CILIP | President's Address 2007 Members' Day "Librarians Change Lives"

‘Librarians Change Lives’ President’s Address 2007 Members’ Day

Introduction

My title this afternoon is ‘Librarians change lives’ (and by Librarians I of course mean Information Professionals in the widest sense) – I do believe this passionately, everything that I’ve seen in my term of office so far has confirmed just what an impact professionally run information services can make on their communities.

And I also mean this in the sense of the new concept (which you’ll see in the new bye-laws) of the ‘registered practitioner’ – because its very important to me to acknowledge that librarianship is about a team of staff, working at a range of levels but all equally committed to delivering the service our clients need, and are entitled to.

It’s a privilege to be CILIP President and it provides a unique opportunity to get involved in all aspects of the Profession – inevitably the best thing is meeting members, and having a chance to see the impact that you all make on your different client groups – across a whole range of areas that I wouldn’t normally have the chance to experience.

This wide range of areas that we are involved in, and the fragmentary nature of our work, means that it can sometimes be difficult to get a good overview of what the profession contributes to Society – but from what I have seen I am convinced that we do make a significant impact – even if that impact isn’t always appreciated by our paymasters. I also feel very strongly that we are bound together by our radical beginnings (something I was reminded of by an elected member at the recent PLA conference in Glasgow) and from that, our commitment to equality of opportunity, and a strong belief that access to information can change people, organisations and ultimately society for the better – I’ve seen that across all the sectors we work in.

I believe strongly that CILIP works best as a National organisation representing members and the profession throughout the UK, and that whilst we should acknowledge the distinctive government landscape in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland (and the regional agendas in England) working together we can present a united front. At IFLA this year I was struck by how much support for CILIP there was, and talking to members I have been very impressed by the range of international activity there is from ILIG’s prize and GLIG’s Sri Lanka Project, to Bob McKee’s sponsored slim for Zambia and the many groups and individuals who support projects overseas. Through the activities of our members CILIP really is an International organisation.

Usually for me the best bit about today is what follows this speech – the presentation of Fellows and Honorary Fellows, for me these distinguished colleagues epitomise the profession and the impact that it has.

Our Journey

I want to start, by asking the question – why are we here – and no, not here in this room, but why we all entered this profession.

Whilst you reflect back on that I’d like to share some thoughts about my own journey.

I grew up in pretty normal working class household in Suffolk, where, although we didn’t own many books there were always books around, because both my parents were regular borrowers from our local library. So they encouraged me to use the library, though in fact I’m reasonably sure that I didn’t really get into using it regularly until I was a young teenager when a new, bright, welcoming building opened, and my usage really took off. In fact I can distinctly remember on at least one occasion, collecting a whole batch of books in the morning, and going back to exchange them in the afternoon – because I had finished them of course!

I certainly ascribe my love of reading to that experience, of having a building where I felt welcome, and a collection of books that captured my imagination – even if that imagination was somewhat unusual for a young teenager – I do have a very clear mental image of reading my way through a whole set of Victor Gollancz yellow jackets – in particular the Ellery Queen novels (originally written between the 30’s and 60’s) - a kind of slightly more modern Sherlock Holmes series! I did read lots of other more ‘normal’ books as well I should add – though I’m not sure if Biggles counts either!

It was also my parents who were responsible for arranging my first work experience post in the library – which probably helped to develop the view of the profession that I have today. This was as a Saturday assistant when I was in the 6th form, and it proved a very useful exposure to the wider world of the profession. When I went into that job I suspect that I did think that the role was just about lending books – but I’m sure that I soon developed a wider appreciation of the profession (in public libraries and beyond) thanks to the strong support I received from the librarians in Beccles.

My journey continued (and continues still) after that early experience, including a stint on the local Mobile Library; and then on to Brighton Polytechnic where I studied on the BA course, and had my first contact with the Library Association. During my course I did a couple of placements and continued my public library experience with a Summer job in Hillingdon one year. So it was no surprise that my first job was in a Public Library, in East London – after that I worked in two government departments – holding 5 jobs over the course of 13 years; then in a membership organisation and since February 2006 in an academic library. In all of those roles, and in all of my encounters with the profession I have seen the same principles and philosophies come to the fore – and I’d like to share my thoughts on them with you now:

Core values: - Librarians change lives

Now I was at the Public Library Authorities conference in Glasgow last week, and I know at least a few of you were too. And we did try to have a debate about the role of professional qualifications at that meeting, but what surprised me was that there wasn’t a greater recognition of the way in which our qualifications - whether they come from a traditional course, professional exams, or through recognition of learning at work REALLY do contribute to a shared ethos and philosophy that enables us to navigate a path between the conflicting needs of users and those who fund the services we provide.

