Creative New Zealand has been a sustaining partner of New Zealand’s book awards for decades. The national arts development agency of the New Zealand government encourages, promotes and supports the arts in New Zealand for the benefit of all New Zealanders through funding, capability building, an international programme, and advocacy. Creative New Zealand provides a wide range of support to New Zealand literature, including funding for writers and publishers, residencies, literary festivals and awards, and supports organisations which work to increase the readership and sales of New Zealand literature at home and internationally.

HELL Pizza was established in 1996 and now has 77 outlets throughout New Zealand. HELL has reinforced its commitment to getting more kids hooked on books by sponsoring the New Zealand Book Awards for Children and Young Adults. The associated HELL Reading Challenge, initiated in 2014, continues to grow. HELL says it has “always challenged the norm, and with kids now becoming so engrossed with modern technology, we are bucking that trend and making reading cool again. We want pizza to be the gateway to reading addiction!” The programme rewards students with a free 333 kids’ pizza once they have read seven books and had their achievement approved by a local librarian or teacher. In 2022, 831 schools and public libraries around New Zealand took part and more than 310,000 pizza wheels were distributed, which means that some 2.1 million books were read by Kiwi kids as a result.

The Wright Family Foundation’s goal of ‘growing the good’ in New Zealand Aotearoa means literacy features prominently in its aspirations for the country’s youth. Founder and CEO Chloe Wright says they are thrilled to participate in the mahi of the New Zealand Books Awards for Children and Young Adults, believing that reading creates imagination, ultimately leading to the emergence of writers. “Books, whether read or written, bring centuries of people together. Through the written word we gain tolerance and understanding, enabling us to share in the cultures, histories, myths, and magical spaces in time,” she says. The Foundation also supports Kids’ Lit Quiz and the New Zealand Spelling Bee.

LIANZA Te Rau Herenga o Aotearoa, the association for library and information professionals in New Zealand, introduced the first award for children’s fiction in New Zealand, establishing the Esther Glen Junior Fiction Award in 1945. LIANZA added other awards over the years including the Russell Clark Award for Illustration in 1975 and the Elsie Locke Non-fiction Award in 1986. The Te Kura Pounamu Award for literature written in te reo Māori was established in 1996, in partnership with Te Rōpū Whakahau. In 2016 the LIANZA Children and Young Adult Book Awards were merged with the Zealand Book Awards for Children and Young Adults, strengthening the 60-year legacy of the LIANZA Awards.

Wellington City Council’s new Arts Strategy Te Aho Tini is about artists and writers being central to Wellington City, working on some of the city’s biggest challenges and generating connected, inclusive communities. Te Aho Tini seeks to support and celebrate writing and illustration within future careers.

The New Zealand Society of Authors Te Puni Kaituhi o Aotearoa (NZSA) was established in 1934 as the New Zealand PEN Centre and remains the principal organisation for writers in Aotearoa today. Now representing over 1,800 writers, NZSA advocates for authors’ rights and incomes, acts as a communications hub, administers prizes and awards, and runs a raft of digital and in-person professional development programmes and assessment and mentoring opportunities that support writers at all stages of their writing journeys. The Society works closely with industry partners and collaborates widely across the sector. NZSA is a non-profit Incorporated Society, governed by a Board, with regional branches and a national office.

Nielsen BookData provides a range of services to the book industry internationally, aiding the discovery and purchase, distribution and sales measurement of books. The company employs around 100 staff and has offices in the UK, Australia, Brazil, India, Italy, New Zealand, South Africa, Mexico, Spain, Poland and the UAE. Nielsen BookData is wholly owned by NielsenIQ.

The National Library of New Zealand Te Puna Mātauranga o Aotearoa helps all New Zealanders access and use the collective knowledge of the nation. It's their job to collect, connect, and co-create knowledge to power Aotearoa. The National Library has long supported literacy and learning, and recent reading initiatives related to its ‘Growing a Nation of Readers’ strategy include Communities of Readers and Te Awhi Rito Reading Ambassador. Librarian Alan Dingley has been appointed as the second Te Awhi Rito Reading Ambassador in 2023. Alan advocates for and champions the importance of reading in the lives of young New Zealanders, their whānau and communities. In 2023 The National Library is supporting the New Zealand Book Awards for Children and Young Adults by hosting its Books Alive events in the multipurpose spaces of the Tiakiwai Conference Centre facility on the Wellington premises.