#laicilip14
Seizing Opportunities, Leading Change was the theme of this year’s joint annual conference
of LAI and CILIP Ireland. I was able to attend both days in Waterford, as a CILIP Ireland
bursary recipient. Presentations touched on the changing landscape of libraries, strategies
for success and a holistic experience of libraries to include the digital. I’m pleased to share
an overview of the mainspeakers and the messages and themes carried through these
sessions, which included building upon the competencies of the library and information
professional.
The first keynote of the conference saw marketing and change consultant Peter Doyle share
perceptions on managing change and planning for success. Asking how we as a profession
see ourselves has a lot to do with our attitudes towards change, and how we as
professionals react to it. Using librarianship as a sounding board we can reflect on how
adaptability to our environment is key, how resistance to change can be painful and how
perseverance can lead if not to success then at least to progress. Peter shared his
professional knowledge of change and practical lessons in approaching and dealing with
it.No matter what level we are in an organisation we have a choice about how we approach
changes that happen and whether we view these primarily as challenges or
opportunities.Most changes we come across in our professional lives are inevitable, yet
Peter advises change at a pace that makes sense, stating it is our job as information
professionals not only to embrace changes but to communicate what they mean to our
users.
FionnualaHanrahan of Wexford County Libraries spoke about ‘Opportunities for All’ The
National Strategy for Public Libraries 2013-2017 and what this will mean for the
development of public libraries in Ireland looking to the future. For example; new shared
service models to develop capacity for community development as well as information
provision. Agreed core services for consistent, high offering across the country. The
prospect of a single national membership for all public libraries and online library services is
an exciting one which requires cooperation, partnership and flexibility.
Fionnuala also asked us to consider:
 thinking nationally- not locally- the need to promote greater understanding of library
and information skills in local government
 making visible that librarians are working beyond libraries and are in fact managing
services
 and also being true to what users need
Rebecca Davies is Pro Vice-Chancellor at Aberystwyth University and another voice of
encouragement for librarians to showcase their skills. She discussed approaches to personal
and professional growth that is confident and competent.As Rebecca pointed out, working
in a changing environment requires new skills and risk-taking requires agility. In a
consumer-oriented culture we are urged towards a more entrepreneurial approach to
librarianship. Rebecca shared some simple steps to follow for the aspiring entrepreneurial
librarian- such as sharing experiences, demonstrating optimism and taking active steps
towards continued professional development.
Perhaps the fundamental point made by Rebecca was that libraries exist because they give
people life-changing experiences.
Later Rebecca led a workshop exploring library and information competencies. Asking
what are the ‘iconic’ competencies of the librarian always brings varied discussion.Among
the questions Rebecca asked was, ‘what is the least ‘librariany’ thing you do in your job?’
We heard examples from furniture wrangling to flood management to negotiating wedding
licences. Behind this was the aim of encouraging people to tell their stories, pointing out
that it’s up to us to reveal our competencies and translate what we do in smarter ways. And
finding out how well matched traditional perceptions of ‘library’ are with the reality of
working in one.
Liz McGettigan who isDirector of Digital Library Experiences at SOLUS UK, delivered the
keynote for day 2.One of the most inspiring things I heard during the conference was Liz
pointing out that 5 years ago, her job title didn’t exist. This puts a different spin on the idea
of future-proofing services and invites us to consider how we might also future-proof our
skills for future roles.Liz spoke about the concept of the library as a ‘streetcorner university’
and highlighted this as an important vision for the future regeneration of libraries- utilising
the library as a space for business, creativity and learning skills, both online and offline.
Liz is an advocate for enabling dynamic services, stating she is ‘passionate about the future
and how we deal with the potential demise of the paper book’. People don’t just want a
service, they want a unique experience provided around a service- and libraries are best
equipped to do this.And what will the landscape be for libraries in the future? As Liz saysnever has technology been so focused on accessing information. So we must focus on
promoting the right things, in the right language, to the right people.
Making the most of social media was an important theme within the conference, in
particular the use of social media as another access point to the library. Maya Hanley spoke
about this and why it can be useful for libraries to extend information out to users in this
way. If a library is already a community of readers and writers, then for most engaging on
facebook for example, will be a natural way to communicate with the library. Libraries are
also thriving events hubs and people are interested in this, especially in the visual, so the
right photographs and images can get a lot of positive engagement. A workshop dedicated
to blogging for libraries discussed some of these ideas further, for example how blogs can
be both a powerful tool to put your library on the map and a relatively low commitment
way to try out new ideas. Whatever the motivation for being on twitter, facebook or
blogging platforms, the nature of these seems to fit with the need for libraries be a medium
for more than just static information and to encourage two-way communication with users.
There were many high points of this conference- between session networking, workshop
discussions, and meeting information professionals I had only previously known virtually, via
twitter. Speakers were frank in voicing concerns of futureproofing for libraries- combining
old buildings housing new technologies and the responsibility of creating services and
spaces which serve multiple needs. I really enjoyed being part of a conference which heldso
much interest for those absent as well as present. The engagement on social media shows
that the themes of facing challenges and moving towards change are the concern of the
many, not just the few. The enthusiasm of a range of delegates and engagement of
onlookers can also be seen in the catalogue of tweets filed under #laicilip14.