14 December 2022

CILIP Cymru Wales on behalf of CILIP has just secured £135,000 funding from the Welsh Government. This has been awarded to support the delivery of the Welsh Government’s Anti-Racist Wales Action Plan.

The investment will fund a new project – Anti-racist Library Collections: a training plan for public libraries in Wales with the purpose of raising the profile of libraries.

CILIP Cymru Wales will lead the project and work with public libraries across Wales in conjunction with the Society of Chief Librarians. It will also work with Libraries Connected to dovetail projects on library collections and anti-racism and diversity.

The project will run in three phases with phase one launching immediately

Phase 1 - November 2022-April 2023

1. Workforce survey, interviews and small focus groups to recommend appropriate training formats. This research will take account of Wales’ distinct geographic and demographic landscape and the reality of low levels of staffing at many branches.
2. A literature review and interviews to summarise current collection training provision, with a particular focus on anti-racism, and identify key content for future training provision.

Phase 2 - May-October 2023

1. Commission training content

Phase 3 - April-September 2024

1. Implementation and evaluation

This new research project builds upon recommendations made in the 2022 CILIP report: Decolonising libraries: where do collection policies and acquisitions fit in? which was also funded by the Welsh Government.

Anti-racist Library Collections provides long-term investment to actively engage staff across communities, and create an ongoing anti-racist approach to cultural representation in libraries.

Find out more about the project, read the full story on CILIP Cymru Wales here.

Banner photo credit Richard Szwejkowski via flickr