The CILIP Board has appointed Louis Coiffait-Gunn as the charity's new CEO, and Louis will be starting in the new role on Wednesday 8th May 2024.

Louis' career has been guided by his interest in evidence-informed policy, mainly in education.

His work in a range of settings including government, thinktanks, professional associations, universities, and the press.

In Louis' most recent position as Director of Policy and Public Affairs with the Publishers' Association, he engaged with government, parliamentarians and sister organisations on behalf of members in areas closely associated with CILIP's own interests.

Louis Coiffait-Gunn said:

"I am thrilled to have been appointed and promise to do my utmost to champion CILIP members' interests through the political, environmental, and technological changes ahead. Libraries - whatever sector or setting they're in - are much-loved by their communities and deliver an amazing range of public benefits but are navigating a growing range of challenges and opportunities.

"I aim to build on Nick Poole's years of hard work and insightful leadership to ensure CILIP continues to evolve so it can support members and advocate for them on priority issues such as funding, AI, inclusion, and sustainability. I can't wait to start on 8 May, meet the diverse CILIP community and learn how best to deliver for them."

Louis is passionate about the impact that access to world-class knowledge and information services create, and has a clear commitment to CILIP's mission and Charter, alongside a desire to make a positive difference to CILIP in its next phase of growth and development.

CILIP Chair, Kate Robinson said:

"On behalf of the Board of Trustees I am very pleased to welcome Louis to CILIP as our new CEO. He joins us at an optimal time, in a strong position delivering an inspiring strategy with #WeAreCILIP. As we look to the future, I am sure Louis' experience in a range of settings and his interest in policy and education will bring both insight and new opportunities."

Louis was introduced to public libraries at a young age as his grandmother was a librarian in a neighbouring village. As he currently finishes a period of parental leave, he has continued this tradition by taking his baby to storytime at libraries across Hackney.

Connect with Louis on Linkedin and Twitter.

The Spring/Summer issue of Pen&inc. is out soon – and you can subscribe now to ensure you get the latest copy posted through your door. Pen&inc. is CILIP’s magazine and listing guide that celebrates the best in inclusive and representative books for children and young people.

Your subscription helps support our work and allows others to enjoy the free to access digital edition. It costs less than £10 a year, including postage, and includes features and interviews with authors, illustrators, and poets, as well as hundreds of listings for new titles to help keep your collections fresh and inclusive.

Coming up in the Spring/Sumer issue – Waterstones Children’s Laureate, Joseph Coelho on his anthology of new poets, Spin; the new poets featured in Spin; artist and illustrator Yurong; Vivi Conway author Lizzie Huxley-Jones; Elle McNicoll, author of A kind of Spark and follow-up Keedle; and much more.

There’s plenty to get excited about, including some great content around neurodiversity. Don’t forget to subscribe if you want to receive your copies through the door. Read on for an extract from our upcoming Joseph Coelho interview

Joseph Coelho: Words and wonder

POETRY has a power to touch people in ways that other writing can struggle to emulate. It may be brief in length, but its impact can be long-lasting - leaving the reader (or listener) with interpretations and meaning that are as individual as they are.

Children’s Laureate Joseph Coelho has seen how poetry, how his own words, can alter perceptions and build new understanding of the world around us and the world within. He says: “Because it is writing that often deals with matters of the heart. Poetry talks of our emotions, our loves and fears, our worries and dislikes and lays them out in a bitesized digestible form. It is a form that connects with young and old equally if they are given the opportunities to find poems that speak to them and (critically) to see themselves as poets.”

There is an accessibility around poetry that may not be present in longer form writing. A poem can be finished in minutes, so even reluctant readers can delve into them and there are ways to make poetry bring a love of reading to life. Often the biggest barrier to developing a love of poetry is that it is not seen or heard.

Joseph says: “First and foremost it needs to be remembered that children mimic so if they see a rich reading culture in their schools that includes all sorts of mediums and materials (novels, non-fiction, comics, magazines, online sites) then they will, by osmosis, absorb those habits.

An announcement was made and every single person in that school - every student, every member of staff, even visiting guests would have to down tools and read. Practices like these are wonderful at showing children that reading is for everyone. Poetry, being a short medium, is very easy to slip into the school day.

“Teachers can take advantage of my Poetry Prompts over on the booktrust website (www.booktrust.org.uk/poetryprompts). A new video goes live every Monday and in those videos I share a fun and accessible way to write a poem. Each video has purposefully been designed to be no more than 10 minutes in length so that videos can be put on during registration or during the last ten minutes of the school day.

Subscribe now to Pen&inc.

By Lavinia Bentley, Archive Assistant, Jaguar Daimler Heritage Trust, Collections Centre, British Motor Museum

Is starting an apprenticeship in the 60th year of your life a good idea? In my experience the answer is a resounding yes.

Having had three children, all now adults, a 20-year career in nursing, ten years as a sensory panellist in the coffee industry, (tasting coffee for Douwe Egberts – and yes, that was a dream job), I was faced with redundancy when the panel relocated to mainland Europe.

At a time when my own mother would have reached state pension age, I felt I had one more “good career” in me. My redundancy payment allowed me to consider working at an apprentice rate during training and so when I saw a job advertisement that really appealed to me, [the hourly rate] offered did not put me off. I wondered how appealing it would be to a school leaver, as it would inevitably mean continuing to live at home, but the upside of an apprenticeship is gaining a qualification and a route to a degree without the need for a student loan.

My employer was to be the Jaguar Daimler Heritage Trust (JDHT), based at the British Motor Museum at Gaydon. A registered charity with the following mission statement: “Our purpose is to establish, maintain and promote for the benefit of the nation, the permanent preservation of historic archives, artefacts and motor vehicles manufactured and sold by Jaguar Cars Ltd. (now renamed Jaguar Land Rover Ltd.) and its predecessor companies under the marquee names of Swallow, SS, Jaguar, Daimler and Lanchester, where such vehicles are of actual potential historic, scientific importance and educational value.”

My position was Archive Apprentice. The job role would be to assist with all aspects of promoting, managing and preserving the archive material and enabling safe access to its contents for users.

What possessed me to imagine I had the skills and abilities required for this job? The fact that both my parents and my sister had worked in the motor industry for most of their working lives and that the Midlands, where I grew up, was the beating heart of this industry strangely didn’t occur to me at the time. In retrospect I think this heritage has been helpful in my understanding of the culture surrounding car manufacturing communities. At the time I applied however, I just loved the idea of looking after “history” and making it available to others, which I think is at the core of an archive service.

My first impression of the archive was the smell, papery, a tiny bit musty, the racking, the sound of the rolling stacks. The beautiful, ordered rows of boxes and the distinctly disordered accessions waiting to have an archivists magic performed on them.

Museum life is eclectic and unpredictable. Every day is full of visitors, enthusiasts, researchers, often with deep subject knowledge and the archive holds answers they need, the archive apprentice is constantly learning how to facilitate this.

Confidence

I was extremely lucky to have Joanne Shortland, JDHT’s Head Archivist, to train me. I was never made to feel a mistake was anything other than a learning opportunity and her trust in me gave me the confidence to grow into my role and expand it. I particularly enjoyed the creative aspects of working in the GLAM. (Galleries, Libraries, Archives and Museums,) sector and was able to mount a small exhibition as part of my End Point Assessment.

I.T. was a huge challenge for me, not having grown up with it as a language or having used it extensively in my previous jobs. I feel it did, and still does hold me back and slow me down, but it has been somewhat de-mystified by helpful colleagues, friends, family and online search engines!

Achievements

My biggest achievement was passing my City and Guilds mathematics qualification, maths having been a lifelong nemesis, is now a friend I meet every day.

The visits and short placements to a local Library, the Library Stock Service and the Local Authority Archive were invaluable to complement my experience in the rather niche JDHT archive. Kimberly Featherston, my tutor and Joanne were helpful in suggesting and setting them up.

I would have liked more contact with other apprentices and some in person group learning opportunities, this would have consolidated my self-directed learning. The linking of Skills, Knowledge and Behaviours to assignments was an aspect I really struggled with and a clear framework for this would also have been helpful.

The online End Point Examination was tough, but my examiner from CILIP was such an encouraging and clear facilitator, it was in the end, quite enjoyable.

