I have been a member of the Library Association and then CILIP for 15 years now, and have gained so much from my membership. I have also been a member of the Affiliated Members National Committee for almost as long. During that time the committee has made some outstanding achievements and promoted the role of library assistants and front line staff in general  to those in higher management. This has been done by rising the profile of the front line staff by such things as our contribution to the bi-annual Umbrella conference with seminars and training. The committee played a major role in the development of the Framework of Qualifications and in particular the Certification award. These things have happened because other front line staff such as myself have taken the opportunities offered by CILIP and by using some personal initiative to attend meetings and express thoughts and ideals which are then translated into actual policies and procedures. For my part this has helped me greatly to learn how to do public speaking, writing proposals and reports, which has helped me in my ‘day job’. By having a collection of people together it spreads the work load and can even be FUN! The committee meets about 3 times a year with a flow a regular email in between the meetings. These days with modern technology its not always required that you travel miles to meet and discuss as it can be done via email and in some cases via web cam or video conference. There is nothing like a face to face meeting as it gives you chance to network with other people in a similar position to yourself and in a a lot of cases you meet new people who can help you with a variety of job related projects. I have even known people move from one to job to another on the strength of knowledge.

The committee is now reaching a stage where a large number of its members are moving on in their careers and need to leave the committee. What is wanted now is people to come forward and take over the committee and lead it forward into  a new era. In many ways these are very exciting and demanding times for libraries. With the threat of cuts to budgets libraries are under threat because local and national politicians know little about the work of libraries and their importance to a community. By being a member of CILIP and one of its National Committees you can help inform these people of what libraries really are and the value of their staff and services. New technology means that libraries can offer the great public library service as well as commercial and academic libraries, new services which previously were unavailable. This can be from talking books to ereaders, and online databases  to help with genealogy research. All this needs to be supported and the front line staff can offer this – and with CILIP’s help can get the recognition they deserve

So  - the big question is Will you join the National Committee for Affiliated Members and help CILIP promote and protect front library staff?. Do you want to learn and proceed with your career  - if you do then get in touch and we can tell you all about the committee and what it has achieved over the years and what it would like to in the future.

This is your chance to influence both your job and career and make a worthwhile contribution to libraries. I hope that you say Yes – and join the committee.

Jim Jackson.