up the position of Library and Archives Manager at the Walsh Memorial Library at MOTAT. Another progression for me and my first established management role. This is a fascinating place and it was an interesting time to go into the role as the library underwent quite a lot of change at that time. The entire space was reconfigured and updated. The collections were re-housed (an ongoing project) and catalogued in more detail, and a new collections online platform created and implemented. There is also an exhibition space in the library so we worked closely with the exhibitions team to display the library collections.

You’re part of our first cohort in the LIANZA Evaluation and Impact initiative running over the next year, what are you hoping to gain from this PD?
This initiative is very exciting and I am grateful to be a part of it. As librarians, I’m not sure we always know our worth or our value add to our institutions. Personally, I am looking forward to being better able to collect specific data on our activities and then evaluate this more effectively. Mostly, I am looking forward to finding new ways of reporting on the work we do, how this impacts our users and generating new audiences.

Is this the career you always intended to go into?
I came to libraries later in my career. Art history was my focus and working in galleries and museums my intention. After a time working at the National Gallery bookshop in London I realised that information and research was what I wanted to focus on. When I came home, I got my first library job and enrolled in the MLIS. Being able to assist others in their search for information was what led me there. Libraries are the cornerstone for discovery.
I am an advocate for public libraries and special collections. The retention of archives is imperative for remembering and learning our histories. In times of crisis and war, libraries are often the first community space to be destroyed – it can really impact people and their community. Bougainville is an example of this. The result is a great loss to the history and cultural identity of a community.

What was your idea of what librarians are and what they did before you became one?
The library was where I spent a lot of my time as a child. My parents instilled in us that search for information. Librarians are integral to helping with that. If you know where to look you can find anything. I really enjoy research and finding information. I was lucky enough to have the support of many librarians growing up and in my tertiary study. Librarians are a gateway, encouraging deeper research both in-person and online.
More than just this though, librarians are information managers and web developers – building catalogues and databases full of information. They are much more than just the face behind the desk. Libraries and librarians are integral in discussions on changes to copyright legislation, they work across all sectors and encourage open access and open source information.

If you were meeting someone who had just finished their undergraduate degree and was contemplating doing a postgraduate LIS qualification what would you say to them? What sort of personal attributes do you think you need to go into LIS work?
The postgraduate LIS qualification is a great foundation for working in libraries. It is a hugely rewarding career, whether in public, special or tertiary libraries. It also gives a good grounding for entry into other pathways, pairing other interests with that of information. It is a community of practice, a kaupapa of learning and partnership.

​Anyone considering this course needs to be committed to the ideologies that surround information sharing. Have a certain inquisitiveness, desire to learn and to encourage others to learn. Be an active ‘doer’ and always look for new ways of enhancing current systems.

Have you got any librarian mentors/people who influenced you or you admire/learned from? What did they teach you?
I have learnt a lot from all my teachers and am especially grateful for my network of peers and colleagues. I am learning every day and feel lucky to be surrounded by creatives who are a constant inspiration and guide my thoughts and practices.

Thanks so much for talking with us Philippa!