What would I say to anyone considering a Library and Archive apprenticeship? Do it! Working in an archive is both a pleasure and a privilege.

By Paul Howarth, Head of Content and Resource Development, Suffolk Libraries.

At its heart, successful public library collection management is about providing materials that meet the needs of our communities. That’s a given, but communities are not static things; their interests, needs and demands are constantly changing. This creates both challenge and opportunity for collections teams as we work to keep our collections relevant and reflective.

From Black Lives Matter to the global environmental crisis, recent years have seen many major social movements, and libraries are uniquely placed to support and equip communities in driving positive change forward, as well as helping people to explore, understand and move along with their world.

Sometimes we can only be reactive – some change comes suddenly and unexpectedly – but in many cases there are early signs if we look for them. So, how do we keep ahead? How can we have the things people need as soon as they need them, before they even know they need them?

Informed

Collection and content teams need to keep themselves informed about what is going on out there, from major social movements to more subtle or localised developments. Of course, it isn’t easy, especially when we are operating within limited budgets and capacity, but this kind of horizon scanning needs to be built-in and recognised as a crucial and legitimate part of librarians’ roles.

It may seem obvious, but to keep ourselves aware of community needs we must be engaged with communities, giving them the opportunity and means to input directly into stock and content selection. This can partly come from informal, ongoing suggestion programmes. The things people ask for directly reflect current community concerns and focuses. Taking up those suggestions will feed relevant content into our collections. However, an overview of what is being requested will also highlight patterns in demand and help inform a more strategic direction for collection development.

Through more focused and proactive engagement with individuals and groups, either directly or working with other community organisations, we can find out what they most need. For example, when new refugee families were recently settled in the area, Suffolk Libraries stock and content librarians worked with local refugee support organisations to ensure that content and services offered to those families were relevant to their immediate needs and priorities, not just what we thought.

Challenge resistance

Some changes may well meet resistance. In some cases, the provision of a balanced collection, reflective of various viewpoints on a given social issue is enough. However, sometimes a social shift can be so seismic, so compelling and necessary that alternative views are problematic to represent. Think of something like Black Lives Matter; it is difficult to imagine how public libraries would represent an acceptable counterview to something so irrefutable.

Alongside changes in content, we face continuing change in preference for format and access, such as the ongoing shift to digital, or changing language needs in the community. Again, this is about awareness and using evidence in collection-building strategy.

Whenever we identify changes in demand, we need to then be able to acquire and make available sufficient materials to meet it. This requires flexibility to be built into plans and budgets, so we can respond immediately. I always keep a portion of my resources budget unallocated, kept aside as a “development fund”. Of course, this can be difficult when we have limited and pressured budgets, but if our collections are to remain responsive and relevant then we need to prioritise community need in our resources budget planning.

Urgent need

Library suppliers can be responsive to new opportunities, but where an urgent need is identified, we may need initially to turn to alternative sources to get materials quickly. Depending on the need, digital content can enable a quick response, while physical supply establishes itself.

Of course, we can’t be aware of everything, and our budgets are not unlimited; some things will get missed. However, by looking and listening and being receptive to community needs as they transpire, we can help keep our collections truly community-shaped.

Some may see tension between meeting ‘new’ needs and maintaining a ‘core’ collection. My method of allocating a portion of budget allows me to maintain a strong general collection while still being responsive. However, our collections are constantly evolving and I always bear in mind that much of what we see as ‘new’ will stay for the long-term. The core of our living collections is community, and if communities change, so should our collections.

Building the future economy

We are working with an external agency to strengthen our advocacy activity during 2024, to engage with decision makers at the highest level.

We are currently looking for case studies from members who are helping to build the future economy through data, knowledge and information management and AI.

For more information, or if you have a case study to submit, please contact our interim Chief Development Officer, Keith Wilson.

This summer will you join us to tell the stories of how Libraries Change Lives?

We are inviting libraries across the UK to join us to share your successes during our brand new Libraries Change Lives Week.

Building on a proposal from Baroness Sanderson’s review of public libraries, CILIP has set a summer advocacy week ahead of this years’ elections.

Join us to use Libraries Change Lives Week to build relationships with your local MPs, councillors and future political representatives and show them the the value of libraries – locally and nationally.

Sign up to the mailing list now to get project updates & learn how your library can get involved.

These days copyright law is always in need of an update. But some of its flaws and failures are much older and more embedded than those associated with technology changes. Pawlet Brookes, keynote for CILIP Copyright Conference 2024 (taking place online on 23 May) explores historical and contemporary problems that intellectual property law and its interpretation have caused for black artists and creators. Register here.

Pawlet Brookes MBE is the Founder, CEO and Artistic Director of Serendipity Institute for Black Arts and Heritage, which she started in 2010. Her work has included setting up heritage initiatives: Lost Legends: 30 Years of Black History Month in Leicester (2016-2017) and Archiving the Past: Reflecting the Future (2018-2020). Serendipity has recently been awarded one of the largest National Lottery Heritage Fund grants for a Black arts and heritage organisation, £812,000 for its Unearthed: Forgotten Histories. In this Q&A she discusses the impact of intellectual property law on the black cultural landscape.

Information Professional – Can we talk about your own experience, career, training and motivation in the arts and how this led to setting up Serendipity?

Pawlet Brookes (PB) – I have worked in a variety of different roles throughout my career from Marketing Manager at the Nia Centre (Manchester) in the 1990s, the UK’s first black arts centre and later as Artistic Director of Peepul Centre (Leicester), Chief Executive of Rich Mix (London) and as an Arts Council assessor.

Serendipity Institute for Black Arts and Heritage was founded in 2010, with our flagship dance festival Let’s Dance International Frontiers (LDIF) taking place in 2011 and we also began coordinating Black History Month for Leicester. My ambition has always been to showcase high-quality work that showcases black artists and black-led creative practice for everyone to engage with. In 2016, Serendipity was awarded a grant from the National Lottery Heritage Fund for Lost Legends – 30 Years of Black History Month in Leicester and our work has gone from strength to strength covering arts and heritage. One of our significant projects coming up in 2024 is 100 Black Women Who Have Made A Mark, which will see the creation by five visual artists of 100 portraits of black women, connected to Britain and Ireland, coming together in one exhibition.

When did you become aware of intellectual property and copyright problems during your career?

PB – Throughout my career I have been very aware of intellectual property issues, directly and indirectly, in the UK and internationally. Black artists have historically been victims of discriminatory IP laws, IP theft or lacked satisfactory legal counsel.

For example, black British composer Samuel Coleridge-Taylor’s famous work Hiawatha’s Wedding Feast was sold outright to Novello and Co for a mere 15 guineas. The piece went on to become incredibly successful, generating much income for the publishers, which Coleridge-Taylor did not benefit from. Similarly, the influence and appropriation of black creatives has occurred across all walks of creative practice. For example, in the US you have black musicians being covered by white artists, who then are often given the credit. For example, Hound Dog by Big Mama Horton is better known for its cover by Elvis. This is particularly the case when the creativity, such as jazz music, is not easily notated into writing or recording, especially prior to technological advancements. I think with these advancements, particularly with the rise of AI, we are entering a new era of IP and copyright issues.

What is Serendipity’s mission?

PB – Ninety-nine per cent of our work at Serendipity is black-led, black-product. For us and by us. I have always been clear in my vision that we centre perspectives from the African and African Caribbean Diaspora by embedding them in cultural experiences for all. That means that what is on the stage or on the page is black artists and practitioners, but everyone is welcome to be part of the conversation – as an audience member or participant.

As a result, our audiences are very diverse and representative of the demographics of our region. The ambition is that we move beyond common stereotypes that black-led work is amateur or only community-based and really start to position the work on a par with that of white-led institutions, such as the Tate or the Barbican.

What sorts of problems have you came across?

PB – As our work across arts and heritage has grown, we have begun to see similar issues arise quite frequently. For example, a lot of works by black artists are often uncredited or miscredited. Sometimes people do not necessarily realise they need to seek permission to use the work of artists.

Time and time again I have been called by artists detailing issues where they have waived their moral rights to their own work or alternatively where their intellectual property rights have been infringed. We have always been really clear with the artists that we work with that they need to read and interrogate their contracts, both with us and with other organisations.

