Long-time Liberty user and librarian at the Catholic Diocese of Auckland (CDA) Library, Louis Lum, is retiring at the end of 2018. Louis has been a Liberty user since Softlink’s foray into New Zealand. It has been a pleasure getting to know and assist Louis over the years. We congratulate him on achieving 50 years in the library sector and send him warm wishes for a wonderful retirement.

As Louis reminded us,

“My long association with Liberty dates back to my former position in the NZ polytechnic sector as the library manager at WITT (Taranaki Polytechnic) for 23 years before I moved to Auckland.”

The last few years at CDA library have had their challenges as Louise noted. The end of the CDA Library’s agreement with the Auckland University in 2015 saw it change from an academic to a special library. Its primary role since then has been to serve the needs of the Diocese only. Further cuts to the teaching resources’ budget resulted in the need to downgrade some services. Never something librarians are happy with!

For the most part, the library now caters to those completing theological studies or engaged in personal research work. Louis cites the library Homepage as a wonderful tool for libraries,

“The library’s Homepage is the most common way users interact with the library. It has enabled them to search the online catalogue, check on diocese news and library activities from anywhere.”

As a librarian who has been in the sector for many years, Louis has seen and managed challenges brought by rapid technological advances. Technology has been instrumental in enabling library staff to provide value-added library services. It has driven changes in their users’ expectations. We leave the final words to Louis,

“It has been exciting to work in the library sector during what has been a period of incredible technological advances. The need to keep up with learning, taking advantage of the opportunities technology provided, has been exciting. The exponential increase in available information and service provision is astonishing. Working in the library sector has been rewarding and a pleasure.”