However, I also think that we have to be fully committed to our profession, and by extension to keeping our skills and knowledge up-to-date – CILIP has made significant progress with this – we have the option to revalidate (indeed I plan to revalidate my fellowship when my term of office comes to an end) and perhaps we are now at the point when the option is no longer enough – and that we should INSIST on revalidation to remain a registered practitioner, that’s a real debate that I would like to see the profession have.

I think we also need to be very clear that to be accepted as professionals we need to clearly acknowledge the professionalism of all our colleagues both within libraries and outside them.

I believe that the skills and values that we share do mean that we make a distinctive and important contribution to Society, and I urge you all to recognise that you can make a difference – and work every day to MAKE THAT DIFFERENCE, by:

- being welcoming, to all members of the community – recently I’ve been very interested to hear of the very important work that the Prison Libraries Group are doing (with other groups of course) to set up a robust system that should mean that prisoners leaving prison would be registered with their home public library (and therefore made welcome) by the time they are released.

- This is part of our support for equality of opportunity – which is fundamental to our ethos as far as I’m concerned, it requires us to have an open mind, and be trusting – here I’m reminded of ‘Sighthill library’ winner of Libraries change lives in 2006, where teenagers – who some thought of as ‘difficult’ users were actively encouraged to come into and use the library, and where library staff worked with a range of agencies to turn their behaviour around, and made sure that they delivered the services they needed access to.

- This also requires us to use our professional stock selection skills, and our ethical framework (do check out the new(ish) Ethics website); to ensure that we provide for the whole community, and fight against bias and censorship (its been interesting to see US librarians speak out publicly in favour of ‘banned’ books recently).

- This is all part of recognising and nurturing potential – something that last year’s winners of ‘Libraries change lives’ did with the ‘Welcome to your library’ project which helped refugees get work experience in a local library. And which I know is an important part of the work that librarians do to support children and Young People. Having had the opportunity to talk to librarians in schools and at the YLG conference and the CILIP Carnegie/Greenaway awards its very clear to me that proper support for these services really can contribute to developing a love of reading, and the critical faculties to effectively deal with information later in life.

- I do want to acknowledge that we do face problems, you all know of budget reductions and services, in all sectors, where libraries are under threat or have closed – and here I argue that by using our creativity we can (at least sometimes) ‘subvert’ the system – by finding ways to energise our users, by building alliances with others, and by finding new audiences and new sources of support for what we do. I know also that it is important for CILIP to take the lead on advocating the value of what we do, and challenging those who seek to duck their responsibilities, and we’ll hear more about that in the AGM.

- There are many ways that we can get our message out, and I would argue that alongside more formal ‘advocacy’ we need to use all the opportunities to make our voices heard. I think that the 2008 National Year of Reading (whilst it does play to the traditional image of the library) can be used by librarians in all sectors to promote their services – so I urge you to check out the news on the National Literacy Trust website, and to think creatively about how you can use the activities to promote your services to your user groups.

- I think that we also have to recognise that sometimes we aren’t positive enough about what we do, and the potential that we and the services we provide have. So I stand before you proud to say ‘I am a Librarian’ and I hope that you are willing to say that too, under whatever title is most appropriate for you to use (Information Professional; Knowledge Manager; Information Scientist – or Registered Practitioner etc). Because if we are unable to be proud of our history, our shared background, what we do now and our future potential – then we can’t reasonably expect anyone else to be proud on our behalf – though in fact I do know that many of our users in all sectors do have that pride and support for us and our services.

- To me a natural extension of that ‘pride’ is the belief that we really do need to evangelise for the profession – and that means wherever we are we should be willing to put the case for proper professional library and information services. Inevitably I’ve spent a lot of time on trains and in taxis over the past few months, and I have always been quick to tell people that I’m on my way to speak to or meet groups of librarians. Sometimes this just leads to bemusement or confusion but often it has produced words of support – like those from the taxi driver who told me that the prison library service had played an important part in getting his dyslexic son back on the straight and narrow, after he’d dropped out of school and got into trouble as a young man.