We have also been faced with a lot of challenges around finding the identity of portrait subjects and the creatives behind images of black communities. We have been actively trying to find the creators through research and having conversations with people who might recognise people in the photograph. Where we haven’t been able to find the creator we have registered images as Orphan Works, and this has been important for us.

For example, even the National Portrait Gallery has been in touch with us to try and locate the photographer of an image of Eric Irons. It ensures that we keep the conversation alive around intellectual property and ownership.

Do these problems affect all artists and performers? Are they experienced differently by black artists and performers?

PB – I think this is an issue that all artists, performers, practitioners, archivists and researchers may face. However, working with black artists, performers, practitioners, archivists and researchers, who are also affected by systemic racism, there is an intersection with intellectual property and ownership. For example, universities normally own the intellectual property rights to the data of a PhD thesis, but in areas of research where even the supervisors are not experts, this is incredibly problematic. Similarly, many artists and performers do not have rights to use their own photographs.

We haven’t done any formal studies, but I think that emerging artists are particularly vulnerable. They are so passionate to create work and make a start in their careers that they often do not realise until it is too late that they have given their work away.

This is why the work of Serendipity and Naomi Korn Associates is so important; we are trying to create equity by giving people tools to navigate the complexity of copyright law from the start, so that the creative industries are fairer, and more creatives are empowered.

On another note, I think understanding that copyright law is different internationally is also important. For example, in the UK copyright is granted as standard but, in the US, it must be registered. We work internationally and so being aware of these differences is critical for artists.

What light has your archiving experience shed on IP problems?

PB – Serendipity Institute for Black Arts and Heritage has a growing collection of archival materials called the Living Archive. The ethos for the Living Archive acknowledges the archive not as a static structure where objects are labelled definitively, but one that continues to evolve through interpretation and reinterpretation. It is a collection of archival materials that can be used by all: artists, academics, researchers and those tracking their family history.

However, in developing a Living Archive collection we are having to address everything from Orphan Works, third party rights, digitisation, legacy preservation, fair use. We are addressing what all of this looks like for our organisation and people using the archive, recognising that it is a shifting landscape with technological advancements taking place.

For Serendipity Institute for Black Arts and Heritage, we are actively seeking to redress the historical bias and colonial gaze, through interpretation and reinterpretation. I think that many people in institutions have been wary about “decolonisation”, as they think that it means destroying or removing. However, I think for many people, particularly those whose heritage lies in former British colonies, they recognise that it is impossible to separate out history.

The history of the Caribbean is tied up in British history; black history is part of British history. What we want to reveal is the whole picture, rather than just a part of it. This often means dealing with very difficult subject matters and difficult language, but also that now previously hidden stories are coming to light. They have real life impacts too.

We have recently been working with a family in Leicester to document the story of their ancestors. What we uncovered was a performing arts dynasty that traced back to Methodist preacher Reverend Francis Nelson Countee, who had escaped enslavement in America and his son and daughter-in-law, Charles and Eliza Countee, music hall stars known as The Two Countees. It was a legacy that was continued by their daughter Frances ‘Mabel’ Elkington, neé Countee, and her own children and grandchildren – Diane Clafton, Richard Elkington, Allan Countee. Many of the archival items were family photographs and documents, so navigating the rights and treating the story and items with respect was paramount.”

Do arts or publishing institutions and organisations exacerbate some of these problems?

PB It is a particularly complex issue. Many funders are keen to ensure that all work created is open and accessible to all. In many ways this is fantastic as it enables as many people as possible to engage with work. However, it also reveals other challenges and ethical issues, particularly around monetisation and safeguarding. We are constantly in conversation with different organisations to unravel this, working to ensure the best outcomes for all parties involved.

We have also learnt a lot over the last 14 years in our own work and practice. We are always refining our contracts and agreements to ensure that the work of our artists is protected, but also that our work as a creative organisation is safeguarded for the future.

problems with the IP laws themselves?

PB – We live in a racialised society, so as a black-led organisation working with predominantly black artists, this intersectionality is present in almost all issues. I think moving forward it is essential that more legislation is developed that clarifies use around AI, both for people whose work is on the internet and thus feeding the AI and for people using AI in their creative practice. Historically, you look at cases such as the use of the ‘Amen break’, from Amen, Brother by The Winstons and performed by Gregory Coleman.

Arguably, it is one of the most sampled pieces of music, a foundation of hip-hop; it has featured in songs by Salt-N-Pepa and formed the foundation of 1990s British dance music. However, Coleman never saw any royalties and died homeless and destitute, without knowing the legacy of his creation.

Across cultures, there is a constant process of creolisation, hybridisation, remixing and creating new works out of what has come before. All of this is integral to us as creative beings. However, what does need to change is that artists, especially Black artists, are credited for their work and, importantly, remunerated fairly. I want to see fewer cases of exploitation and more grounds for celebration.

Register for CILIP Copyright Conference 2024

CILIP has written to eight councils in the Libraries at Risk Campaign, launched the #DearChancellor campaign on social media, and written a formal letter to Lord Parkinson to initiate dialogue on the future of libraries.

CILIP has contacted councils in Birmingham, Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole, Bracknell Forest, Bradford, Calderdale, Cardiff, Ceredigion, and Derby, as part of the Libraries at Risk Campaign.

Libraries at Risk was launched last month to raise the profile of public libraries at a time when councils are slashing their budgets, and CILIP will write to every local authority where budget-reductions threaten their public libraries with closure or a reduction in service provision, to ensure that due process is followed with every decision, and councillors understand the vital importance of libraries in their communities.

At the time of writing, CILIP Scotland has written to seven councils, Stirling, West Dunbartonshire, South Lanarkshire, North Ayrshire, Inverclyde, Highland, and Dundee City.

The Libraries at Risk Monitor was launched alongside the campaign to provide a visual representation of the libraries that are under threat of budget cuts, service reduction, or total closure.

The Monitor is a community operated map, overseen by CILIP, and we use the data that you provide, as the starting point for writing to local authorities.

View & add your own entries to the Libraries at Risk Monitor

Anyone can contribute to the map via the spreadsheet, so please feel free to make changes if what you know is more up to date than what the map shows.

As part of the campaign, we also urged members, library supporters and sector leaders to send a message to the Chancellor on X (formerly Twitter) with the hashtag, #DearChancellor to spread the word across social media channels, to open a new channel to local and national government officials.

Slideshow of some of the #DearChancellor tweets

In response to the budget delivered on 6 March, we wrote formally to Lord Parkinson, the Minister whose brief includes libraries at the Department for Culture, Media and Sport to exercise his powers to protect local library services.

We raised the issue of libraries at particular risk of closure, those in the 19 councils that are receiving ‘Exceptional Financial Support’ (EFS) package, that will prompt a ‘fire sale’ of vital assets to Lord Parkinson and in a statement on 29th February.

View all the #DearChancellor tweets on X (formerly Twitter).

Read more about the Libraries at Risk Campaign

Image of 100 parliament square where DCMS is located, via wikimedia commons

In response to the Chancellor’s Budget Statement today, the Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals has called on Lord Parkinson, the Minister whose brief includes libraries at the Department for Culture, Media and Sport to exercise his powers to protect local library services.

CILIP has previously signalled deep concern over the lack of financial support to Local Authorities and the fact that the recently announced ‘Exceptional Financial Support’ (EFS) package will prompt a ‘fire sale’ of vital assets, including public libraries, in the 19 Councils concerned.

We note the Government’s ambition to make “long-term decisions for a brighter future” and the Chancellor’s stated commitment to deliver a “budget for long-term growth”. We welcome the announcement of new real-terms investment in cultural programmes, including for the British Library North project. We know from our work across the UK that Local Government also urgently needs long-term sustainable financial support so that libraries can help everyone to enjoy a brighter future.

Sadly, today’s budget statement runs counter to the Government’s stated ambition by failing to address the severe pressures faced by local Councils in providing statutory services - which includes libraries. Instead, the Public Sector Productivity Plan announced today creates new pressure on Councils to find further financial savings, which can only be achieved through further reductions in statutory services.

By cutting taxes and arguing that Councils stand to make further ‘productivity and efficiency’ savings, the Chancellor’s speech risks creating a ‘fiscal trap’ which now constitutes a material threat to the nation’s life-changing libraries.

