I had the privilege last week to visit the Library at HM Prison Birmingham, and to join the Library Reading Group 'The Bookies' for one of their meetings.
You can read a short report in a future copy of CILIP Gazette, so I'll limit myself to saying that I was very impressed by the Library, and the dedication of the staff, led by Sue Wilkinson. It really was a most enjoyable prison visit!
Well this week was dominated by CILIP Members' Day on Thursday, this event comprising of a showcase of CILIP services, workshops, the President's Address, Presentation of Fellowships and the AGM! really does represent a high-point in the CILIP year - its also quite a busy and tiring day for the President.
In fact events started the night before with an informal dinner for new Fellows, which was a pleasant way to meet and congratulate the awardees.
Then it was an early start at Ridgmount Street for the showcase, which provided me with a further opportunity to chat with some members - including quite a number from different parts of the health sector. This was followed with a brief foray into the virtual world with an appearance in the CILIP Second Life Office - including the usually inappropriate flying and walking through walls!
There was then some preparation for the afternoon, and a brief opportunity to relax over lunch.
After that it was time for my Presidential Address - I was pleased by the turn-out and the positive reaction from the audience, but I'm not in a position to judge it. You can read the text, as delivered here on the CILIP website.
My speech was followed directly by the award of the Fellowships and Honorary Fellowships - this really is a very important public recognition of the work our members do and the impact they have. It was particularly pleasing to see a number of close friends amongst the recipients.
After a well-earned but very brief tea break, it was back to the lecture theatre for the AGM - I've said elsewhere that this really is a vital point in the life of CILIP - and I'm pleased to report that whilst there was lively discussion and debate, the meeting supported the changes to the Charter and Bye-Laws by the required margin to bring them into force from January 2008.
That means that my term of office as President will come to a close at the end of December - but that's a small price to pay for the other changes which really will bring about a new more efficient and more effective governance structure for the Institute. I'm hoping that the elections go well, and that they result in a really good trustee body to take the organisation forward.
So all in all, a positive, forward looking, enjoyable (exhausting) and important day for CILIP and the profession as a whole.
*Well that bit actually comes later - but to make sure that CILIP members have someone to vote for, now's the time to get your nominations in for the post of Vice-President or for a seat on the new Council.
This really is an important opportunity - your Professional body needs you!
*The Glasgow Literary Festival based in the Mitchell Library.
I spent the majority of last week in Glasgow for the PLA Conference 'Inform, Educate, Entertain - whose role is it anyway?'
The event hosted by Culture and Sport Glasgow, provided me with a rapid refresher course on current Public Library issues and a great opportunity to visit three local library projects - the Mitchell (of course) The Gorbals Library and The Bridge at Easterhouse.
The travelling also provided an opportunity to do some rapid reading - see the post 'Brought to Book'!
I'm just back from the Prison Libraries Group conference, 'Changing Face of Prison Libraries' held just outside Scunthorpe, and the event was a real eye-opener for me.
I have no experience of prison libraries, and so speaking to the delegates and organisers, both before and at the conference has really given me an insight into a 'closed world'. Its very clear that Prison Libraries really do make a real difference to offenders lives, and have the potential to help them become effective members of society on release. So I'm very grateful to the committee for inviting me along, and for making me so welcome.
But it was also very clear from the conference that there are a lot of barriers in the way, including the increasing prison population, and the operational difficulties that brings. Along with budget restrictions, and the fact that most services are provided by the local Public Library service - which has an impact on the librarian's position in the prison hierarchy.
Despite these issues, I left the conference (still underway), very impressed by the dedication and passion of the delegates I met - and very positive about the contribution they make to the profession. The group is working to devise a national scheme to 'welcome' ex-offenders to their local public library on release, this needs the support of other groups (in and outside of CILIP), and I do hope that the work started at the conference will turn into a very successful scheme - because I'm convinced it will be an important part of librarians' contribution to equality of access.
I'm planning to extend my knowledge further, with a visit to HMP Birmingham later this month - so more to follow.
In addition to being President of CILIP, I'm also Honorary President of APML - the Association of Pall Mall Libraries - an organisation you may well not have heard of! However, from fairly small beginnings the Association has successfully brought a large number of private and member libraries in London together to share information and resources. I joined APML when I was Director of Information Services at the Royal Society of Medicine (RSM).
So I was delighted to return to the RSM on Thursday night to take part in the formal opening of the Association's first joint exhibition 'Treasures from the London Clubs' - hosted in the RSM's new Heritage Centre. The exhibition includes a fascinating range of printed books, manuscripts, archives and artifacts (including an Emperor Penguin and a piece of Everest!) from the collections held in a selection of the clubs in membership of APML. Along with RSM Director of Library Services Wayne Sime, and noted club and book man A. N. Wilson I had the great pleasure of formally opening the exhibition in the company of distinguished guests from the member clubs, on what was a thoroughly enjoyable evening.
The exhibition is on until October 25th and is open Mon - Thurs 9am - 7pm; Friday 9am - 5.30pm and Sat 10am- 4.30pm - admission is free!
If I do say so myself, this is an excellent opportunity to see some very interesting items and the RSM Library too.