- We must also encourage new entrants to the profession – by providing trainee places, by supporting placements and getting involved in professional education ourselves. CILIP strongly encourages all LIS departments providing accredited course to engage with local librarians and to use them as a resource to support teaching and research. We all have a part to play in this, I’m pleased to say I have spoken to two student groups this year – but it is something that we need much more of, and our branches are well placed to lead on. And of course encouraging new entrants to the profession isn’t only about LIS courses, its about being hospitable to potential entrants from all parts of the community (I do believe that CILIP is starting to make progress here, with work on the Compass project to support new entrants to the profession from the BME community) but we should all be looking creatively for ways to engage with our community, whatever sector we are in, and reach out to schools and colleges.

- Remember we make a difference

- To those who didn’t have the opportunity to fulfil their educational potential at school; to those in society who don’t have the luxury of a supportive family or friends; or a safe place to study; to those who don’t feel part of our society (for whatever reason). Increasingly we hear that we live in a fragmented society, but it is clear (and many exciting new library projects have demonstrated this – not least those short listed for the Public Library Building Awards) that public libraries, perhaps linked to educational facilities, as has happened with the Bridge in Easterhouse Glasgow (which links a college, a swimming pool and a public library), can play a vital role in giving a community a place to come together. That was also made very clear to me at the Mobile Meet I attended earlier this year, where I could see how remote communities and groups of isolated users were able to make a connection with a wider world through the travelling library service.

- We also make a difference in supporting effective healthcare – giving clinicians the ability to apply their knowledge based on the best evidence, in Government where there has been good progress in gaining recognition for professional skills and where there has been a move towards the provision of evidence to support (not justify) policy decisions. As I’ve already mentioned, in education librarians play a major role in enabling children and young people to develop the reading and comprehension skills they need to learn and to be effective members of society; in the commercial sector librarians and information managers support the economy by providing commercial, legal and business information to enterprises and by providing the spaces and resources that allow employees of all ages to develop their skills and knowledge.

- Increasingly we are developing the body of evidence that supports those claims, though prizes like Libraries change lives; Carnegie/Greenaway and the Public Library Building Awards – but we do need to do more and build up that evidence for all to see, and be persuaded by.

- But we cannot make that difference without our colleagues who work alongside us, and support the work we do – so we must commit to CPD for them as well as for ourselves, we all know just how rapidly the world of information and the technology that underpins it is changing AND we have a duty to be properly equipped to manage that change - as drivers, not as passengers!

- So we have to remember (and celebrate the fact) that our skills and qualifications – aren’t for us but exist to help us meet the needs of the communities we serve. That they provide them with a means of knowing that are skills are up-to-date and that we can be trusted – often with highly confidential information. For example in financial institutions where strict barriers operate to preserve business confidentiality, and in Medicine where librarians are trusted to impartially sift the evidence and guide clinicians to the right sources of information that they can trust.

- I’ve said before that we all need to work within our organisations, and in doing so its vital that we successfully permeate the organisation – and by that I mean build alliances, and demonstrate your transferable skills, so that we can make a difference throughout the organisation and have an impact that reaches much father than a traditional information management role. I worked for a year on an IT project in one of my organisations, and brought those skills to my next professional post, and I know that there are at least two librarians here today that have successfully taken their skills into new arenas, and developed both their skills and their organisations capacity.

- To do that we can all upon our ability to Innovate – librarians are often early adopters – either by nature, or though our desire to move forward and to offer our user communities the best support possible. Often this innovation can bring problems with over-stretched resources, and impact on our time. So we must balance the needs of traditional users and traditional methods of delivery with the new and radical – but this is all part of our PROFESSIONALISM and the desire we have to deliver services and information to the best of our ability.

So I say to you Be PROUD of the difference we make, be CONFIDENT about the difference we make – be a LIBRARIAN, make a difference.

Thank you.

Ian Snowley
18th October, 2007

Updated: 03 April 2008

‘Librarians Change Lives’ President’s Address 2007, Members’ Day