CILIP is calling for a fair funding settlement to Local Government, allowing for real reinvestment into local services, including libraries. We urge the Chancellor to abandon the policy of short-termism and to invest in real opportunity and growth by recognising the power of properly-staffed and adequately-funded libraries to drive inclusive local economic productivity as well as place-making, health and care, lifelong learning, literacy and cultural enrichment for all.

Our ultimate hope is that Lord Parkinson as the Minister whose portfolio includes libraries at the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) will exercise his powers of superintendence as a matter of urgency to prevent a catastrophic loss of services across the nation.

The recent Sanderson Review of Public Libraries, which was commissioned by Lord Parkinson, recognised the transformative power of public libraries and called for their recognition and support across Government. We stand ready to work with the Minister to protect and build on the UK’s world-class library network, but we can only do so if those libraries still exist.

We hope that Government will take this final opportunity to avert further loss and hollowing-out of library services and to invest in the literacy, wellbeing and opportunity of future generations before it is too late.

Resources and Campaigns

Know your rights - how to contact your council about cuts to services

Urgent appeal: protect funding for public libraries at risk

Libraries at Risk Monitor - let us know if your library is at risk

Libraries in 19 councils at risk of fire sale - CILIP is sounding the alarm over a potential 'fire sale' of library buildings following the Government announcement of 'exceptional financial support' to 19 Councils.

CILIP in Scotland will be marking International Women’s day with a one-day conference of inspirational women from the information professions. Rob Green looks at what to expect and how you can join this year’s #WINspiration on 8 March.

WITH International Women’s Day taking place later this week, CILIP in Scotland (CILIPS) is hosting a one-day conference to celebrate, inspire and mark the contribution of women in the information professions.

Taking a lead from its regular online #Winspiration talks, CILIPS has brought together a range of speakers to deliver an online event that will provide a space to “share insights and inspiration from libraries across every area of our sector, learning more about the myriad of ways in which our profession is championing women’s equality.” The aim of CILIPS’ #Winspiration talks was to highlight the work of women who are making a difference in their roles and sharing their insights and stories.

#WINspiration was launched two years ago, and the inaugural WINspiration Conference will see a number of past speakers returning as part of a packed day. Among those who have already taken part in the series are Dr Adele Patrick, a co-founder of Glasgow Women’s Library (GWL), and Amina Shah, the National Librarian of Scotland.

Adele and Amina will open the conference with a joint keynote speech to welcome delegates to the free, online conference. To mark 2022 International Women’s Day Amina delivered some thought-provoking reflections on the changes for women working in the profession for her #WINspiration talk, which you can watch here. Adele delivered the first ever #WINspiration talk, with a look at the impact of feminist leadership on library services. You can find her talk here.

Conference organiser and CILIPS Membership Officer Kirsten MacQuarrie said: “For over two years, #WINspiration has been bringing women together from every corner of Scotland and beyond, and from every area of our incredible sector. Inspired by two wonderful workshops led by Dr Adele Patrick and Amina Shah – both still available on CILIPS YouTube – this ever-evolving programme has taken us to challenging yet necessary spaces of thought and action: dismantling patriarchal notions of what professional power looks like and giving us the collective courage to envisage a landscape of true inclusion with libraries at its heart.

“It feels deeply fitting as well as a great honour to welcome back Adele and Amina for our opening keynote on International Women’s Day. With 11 similarly WINspiration-al women also joining us to share their insights and ideas as part of the programme, this conference is not to be missed.”

Other sessions for the 8 March conference are Ashley Douglas, giving a keynote on – Marie Maitland, Scotland’s 16th century Sappho, and why libraries are essential to cherishing queer women’s stories; a panel discussion Celebrating the Women of Scotland’s CILIP125 with Markie Deleavey, Emma Grey, Elisabeth Nagy, Sarah Thomson and Toni Velikova; Lightning Talks from Clare Thompson on Children fight to hear her speak: Women working and reading in Glasgow Libraries through the years; Elena Focardi on Archival Advances in Local Herstories at Lanark Library; Fi Johnston on Feminist Networks of Black Librarians in the Harlem Renaissance; and Kirsty Brown and Gill Ryan looking at Perth Women on Wikipedia.

Kirsten adds: “The #WINspiration online conference is free and open to all. We will use the same Zoom link throughout the day, so attendees are welcome to come and go as many times as necessary, joining us for as many sessions as you can (we hope all of them).”

CILIPS WINSpiration Conference takes place online from 10am on 8 March. To register for place and find out more here.

Zoe and Sheila recently completed their apprenticeships assessed by CILIP Pathways.

CILIP Pathways was launched four years ago today, and this year also celebrates becoming the end-point assessment organisation (EPAO) for assessing the Level 7 Archives and Records Manager standard.

CILIP Pathways provides quality assessment services for apprenticeships, and is staffed by experts in the library, information and knowledge sector and has a team of qualified independent assessors.

Over the past four years, the CILIP Pathways team has seen many apprentices go through the Level 3 Library, Information and Archive services assistant programme, and have had the privilege to meet some exceptional librarians.

These apprentices have not only gone on to greater things by developing themselves professionally, but their work has had a wider and powerful impact on the teams they have worked with.

Two recent apprentices from the programme shared their experiences.

Zoe Melabianaki completed her apprenticeship at the Imperial War Museum, and found success in applying her theoretical knowledge with in a practical setting:

“I really enjoyed the hands-on experience of working alongside studying during my apprenticeship. I gained invaluable support and knowledge from my colleagues, and being able to put everything I learned at college into practice was so useful! I also liked learning alongside apprentices from other libraries, as I got to learn a lot about libraries different to my own. The apprenticeship was a great introduction into careers in the library and information sector, and I look forward to carrying on my journey down this career path. “

Sheila Rabello di Aguiar completed her apprenticeship at the British Library, and found the apprenticeship to be a perfect first-step in her libraries career:

"In 2022, I applied for the LIAS Apprenticeship in partnership with WAES and the British Library, the organisation where I was employed. Returning to the classroom and having the opportunity to work towards a qualification in librarianship, archives, and information was the best decision I ever made. The course was intense and required hard work, but the rewards were incredible. Since completing my training, I applied for an internal position at the library and succeeded. I can confidently say that the LIAS course was a game-changer in my career. Thank you!"

This year, CILIP Pathways has become the named the end-point assessment organisation (EPAO) for assessing the Level 7 Archives and Records Manager standard.

Find out more about CILIP Pathways

CILIP's outgoing CEO Nick Poole led 'Developing your AI policy', a workshop which provided practical insights and activities for delegates to begin creating their own organisational AI policy.

This article is featured on the AI hub

AI policy is set to become the new GDPR, and the release of the UK government’s AI Regulation White Paper this month is accelerating government action on building a legal framework for AI regulation.

AI took centre stage at CILIP Employer Forum, and the programme was aimed at supporting sector organisations in bridging the AI knowledge and experience gap.

In addition to the 'Developing your AI policy' workshop, case studies were presented from both sides of the sector, an employer and an educator.

Worcestershire Council’s successful application of AI to improve efficiency, increase citizen engagement, and provide data-driven insights, supported by a robust AI policy, was the first of two case studies.

A case study from Manchester University provided insights into an education provider’s experience and application of AI policy in relation to academic research and teaching, and covered plagiarism detection issues, and its outcomes for staff and students.

‘Developing your AI policy’, which was led by CILIP’s outgoing CEO Nick Poole, brought delegates together to approach the task of creating their own organisational AI policy, while sharing their own organisations’ experiences and learnings.

The discussion and cross-sector collaboration generated a list of AI policy priorities and principles for organisations in the sector.

