Awen Libraries in Bridgend awarded a grant of £1000 from the Kathleen Cooks Fund to develop a bespoke cataloguing training package

Working with Beginning Cataloguing’s Anne Welsh, the “Improving our Catalogue: niche items and heritage collections” project delivered a bespoke training course for 6-8 members of staff. Using the in-house Library Management System (LMS), Sirsi-Dynix, Anne provided cataloguing training with local materials identified by participants.

In addition to improving staff confidence and understanding of the LMS and facilitating better discovery of uncatalogued and poorly catalogued material in the library, this course acted as a pilot for future cataloguing training for public librarians in Wales. As all Welsh library authorities share the same LMS and catalogue records when one record is improved, all Welsh library services with that item benefit from increased discoverability and a skill learned by a librarian in Bridgend can be passed on to a librarian in Bangor because they are using the same system.

The training enabled library staff in the Resources team and Local and Family History Library at Awen Cultural Trust to make available and easily discoverable the niche and local history items that are donated to Awen Libraries, enhancing the resources available in Bridgend County Borough (and Wales), including photographs, theses, maps, ephemera and other objects of note.

The knowledge and skills gained supports the development of Awen Libraries’ collections, paving the way for the dedicated heritage space that has now opened in the Welsh Government funded Maesteg Town Hall redevelopment that brings libraries, theatre and the community college together in one space.

Library Manager at Awen Trust Harriet Hopkins said “it has been so gratifying to have our interest in developing cataloguing skills within our service taken seriously and supported by CILIP Cymru Wales. This was a unique opportunity for professional development for key staff who will really benefit from the knowledge. A huge thanks to Amy Staniforth for pursuing this and encouraging it with us, and to Anne Welsh for working hard to create training that works with our stock and our library management system. We really hope this has legs to support more public libraries in Wales in the future.”

Anne Welsh founder of Beginning Cataloguing, was delighted to be working with Awen librarians, since the reliance of the public library sector as a whole on shelf-ready books has been taken for granted for decades now. Awen Libraries is not alone in experiencing a build-up of uncatalogued books – particularly local studies materials – that need data created from scratch. Where Harriet Hopkins at Awen Libraries has been innovative is in proactively approaching CILIP in Wales and applying for money from the Kathleen Cooks Fund to commission bespoke training for their staff.”

For more information about the Kathleen Cooks Fund please take a look at the CILIP Cymru Wales Awards/Bursaries tab above.