When you think of a librarian, what image pops into your head? Because for me, before I met Kim Tairi, I saw an old nanny wearing a cardigan, glasses with a beaded chain, and a long burgundy skirt.
Damn all those television programmes that embed stereotypes into my brain!
Our NUKU //015 couldn’t be further away from that picture. Kim manages a university library and works with 100 staff. She has been working in this field, in different roles, for more than 25 years.
Born in Otepoti, she has spent a lot of her life living across the ditch in Australia. She loves working in libraries because they ‘help build social capacity, they are a safe space, a warm space, and provide access to knowledge to help people navigate their way through life’.
In this episode Kim smashes all my preconceived ideas about this career pathway. The funky māma talks about indigenous knowledge systems, decolonising cultural institutions and, feminism.
There need to be more indigenous women leading our cultural institutions. I want to see more people like us.
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