Top institutional needs when thinking about the application of AI

• Risk management and compliance
• Overcoming inequity of access to information
• Maintaining perceived value of educational experience (when learning content can be generated by AI)
• Continuing to value Research as an output of the institution (HE)
• Embedding AI meaningfully into existing workflows
• Understanding how to ensure safe use of AI in 3rd party systems through procurement
• Overcoming digital inequality
• Helping students to understand why they should not 'outsource' learning to AI
• Ironing out very different degrees of understanding of what AI is and how it works
• Managing quality assurance in information services
• Helping students to avoid AI-driven plagiarism
• Taking a risk-managed approach while focusing on the benefits of AI

Top principles which will shape your use of AI

• Managing the impact of AI on teaching and learning
• Need for clarity/avoid mixed messages for students and learners
• Need to build confidence with AI and AI literacy
• Monitoring enhanced risk of AI-driven misinformation
• Policing misuse of AI, for example in applications to HE
• Helping students to understand and respect IP while using AI tools
• Taking a positive human-centred approach (not technology-led)
• Maintain our professional ethics despite funding pressures
• Prioritise safety

CILIP is now adapting this workshop into a downloadable resource for members and partner organisations to run their own workshops and produce their own AI policy, which we will share via our fortnightly newsletter.

Resources

Download Nick’s slides (members only)

Department for Science, Innovation & Technology’s - A pro-innovation approach to AI regulation: government response white paper

Adoption and knowledge Gap in libraries and knowledge management

Pictured from left: Sonia Ramdhian, Director of Sector Development, CILIP, Adele Readhead, Senior Lecturer University of Glasgow, Rebecca Gediking, Head of Libraries, GLL, Virginia Power, Associate Director for Information Science at the University of the West of England, and Rebecca Dorsett, Deputy Head of Digital & Information Professions at UK Ministry of Defence

The CILIP Employers Forum 2024 brought together delegates from fifty different organisations in the library and information science sector to discuss how the workforce can adapt to make librarians and knowledge managers become leaders in AI.

Decision-makers and sector leaders from CILIP’s Employer and Learning Partners met last Wednesday at the Hive Library in Worcester for a hybrid in-person and online programme that focussed on getting a head start on AI policy.

The forum was a unique opportunity for both groups to hear from each other on the skills that librarians and information managers will need in the future, and the opportunity it brings to libraries to take the lead in policy and education around AI.

The event was hosted at the the Hive, a unique joint venture from the University of Worcester and Worcestershire County Council housing a public library, university library and archives in one environmentally friendly building.

The day was made possible with sponsorship from CB Resourcing and WF Education.

The three-session programme gave delegates a practical and outcomes-based approach on how to create an organisational AI policy, with case-studies from Worcestershire County Council, the University of Sheffield and the University of Manchester.

CILIP’s outgoing CEO Nick Poole, led the afternoon’s session, a workshop to get delegates creating their own organisational AI policies.

Read more about the workshop.

The final session was a panel discussion with senior library leaders and information managers, who discussed the skillset of the future.

This session sparked discussion between employers and education and training providers to bridge the gap between the application of skills on the job and academic and vocational training to create new understandings between the needs of both groups.

Perhaps the most exciting outcome of CILIP Employers’ Forum 2024, was that libraries and information providers are in a unique position as educators, experts, and professionals to take back leadership in the sectors of AI policy, education, mitigate its threats and take advantage of its opportunities.

The CILIP Employers forum is free to attend for CILIP Employer Partners. CILIP Employer Partners are organisational members of CILIP who employ library, information and knowledge professionals.

Member organisations include government departments, higher education, prison libraries, public libraries and museums.

Organisational membership also provides unique networking and discussion spaces like the CILIP Employers Forum.

Image of birmingham library via wikimedia commons

CILIP is sounding the alarm over a potential 'fire sale' of library buildings following the Government announcement of 'exceptional financial support' to 19 Councils.

The Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities announced yesterday that 19 councils in England will benefit from an 'Exceptional Financial Support (EFS)' framework for the fiscal year 2024-25, totalling around £1.5 billion.

Rather than representing new investment or capital support, the framework allows the Councils involved to use capital receipts from the sale of assets or borrowing to cover their day-to-day costs up to this amount.

The 19 councils receiving the exceptional financial support (in principle) are Birmingham, Bradford, Cheshire East, Croydon, Cumberland, Eastbourne, Havering, Medway, Middlesbrough, North Northamptonshire, Nottingham, Plymouth, Slough, Somerset, Southampton, Stoke-on-Trent, Thurrock, West Northamptonshire, Woking.

Additionally, there is further support for capitalisation requests from previous years amounting to £976 million.

CILIP interim CEO Jo Cornish said:

"This 'exceptional financial support' announced by Government is in reality nothing of the sort. Instead, central Government is suggesting that cash-strapped Councils should do the equivalent of using their savings (long-term investment budgets) and selling property to cover day-to-day running costs."

"This framework creates a material risk that Councils will sell off parts of their property portfolio, including libraries, to address the funding shortfall caused by the withdrawal of central Government grants. We know from our experience supporting library services across the UK, this is a one-way trip - once a library building is sold off, it permanently impairs the life chances and property values of local residents. It's a one-way deal and very much like using the credit card to pay the mortgage."

"We urgently call on central Government to work with Councils to provide long-term sustainable investment to protect local services and halt their decline, including statutory public library provision."

In response to increasing concerns over proposals to reduce or close library services, CILIP has launched the Libraries at Risk Monitor - a regularly-updated map of proposed changes to libraries across the UK with an indication of where CILIP and their partner organisation, CILIP in Scotland are intervening to seek better outcomes for local taxpayers.

Download Full Press Release

Read the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities' announcement

There are more than 500 libraries within NHS England, an organisation that is committed to net zero by 2040.

NHS Knowledge and Library Services Community of Practice joins the Green Libraries Campaign to support the campaign's growth and evolution as for new green intiatives and activities in 2024 onwards.

As a partner, NHS Knowledge and Library Services Community of Practice will allow health libraries across the UK join public libraries and lead the way in environmental action.

The Green Libraries Campaign is the next stage of the Green Libraries Partnership, which connects libraries across the UK through the annual Green Libraries Week and by allocating funding to enable libraries to launch green activities.

It has also presented its inaugural Green Libraries Conference for knowledge sharing and green networking opportunities, and recently hosted free training workshops to support public library colleagues with tangible actions to embed and bring to life the pledges laid out in the Green Libraries Manifesto.

Adam Tocock Library Services Manager at The Hillingdon Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, co-chair of the Sustainability in NHS Knowledge and Library Services Community of Practice and co-lead on sustainability for CILIP's Health Libraries Group (CILIP HLG) commented:

"There are more than 500 libraries within NHS England, an organisation that is committed to net zero by 2040, and our Community of Practice is looking forward to collaborating with the Green Libraries Partnership to help us meet this goal and work more sustainably.

"Together with the membership of CILIP HLG and colleagues from healthcare libraries serving royal colleges and professional societies, we are keen to contribute to the Partnership and learn from library and information professionals in other sectors.

"Personally, I'm really excited to see how urgently and creatively colleagues are addressing the climate crisis, and to help bring together our adaptation and mitigation efforts for the greatest impact."

The Green Libraries team at CILIP is looking forward to working alongside NHS Knowledge and Library Services Community of Practice, and our other partners, Arts Council England, the British Library, Julie’s Bicycle, SCONUL, and Libraries Connected to continue developing the Green Libraries Campaign.

CILIP is the leading industry voice championing and representing library and information professionals across the United Kingdom, guided by our Royal Charter to develop and improve library and information services, and as a Charity to act in the public good.

We are concerned at increasing reports of a significant number of proposed changes to public library services which appear to be motivated primarily financially rather than by the needs of service users.

In light of the many positive benefits of local libraries to the communities they serve, we urge councils to reconsider any proposed cuts to library funding and to prioritise the preservation and, where possible, improvement of local public library services.

We have set up the Libraries at Risk Monitor which aims to provide a resource for the library sector, and the public to keep track of these changes across the UK. We are inviting CILIP members and interested parties to update our crowdsourced map of current libraries at risk.

We know that councils across the country continue to face huge financial challenges in light of the increasing demands of social care, the cost-of-living crisis, and reductions in centrally distributed grants, along with a series of short-term local government financial settlements. We are working with councils to find opportunities for greater efficiencies through modernisation and innovation and have worked closely with the Local Government Association to produce guidance on this - Delivering local solutions for public libraries.

Once a library building is closed or a service is hollowed out, this represents a permanent loss of opportunity for the people in the surrounding area - permanently impairing social mobility and life chances in the process.

In a 2023 report commissioned by Libraries Connected, Libraries for living, and for living better research showed that England's public libraries alone generate £3.4 billion a year following landmark analysis by economists from the University of East Anglia (UEA).

