Invitation to tender: Delivery of anti-racist library collections training to public library staff in Wales

Indicative contract fee: £22,000

Timescale for delivery: 1st September – 30th November

CILIP is looking for external providers to deliver anti-racist library collection training to public library staff across Wales. Applications are welcome from individuals, organisations and/or institutions, in what is the third and final phase of the Anti-Racist Library Collections: A Training Plan for Public Libraries in Wales project.

The development and delivery of the training plan will build on previous work to support the Welsh Government’s Anti-Racist Wales Action Plan, aimed at eradicating institutional and systemic racism.

The successful tender will work with a steering group of library staff at all levels and from across Wales to develop and implement the most appropriate training model and content. The training will enable librarians to confidently shape and share library collections along clear anti-racist principles.

In phase one, we appointed a consultancy firm to undertake a survey, interviews and literature reviews into training formats and into anti-racist training content. The results are presented in two reports:

• Inclusive Future: A Training Model for Anti-Racist Collections in Wales3
• Inclusive Futures: A Guide for Anti-Racist Library Collections in Wales4

The recommendations in both reports, as well as a request from Welsh Government to include a preliminary module, were taken forward as the basis for Phase two of this project (now completed), the development of the training content for the four modules that make up the training package:

• 1. Preliminary module on anti-racism
• 2. Stock Acquisitions and Collections
• 3. Cataloguing and Classification
• 4. Community Engagement and Outreach

A facilitator guide has also been developed for each of these four modules.

The objective of phase 3 of Anti-Racist Library Collections is for a trainer/s to deliver the training content developed in phase 2 to public library staff in Wales so that they can then cascade the training through a “train the trainer” model.

The successful contractor will deliver the training at 8 half-day online workshops (each of the four modules will be delivered twice). These training sessions will be followed up approximately 10 days later with eight, hour-long online sessions (delivered twice for each of the four modules), where delegates work through the facilitator guides with the contractor. This is to prepare the delegates to deliver the training themselves in their own library authority and potentially in other library authorities in Wales as well.

There will be two places per authority available.

The successful contractor will report to Sioned Jacques, CILIP Cymru Wales Community Development Manager. Please direct any queries about this invitation to tender to them. Proposals must be submitted by email to sioned.jacques@cilip.org.uk

Download the full tender document here