I said at the beginning of my term of office, that I wanted to cover as much of the profession and meet as many members (and potential members) as possible - so earlier this week I spent a day visiting two school libraries in Oxfordshire to find out about an area of work that I haven't experienced.
I had an excellent day split between the independent Headington School, and the maintained Wallingford School - and I certainly got a good idea of the ways in which a good library can put itself at the heart of the curriculum and the school.
I won't say more, because I have dedicated my next Update column to some reflections on the visit, and there will be a brief report in the Gazette as well.
I also kept my hand in with library education by meeting this year's intake of students from UCL - SLAIS at an induction meeting at CILIP on Friday.
My other CILIP activity last week, was a day-trip to Nottingham for a day school organised by the Midlands and Anglia sub-branch of the Local Studies Group.
The event provided an excellent opportunity to hear about the innovative way local studies is being incorporated into a range of activities including supporting the school curriculum. We also had a fascinating behind the scenes look at TV programmes such as 'Who do you think you are?' from historian and TV researcher Nick Barratt.
I was delighted to be asked to present the 2006 'Dorothy McCulla Memorial Prize' to Committee member, and day school organiser Eleanor Nannestad in recognition of her long and dedicated service to the group.
A good day out, and an excellent opportunity to appreciate the contribution that local studies work makes to the Public Library's community role.
Following on from previous posts about advocacy, and fitting in nicely with reports in the latest issue of Update, I'm very happy to report further CILIP activity this week.
On Tuesday I participated in a meeting of CILIP's Executive Board where there was a lively discussion about the need for a sustained advocacy campaign focusing on public library standards and the role of professional staff, and which culminated in a unanimous vote to move ahead with a full campaign supported by a 'fighting fund' which we hope will be supported by other interested organisations too - so you'll hear much more about this from CILIP soon.
Then in the afternoon I found myself heading for West London, to speak in a TV discussion arising from the think tank report on 'extremist' literature in public libraries. Sadly it wasn't the BBC or Sky, but instead Press TV an Iranian based satellite and Internet channel!
I was a member of a four person panel, on the religious and cultural programme Nexus. The other contributors (Dr Taj Hargey; Theo Hobson; and Mal Fletcher) were religious or cultural commentators - so I found myself representing libraries in the debate. My invitation had come about thanks to the Press Release that CILIP issued, so it shows that this media activity does actually get noticed!
The debate focused on a number of areas - namely the coverage of the report in the media, was this biased itself, the question of whether 'extremist' materials should be censored, and what moderate Muslims can do to counter extremism. I confined my comments to a strong support for CILIP's policy that there should be no censorship of library materials (except that required by law) and the importance of professional librarians in building a balanced and appropriate collection. Both these points found favour from the other guests, so I don't think there was quite as much disagreement as the presenter (Rebecca Masterton) was hoping for!
I'm also not so sure what the viewers in Iran or Worldwide will make of my strong demands that the UK Government takes Public Library funding much more seriously - but you never know they might have some impact somewhere!
The programme was recorded 'as live' for transmission at the weekend - so with a health warning that I don't know how it will turn out (though I was grateful for my CILIP media training) you can see it this Saturday at 15.05; it will then be repeated on Sunday at 15.30; Monday at 1.05 am and 11.05 am - however it appears only to be shown at certain times, and not available for download from the Internet - which may be a blessing!
I certainly enjoyed the experience, even though I did feel that I had a fairly narrow range of things to say!
Update - Sunday: I watched the programme (on a shaky internet connection) and on the whole I thought it went OK - though I'm sure my Mother would say 'Sit up straight!"
I've been involved in a number of CILIP activities in the last week or so, so I thought I'd do a quick round-up to cover them all.
I'll start with the debate about public libraries stocking 'extremist' literature as raised in a report by the Centre for Social Cohesion and reported on Newsnight recently - I was pleased to be able to contribute to the CILIP Press Release which was sent out in response to the coverage. We decided to focus on two issues - CILIP's position on censorship and the importance of professional librarians to balanced stock selection. You can read the press release on the CILIP website.
Moving on, at the end of last week I took part in the 'speed networking' during the Graduate Open Day held in Ridgmount Street - this is a great opportunity for new and prospective professionals to find out about CILIP and the important role it can have in their careers. So I was pleased to have been invited along, and very happy to have a go at the speed networking, even though it proved fairly gruelling. The attendees had interesting questions, and seemed to be very keen on the profession, so it was definitely enjoyable and worthwhile.
And finally I've just returned from a brief visit to the YLG Annual Conference 'Shout, Whisper and Sing' held at Hatfield University. I was able to attend a couple of sessions on the Saturday afternoon, including a fascinating presentation on the 'Head Space' project which is enabling young people to have a say in planning and running the spaces provided for them, in this case in Plymouth Libraries - though it is a national project.
In the evening I had the great pleasure of re-presenting the CILIP Kate Greenaway and Carnegie Medals to this year's winners Mini Grey and Meg Rosoff, followed by a really enjoyable celebration dinner. It was very encouraging to see the enthusiasm and energy of the delegates - so I really enjoyed my time at the conference
I'm an academic librarian
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