Investing in libraries is an investment in the future of our communities, ensuring that they remain vibrant, inclusive, and thriving places for generations to come.

Statutory responsibilities of local authorities

Councils have a statutory duty to provide 'comprehensive and efficient' library services under the 1964 Public Libraries and Museums Act. Under the provisions of the Act, changes to library services need to be made following consultation with affected communities.

These duties intersect with council responsibilities under the Equalities Act 2010 and the Public Sector Equality Duty to ensure that changes to library services take into account the full range of needs of local residents, both now and in the future.

Some councils, having failed to observe these requirements, have found themselves under Judicial Review. In order to help avoid this we are drawing councils' attention to the guidance document Libraries as a statutory service, provided by the Libraries Team at the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS).

CILIP has published Public Libraries - know your rights guide to help local decision-makers and library supporters understand the protections in place for library services.

Benefits of strong local libraries

At CILIP we work with councils across the UK to help them maintain and grow their local public library service. We are asking councils to take into account the following key benefits of maintaining provision for local communities:

1. Equal Access to Knowledge

Public libraries serve as invaluable community hubs, providing free and universal access to a vast array of educational resources including books, periodicals, digital materials and educational programmes. They play a critical role in promoting literacy, lifelong learning, and equitable access to information for all members of the community, regardless of age, background, or socio-economic status.

2. Support for Education and Learning

Libraries are vital partners in education, offering essential resources and support to students of all ages. They provide homework assistance, adult learning support and access to computers and internet services, bridging the digital divide and helping individuals to succeed in life.

3. Cultural Enrichment and Community Engagement

Local libraries have amongst the most diverse audience of any local cultural institution. They promote creativity, imagination and cultural enrichment across all demographics, offering a wide range of activities such as author readings, book clubs, workshops, and art exhibitions, fostering a sense of community belonging and civic engagement.

4. Digital Inclusion and Technology Access

In an increasingly digital world, libraries play a crucial role in promoting digital literacy and providing access to technology for those who may not have it at home. From computer classes to Wi-Fi hotspots, libraries ensure that everyone has the opportunity to develop essential digital skills and participate fully in the digital economy.

5. Economic Impact and Social Cohesion

Local libraries contribute to the economic vitality of communities by supporting small businesses, entrepreneurs, and job seekers through resources like business development programmes, CV clinics and resources for jobseekers.

6. Driving health and wellbeing

Since the pandemic, local library services have emerged as an essential 'frontline partner' to public health services, providing access to health information, promoting health and digital literacy and helping to connect people to wellbeing activities and social care.

7. Tackling social isolation

Libraries serve as a safe, trusted and inclusive space for every member of the community. They have a proven role in helping Local Authorities to tackle the complex effects of social isolation, for example by providing Warm Spaces and social activities for many of the hardest-to-reach communities. In the process, libraries deliver significant savings for other social services.

Jo Cornish, interim CEO of CILIP commented:

Public libraries are a vital service right at the heart of the community. They are free to all and foster literacy, education, and community engagement. They provide free resources, bridge the digital gap, and offer a space for learning and cultural enrichment. Public libraries play a pivotal role in promoting inclusivity, lifelong learning, and the overall well-being of communities. We will work with local councils and the government to protect this essential service from funding cuts.

Further Reading

Libraries for living, and for living better

Delivering local solutions for public library services

In this election year it is more important than ever to bring libraries into the public and political spotlight as central government cuts council budgets across the country.

CILIP will write to every local authority where budget-reductions threaten their public libraries with closure or a reduction in service provision, to ensure that due process is followed with every decision, and councillors understand the vital importance of libraries in their communities.

We have created the Libraries at Risk Monitor to keep track of the campaign, but also to raise awareness of the scale of the budget cuts.

We need your help to keep the monitor up to date.

If your local authority has proposed cuts to its public libraries, is discussing cuts or has already initiated cuts, please visit the Libraries Risk at Monitor page and add this information to the interactive map.

CILIP has always had a responsibility under its Royal Charter to "promote and encourage the maintenance of adequate and appropriate provision of library and information services throughout the UK.

The Libraries at Risk Monitor builds on the Know your Rights campaign, which has been running since 2023.

Know Your Rights aims to make it as simple as possible for public librarians (and the wider sector / general public) to engage with their local authority, and hold them to account around financially motivated cuts and closures.

Know your rights provides step by step guidance on how to oppose service reductions and includes example letters to act as templates to write to your local councilmembers.

CILIP launched the Libraries at Risk campaign last week, and we have already written to five councils about threatened closures and cuts in England, and CILIP Scotland have been in touch with five councils in Scotland.

Additionally, we have sent out a statement raising the alarm over public library closures to sector leaders, press, and MPs in our network, that showcases the massive contributions libraries and librarians make to their local areas.

Frode Opdahl, CEO of Keenious explains the origins of an AI-driven start-up and how its success depends on library buyers keeping the sector attractive to start-ups that wish to innovate the research experience.

Keenious is a new type of search engine that helps students and researchers discover relevant material.

It uses artificial intelligence to analyse documents and retrieve a list of relevant research articles. It is accessible through its website and users can add Keenious to Microsoft Word and Google Docs for efficient use. The tool uses AI to search the Open Alex data set – a free index of the world’s research.

In this interview for CILIP's Buyers' Guide 2024 , Frode said: "What we are developing is an AI tool that makes it easier to discover information that you want to read, a tool that helps you discover things that you could be really interested in."

“We are not curators of the data set,” Frode says. “Think of us as the engine that figures out what is relevant from this data set. So, we don’t have the full text itself, but we provide links to interesting articles and if you’re at a university you can check if you have access.”

Until recently the tool was available free online but it has been modified as sales to university libraries picked up: “Our new basic version has some limits on results and document size. This is to make sure it’s fair for universities that pay for our service. We still want to make sure people who can’t afford it, especially in less wealthy areas, can use Keenious too.”

Keenious has 30 university clients, their first customers mostly being based in the nordic countries, but now includes Carnegie Mellon in the US which, Frode says, “is seen by many as the birthplace of AI, so selling an AI tool to them is very exciting” (Keenious is mentioned in this article about the university library’s role in developing AI) It is also in trials with Trinity College Dublin and in talks with multiple others.

Origin

“I never worked in a library, I’m a computer science student and I wasn’t a big user of the library myself,” Frode says. “I was struggling to find relevant articles for my master’s thesis as a student. Ironically, I was working on a recommendation system for articles while I was struggling to find relevant articles. That was when I thought ‘what if I analysed a lot of the research articles and could compare them with my text?’ Then I could put the results in a sidebar next to my document and it sounded super useful and no one else had made it, and that’s basically the origin story. It was later that we saw it as a tool for libraries.”

Asked if Keenious poses a threat to the library profession, Frode points out that direction and the development of Keenious is carried out in collaboration with librarians. He adds: “They are happy because this is another tool in their tool kit to help their users.”

Referring back to his own experience as a student who didn’t use the library, he says: “A big selling point is that Keenious can be added into the workflow of all the students and faculties without them having to install it. That makes it a new avenue for the library to get exposure and a new place where the library wasn’t available before. When students or researchers open it up we make it very obvious that this is something that the library is providing.”

Less is more

Frode says Keenious is academia-friendly AI because it delivers value to its users differently to most other AI models. “ChatGPT and many other AI tools are very focussed on giving you an answer. You ask a question, it gives you an answer. All the value is in the response. We don’t focus on giving you that answer, partly because the answer might be wrong, but mainly because giving you the answer means you didn’t go through any critical thinking of your own.

“What we are developing is an AI tool that makes it easier to discover information that you want to read, a tool that helps you discover things that you could be really interested in, and the end product is not just a simple one paragraph answer, but a user that knows something.

“Not many people in AI are thinking like this because it’s so tempting to just give that answer. And in many sectors, giving a right answer immediately might mean saving a lot of time and money while allowing you to just go onto the next thing.”

He said there were already citation tools that give immediate answers: “You can just select a piece of text and say ‘create a citation’ and it just automatically adds one in at that point. There’s no process of the user making, writing or thinking on their own. We could make that too, but we don’t want to do it, because you’re not left with anything as a person. What is the purpose of a thesis? It’s not actually the thesis that, in most cases, is just going to go on a shelf. The purpose was the process of writing it and what you become, who you are after writing it.”

