Rate My Professor Amanda Mills

Amanda Mills is the Liaison Librarian and Curator of Music and Audiovisual Collections at Hocken Collections, University of Otago. She manages and promotes extensive holdings of music recordings, sheet music, album artwork, and audiovisual materials, with a strong focus on New Zealand popular music heritage. Her liaison responsibilities support researchers, students, and the community, including library services for the Division of Humanities such as Pacific Islands students. Holding this position since 2011, Mills plays a key role in collection preservation, assessment, and public outreach, contributing to efforts like cataloguing half a million books.

Mills engages the public through curated exhibitions and events, including "Strangeness and Charm: Album Cover Art in Aotearoa" for New Zealand Music Month 2024, a collage of New Zealand album covers in 2018, and co-curating "Kaleidoscope World" featuring Flying Nun Records memorabilia in 2021. She delivers free public lectures at venues like Dunedin Public Library and Hocken on topics such as music history and artist legacies. As a regular contributor to the Hocken Blog since at least 2014, she has authored posts on Split Enz at 50 (2022), Rotorua Māori Choir, APRA Silver Scroll collection, Kiwi Christmas playlist, The Chills and Shane Cotton's Somewhere Beautiful, rare 78rpm discs, sheet music gems, and UNESCO World Audiovisual Heritage Day. Additional contributions include articles for AudioCulture.co.nz, such as on the Dunedin Sound. Mills serves on committees for New Zealand music library associations, furthering professional collaboration and access to cultural heritage.