Convenor of judges Alan Dingley has over 20 years of experience working in Children’s/Youth libraries, and was on the judging panel for the 2020 New Zealand Book Awards for Children and Young Adults. He is librarian at Palmerston North Intermediate Normal School, having previously been Youth Librarian at the city’s Library Youth Space. A proud member of REALM (Reading & Literacy Manawatu), Alan has presented workshops at LIANZA, SLANZA, REALM and MLA, covering varied topics such as ‘How do we get boys to read’, ‘Prescription Pad Literature’, and ‘Story Building: Get that story out of there!’. In 2019 Alan coached the PNINS Kids’ Lit Quiz team to their first national title, and then took the team to the World Final in Singapore, placing second in the world. Alan strongly believes that we should be finding books to fit the child, not forcing the child to fit the book.

Mary Sangster has been a reader all of her life. She gained her library qualification and then, after having a family, turned to retail and has been a specialist children's bookseller for 37 years. Mary has been involved with Painted Stories: Aotearoa NZ Children's Literature Preservation Trust, has been a board member and chairperson of Booksellers NZ, and was on the organising committee for the IBBY Congress held in Auckland in 2016. Mary is passionate about promoting reading and sharing books with people, and introducing them to new authors and books which will provide them with a world of entertainment and knowledge.

Nicola Daly is Associate Professor in Children’s Literature at the University of Waikato, where she teaches at undergraduate and postgraduate level. She has loved picture books for a very long time, and is delighted to be able to spend her working life discussing them with her students and researching them. Nicola has a particular interest in picture books that feature more than one language, and has been lucky enough to receive several fellowships to pursue this interest, including at the International Youth Library (Munich), and a Fulbright New Zealand Scholar Award at the University of Arizona.

Pauline (Vaeluaga) Smith is an author, educationalist and director of Mīharo Murihiku Trust. Her heritage is Samoan, Tuvaluan, Scottish and Irish and she is based in the small rural town of Aparima/Riverton. Her first book, My New Zealand Story: Dawn Raid, received the Best First Book Award and was shortlisted for the Wright Family Foundation Esther Glen Award for Junior Fiction in the 2018 New Zealand Book Awards for Children and Young Adults, and also received a Storylines Notable Book award in 2019. Pauline has written for the School Journal series, contributed to an academic publication, and produced a touring exhibition, The Dawn Raids - Educate to Liberate, which was a finalist in the 2019 Museums Aotearoa awards (Exhibition Excellence, Social History category).

Stephen Clothier is a librarian, composer and performer who is currently working as the Children’s and Youth Services Coordinator at Wellington City Libraries. His library-related interests include reading to children in funny voices, teaching robots to read to children in funny voices, and, in both a literal and a figurative sense, blowing things up. He has presented workshops regionally and nationally for librarians, parents and educators on topics as diverse as early literacy, educational robotics, and STEAM education. He is also a founder and co-editor of Tūhono, a new poetry journal by and for young Wellingtonians.

Ko Ranginui te tuanui, ko Papatuānuku te paparahi Ko ngā maunga, ngā poupou, e kore e nekeneke He uri ahau o te Whare tapu o Ngāpuhi, arā, ko Te Rarawa i te uru, ko Te Aupōuri i te raki, ko Ngāti Kahu i te whiti, ko Ngāti Whātua i te tonga.

Anahera Morehu is the new convenor of the Te Kura Pounamu Award panel, appointed by Te Rōpū Whakahau, and was also a judge from 2017 to 2019. Anahera is the Kaiārahi at the University of Auckland (UoA) Faculty of Business and Economics, and previously was the Kaiwhakahaere Toi Aronui me Māori me Moananui-a-Kiwa at Te Tumu Herenga, UoA. She is the current Tumuaki (President) of Te Rau Herenga o Aotearoa (LIANZA), and is also a member of LIANZA Professional Registration Board and Māori Subject Headings Governing Group.

Ko te tuanui o tōku whare, ko te Ranginui e tū nei! Ko te paparahi ko Papatūānuku e takoto nei! Ko ngā maunga whakahī, ngā poutapu rau! Ko Rahiri kei te kōruru! Ko Ruki Tobin tēnei e kōki nei! Tēnā koutou!

Ruki Tobin is the Poutiaki Rauemi National Manager Māori for Services to Schools at Te Puna Mātauranga o Aotearoa, National Library of New Zealand. Ruki is a raukura of Te Aho Mātua and graduated with his Masters in Tikanga from the University of Waikato. He is also a graduate of Te Panekiretanga o te reo Māori, the former institute of te reo Māori excellence. As Poutiaki Rauemi, Ruki is embedding te reo Māori, tikanga Māori and mātauranga Māori into Services to Schools to support kura, Māori medium schools and English medium schools, as well as across the National Library network and the wider Department of Internal Affairs whānau.

E kī ana te kōrero, kia totoia ngā waewae o te mokopuna ka whai taki. Nō reira, he nui te hōnore o tēnei mahi whakawā. Tihei Tahinga, Apakura, Hunaara, Ranginui, Ruanui, Toa Rangatira, Koata, Kuia, Apa ki te rā tō, Mamoe e!

Te Paea Paringatai is a Library and Information Advisory Commission (LIAC) Commissioner, and a Library Manager at the University of Canterbury. She is actively involved with New Zealand and international library networks, having served in the Library Services to Multicultural Populations and Indigenous Matters Sections of IFLA (International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions). Passionate about ngā taonga i tuku iho (intergenerational transfer of wealth and knowledge), Te Paea brings her knowledge of collection development and rauemi Māori for children and youth to the panel. She sees the role of te reo Māori, cultural literary experiences, books and reading as essential for empowering cultural identity, evolving education, and community convergence.