This approach has many positives from a business point of view. One is that Keenious isn’t competing with ChatGPT. “If we’re trying to be a better ChatGPT we’re going to lose, there are thousands of companies trying to do that.”

But there are ethical motives too: “Personally I want to be able to sleep at night. I want people to be better off using Keenious and to know I didn’t help plagiarism or help people cheat. When AI can answer every question you wonder what’s the point of getting an education. But why doesn’t a teacher give you the right answer right away? It’s because you want a teacher who helps you discover the answers for yourself. I’d be happy if the AI is enhancing education and not contributing to the breakdown of education.”

Angel librarian?

Frode says Librarians have played a vital role in making his start-up viable and keeping the sector attractive to new technology investment.

“We come under the Ed Tech umbrella and there aren’t so many investors in this space. It’s not like fintech – which is financial tech with banking – which is huge and has a lot of investors. Ed Tech has some very different characteristics: it may be more conservative, moving less fast, and there are a lot of decisions that potential customers (universities) have to make. These can be seen as dangers by investors.

“But if you get a good reputation and have happy customers, they are not afraid of sharing this with other similar universities. This is something that is very specific to this sector. It means our customers recommend us to others. In a competitive space you wouldn’t often get this help from your customers. Purchasers are hesitant because it’s such a big user base and they don’t want to buy it until they are sure. I’d say it’s tricky to get into this space, but if you build relationships and keep your customers happy then it has a lot of benefits. It’s a lot more sticky. It’s not as volatile. You can’t just be ‘fail fast’ which is normal in a lot of companies. But if you’re an investor who is not used to this you may be not aware of these benefits, and from the outside it can seem a bit slow.”

Library role in start-up journey

Frode explained how library buyers played a vital part by investing time and effort in his start-up, and then alleviating the risk for other potential investors by being transparent and supportive.

“The first organisation to take the risk with Keenious was The Research Council of Norway,” Frode says. “They had a great programme where you could get a million Norwegian Kroner (about €100,000) as a student just out of university, it was a very specific programme to start up something based on what you had been working on during your master’s thesis.”

Keenious got the funding after building a prototype and doing market research by “going up to students sitting at cafes at LSE and in California and asking ‘what do you think about this?’”

The funding enabled Frode and his Co-founder Anders Rapp to build a better prototype that got the attention of the University of Tromso, where Frode and his co-founder are alumni.

“The library said ‘this is really cool, but it’s not ready to be commercial, but we would love to help you guys out and give you feedback’, so we started a project with the university and the library there took us under its wing. We really worked hard with them to understand the need of the library and how we could make something that they want. The assumption was that university libraries across the world probably have the same challenges, so if it works for one it’s probably going to work for others.

“Then we got investments from mostly angel investors but also some bigger ones.”

Frode said the way the contract worked minimised risks for all parties, adding: “We had to get all three onboard, the universities with Innovation Norway (a national development bank) with the investors. They didn’t have to do anything until everyone was aligned, which reduced the risk.”

Library opportunities

“I think the reason they invested is because what we were doing clicked for them. They could see themselves wanting to use Keenious, or that they would have needed it when they were students. And I think that’s the investment side, that if you’re going into Ed Tech there are a lot of people that can relate to the problem that we are trying to solve.”

Frode said that because Keenious is selling into academia, it makes sense to use academic methods to develop it and sell it.

“We have been taking the academic approach and doing research. We have a dedicated User Researcher on the team, and we speak at conferences about what we find out. Selling Ed Tech to Higher Education, taking an academic approach shows our seriousness. We have a lot of customers doing independent studies on Keenious and its effects. We want people to test it out, write about it, and publish papers on it, that’s good for us.”

He said that Keenious still depends heavily on finding supporters in universities, often in their libraries. He said this was particularly true when start-ups move into new jurisdictions.

“Figuring out all the purchasing processes and rules in different countries is just something you have to painfully get through. The first customer in each country is super difficult. Many times it is the first time that they’re buying a Norwegian product – so the first customer is a big hurdle and they’ve got to really want to buy the product, they’ve got to be absolutely convinced to go through this uncertain process.

“For the first one you really have to find a champion, someone who really believes in the product and is willing to sell it internally, because they really want it and they have decision makers they need to convince. That’s relationship-building and just being honest about it and as a start-up we need that help since we are not a big company with thousands of sales people.”

We are living and working in an age of uncertainty and change. Global challenges such as climate change, pandemics, economic crises, the rise of disinformation and increasing inequality require a response that is optimistic, creative and collaborative.

Futures Literacy is an approach to confronting these challenges and finding and creating innovative solutions.

Libraries are at the forefront of this change, and new funding models, policies, and services are required for the sector to adapt to these changes, that are already impacting on the daily lives of library and information users in countless ways.

New technology, data and AI are creating new opportunities to connect and innovate at scale. At the same time, they present significant risks to our way of life.

In order to remain current and relevant, and to continue to meet the needs of our users now and for generations to come, libraries need to be able to think in a structured and evidenced-based way about the future.

According to the UNESCO Futures Literacy initiative, Futures Literacy is a capability. It is the skill that allows people to better understand the role of the future in what they see and do. Being future literate empowers the imagination, enhances our ability to prepare, recover and invent as changes occur.

Futures Literacy allows library staff and leadership to approach complex and unpredictable situations holistically while taking into account biases and assumptions on things that we take for granted. It's a way of using the future to innovate in the present.

CILIP has partnered with Shared Intelligence to develop the Future Libraries project an initiative to promote futures literacy for libraries, funded by Arts Council England.

The project will provide a toolkit and resources to enable library staff and leaders to run their own futures literacy workshops as part of your scenario planning and advocacy.

Find out more about the Future Libraries Project

Watch the introductory video from the Future Libraries Toolkit by Ben Lee from Shared Intelligence

Future Libraries is a two-part initiative from CILIP to challenge and engage librarians and library leaders to reimagine libraries in a world of rapidly evolving living and working patterns.

Part 1 is 'Come Rain or Shine: Preparing public libraries for the future in an age of uncertainty' that envisions the challenges and demands that public libraries will face from now until 2040.

It provides strategic analysis of potential future scenarios and how those could impact libraries.

Librarians and sector leaders from Arts Council England, the British Library, GLL, Hampshire County Council, Lancashire County Council, NESTA, Suffolk Libraries, Surrey County Council, and Warwickshire County Council provided insight and input for the report.

Staff at Camden Libraries and Southwark Libraries tested the toolkit and helped to add improvements.

Part 2 is the Future Libraries toolkit that provides a practical guide and framework to help libraries strategically analyse possible future uses of their spaces.

The toolkit is designed in line with the outcomes of the report and comprises a practical activity set that you can undertake in your own library for its own unique context.

The Toolkit is made up of an instruction document, templates to complete for your own staff and library, and a presentation that gives all the detail needed to undertake your own horizon scanning activities.

Download the toolkit and report (free)

Using the report and toolkit, libraries will be equipped to assess their specific community contexts and prepare effective strategies for resilient service provision in the future, whatever the weather.

Speaking on the project, Jo Cornish, interim CEO, CILIP said:

“Public libraries are a vital source of trusted information for health, learning, culture, technology and life’s key milestones. They are free to enter, a space where everyone is welcome, and connections can be made. They provide a sanctuary, and trusted information to help people navigate their lives. Librarians have just been announced as the 3rd most trusted profession in the UK to tell the truth and give accurate information. This report and toolkit will equip public libraries to navigate the unknown with strategic foresight, safeguarding their pivotal role for future generations.”

After participating in the Future Libraries activities, Luke Burton, Director Libraries, Arts Council England said:

“Libraries have long been adaptive and responsive to community needs and demands but this has often been reactive making it difficult to demonstrate impact and value over time. It was fascinating to be involved in these workshops and I hope that this research and the associated toolkit will become a critical tool in reshaping the way library services plan for the future. As the sector development agency for libraries, I’m really pleased that the Arts Council has supported this project and I’d like to thank CILIP and Shared Intelligence for creating such a transformative piece of work.”

Futures Literacy

The report and toolkit are both underpinned by futures literacy, a framework that allows people to better understand the role that the future plays in what they see and do.

Futures Literacy is based on the premises that the future does not yet exist and can only be imagined, and that humans have the ability to imagine.

Read more about Futures Literacy for Libraries

When CILIP commissioned the Future Libraries project, it was to address a central question:

What kind of public library network will England need to support its social, economic, and industrial development over the remainder of this century?

While the future is unknown, we can all take steps to ensure we are as well prepared as possible. The public library sector might not be able to predict what will happen next, but it can build resilience and equip services to ensure they are adaptable and able to meet the needs of a changing landscape, while avoiding potential pitfalls.

As times change, so must our libraries. Come Rain or Shine and the Future Library toolkit share insights into how libraries can embrace change and continue to be integral agents in shaping and improving society.

Future Libraries was commissioned by CILIP and created by Shared Intelligence with funding from Arts Council England.

Tom Saye

As we celebrate National Apprentice Week, Tom Saye, Library Assistant, East Suffolk and North Essex Foundation Trust, shares his experience of how an apprenticeship opened the door to a new career.

STUDYING history at university, the library quickly became my best friend, with hours spent searching the shelves in search for books, or asking librarians for obscure articles on Oliver Cromwell. Little did I know while studying that I would end up being the one that would help people find the information they needed.

"The biggest surprise I found in doing this apprenticeship was the variety of topics covered."

However, it was during the Covid-19 pandemic when I really started thinking about different careers I wanted to pursue. The more I looked into it, the more I came to realise that a job within a library would suit me. As I started searching for library assistant jobs, I came across a post for an apprenticeship role in a library sector I was not expecting: The NHS.

I began researching more into the NHS library world, quickly becoming impressed with the scope of opportunity, and therefore decided to apply for the apprenticeship. Despite various Covid restrictions, I was able to have a face-to-face interview and this was a hugely positive experience and gave me a great impression from the start. I started my apprenticeship at Colchester Hospital Library (part of East Suffolk and North Essex Foundation Trust (ESNEFT)) on 8 February 2021.

The official title of the apprenticeship was a Level 3 in Library, Information and Archive Services Assistant Apprenticeship, and Let Me Play (LMP) facilitated it. I had regular one-to-one online meetings with a tutor. Early on in the apprenticeship my tutor changed, which although was a little unsettling at first, I struck up an excellent rapport with my new tutor (Thomas) who was very engaging and encouraging.

The biggest surprise I found in doing this apprenticeship was the variety of topics covered. I will admit one reservation I initially had was would I find an apprenticeship challenging enough. However, over my 12 assignments, I was able to cover a wide range of topics, from cataloguing and metadata to customer service and marketing. Having this variety also proved useful when it came to my end assessment. I was able to use the knowledge I had built up over the first year and apply that to developing our new library website. This project included conducting research, building the website and doing user-testing. I passed the Apprenticeship in May 2022 and was able to use this research to create our new website, which we launched in September 2022.

---

Find out more about CILIP Pathways and apprentice routes into library, information and knowledge management careers.

---

Having off-the-job hours was also another major benefit of doing the apprenticeship. This meant I was able to experience other departments of the hospital. I spent a day with the Medical Records Team, and this a was great learning experience, understanding the mammoth task of both retrieving physical paper records as well as uploading patient records to online platforms. This experience helped reinforce the theoretical aspects of the apprenticeship I had been learning, such as, excellent record keeping, file archiving and information governance.

One of the challenges of doing the apprenticeship was, that for the first year, I was on an apprenticeship wage, which meant taking a pay cut. This did mean reconsidering my finances and budgeting more. However, I knew that taking an apprenticeship would be an investment that had strong potential to lead to more opportunities.

Lastly, all I would say to people is to not to be afraid to apply for an apprenticeship role. The day I submitted my application I had been turned down from another job and this rejection nearly made me not want to go through that process again. In the end, I thought “I have nothing to lose by applying” and I am so glad I did because I think I have found the sector for me. The apprenticeship has enabled me to apply for a Masters in Library and Information’s Services, and I look forward to starting this in September.

Look out for more Apprenticeship Stories in Information Professional over the coming months.

To find out more about apprenticeships and how they can help you – whether as an employer or an apprentice, visit www.cilip.org.uk/CILIPPathways.

Emily Johnson Deputy Knowledge Manager at University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust. In 2023 she was lauded as a member of the CILIP 125.

Emily's career path to becoming Deputy Knowledge Manager at University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust has had its twists, and now she uses a formidable range of skills and experience to lead a rewarding professional life.

“I studied English at university and wanted to do something kind of connected to the subject, so became an English teacher. I realised my passion was in reading and interacting with the kids, and not so much the teaching, so I took my first job as a library assistant.”

Everyone needs a bit of luck

Luck (or coincidence) got her the next step in her career when she saw an ad for a library assistant in a mental health hospital.

“I thought the role was for a librarian to the patients, and I was surprised to learn that it was for the staff! The NHS offered me a development position to learn on the job, which I then followed up with a masters, and that’s how my career in Health Libraries began.”

Emily now oversees the libraries and knowledge management of four NHS trusts in Birmingham, and she takes her biggest challenge so far as just another opportunity for career development and growth.

“I worked four days a week on a project to merge 50 separate library management systems (LMS) for NHS England, while staying in post in my current position.

“The project had a steep learning curve that demanded a range of new skills and knowledge. I had to learn the nitty gritty of library policy, and also work with roomfuls of librarians to bring them all on board with the new system and reach consensus on a set of core rules.

“I really learned to listen to different points of view and recognise that often people are talking about a separate issue that is important to them.”

The rewards that new challenges bring

The challenges seem to make the job more rewarding, but Emily is keen to point out that at its core, being a health librarian is about supporting people through healthcare librarianship and knowledge management.

“The day job is really to support doctors, nurses, clinicians, we can be asked to pull out several articles on clinical questions at a time, which helps the doctor make their decisions, and this fundamentally helps the patients.

“We also champion evidence-based decision making that influences the bigger context of the NHS, to save trusts money, support management, policy making, and create a space for student nurses, medical students, and apprentices.”

Professional growth is about helping others

Emily has found the career process rewarding every step of the way, learning and growing. In her current leadership role, she finds satisfaction in helping others to follow their own upwards trajectories.

"I like to develop people and bring people along with me. When someone moves up the progression ladder, there’s a chance for everyone to shift upwards.

"We are one of the younger teams in the midlands, and we try to engage people on this new path from the beginning, to bring in new apprentices and give everyone a sense of progression”

CILIP: often the key ingredient

CILIP has been a part of Emily’s career journey from the beginning. As library assistant she completed her ACLIP, and during her Masters she recognised there was a lot of transferable knowledge, so she took on chartership.

“My chartership mentor was from a different sector and this new perspective brought insights that have made a real difference on my work.

“We visited a public library as I was interested in their role in healthcare, but was struck by how public libraries ogranise community groups and how they make their spaces welcoming.

“Our libraries now don’t just stock medical and clinical works, we also have fiction collections, well-being books, to create a space that is also a rest space and caters to the wider workforce, such as cleaners and electricians.”

Emily gained actionable insights through using CILIP’s PKSB tool to identify knowledge gaps and areas of growth, but earning professional registration also helped to fill in the missing puzzle-pieces of the bigger picture, and opened the door for Emily’s high-level career progression.

“In healthcare, nurses have to do a big revalidation piece to gain their professional registration, so why not librarians? We consider ourselves professional, and often remind people of that, and chartership helps you to see yourself as a professional, and you learn how to hold yourself to account.

“Attaining chartership is completely different from just turning up to work. It creates professional awareness that makes career progression smoother. It teaches you to look around and see what other people are doing, so that you can recognise what you need to keep moving forwards."

The next steps for Emily

Looking to the future, Emily will be establishing herself further in her Deputy Knowledge Manager Role and searching for new opportunities for professional growth.

“I have only been in post for a year and there is still lots that I want to do to develop the service at my trust. I am also completing the NHS Leadership Academy’s Elizabeth Garrett Anderson program which is developing my leadership skills and understanding of management and leadership in healthcare more broadly.

“I might also consider the CILIP Fellowship as the last few years have given me a lot to reflect on.”