Speak up for Libraries Conference - London - 14 November 2015
Report of Branch Delegate
The purpose of the Conference this year was to:
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Explore the pressing issues affecting our libraries.
Discuss volunteers in libraries.
Have an update from Paul Blantern and Kathy Settle of the Libraries Taskforce and
the opportunity to put questions and comments forward.
Hear from John Dougherty, who brought along his guitar.
The conference began with a welcome and introduction by CILIP Exec Nick Poole. There were
over eighty delegates of a mixture of librarians, library assistants, retired librarians and friends
of libraries. The questions that came out of it for me were - what is the role of librarians and
library assistants in the National Library Framework? How far are we to be taken into IT
Advisors with regards to Universal Credit and Universal Job Match? Should there be a national
standards to give the Act teeth and a uniformity of services? Who are the Libraries Taskforce
representing?
First, we were split into work groups to discuss the pros and cons of volunteers in libraries.
Pros – Value added to summer reading challenge, IT assistance, reading help, keeping more
libraries open later and more often.
Cons – Legalities protecting volunteers are not consistent between libraries, health and
safety, security and data protection training not sufficient in most cases. No choice –
volunteer or lose the service. General lack of knowledge. Easy get out for politicians,
undermining central funding.
Next, we prepared questions and points to put to the Libraries Taskforce.
The main point we were requested to discuss was what we would consider to be success.
Here is the list that we passed on to Kathy and Paul:
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Mass variety.
Free WIFI.
Upgrades of network.
Extending computing.
Best practice leaflet given to local government, rather than a national standards.
Stress the importance of the workforce – ensure they are equipped to perform.
Promotion of Libraries – help support impact on society.
Regular publishing of a progress report.
Investing in prevention regarding health and literacy.
Passing on information of what libraries can do out to departments who can use the
services, eg Adult Social Care and Children’s Services.
Maintaining a positive narrative.
Points made by SUFL to be passed onto the government in a positive light, rather
than criticism.
As public participation in the meetings is not available, data should be made more
accessible to the public.
We do not want to do more things worse.
Success is keeping libraries open, longer opening hours with comprehensive services that
the communities want, not based on cuts to other service areas.
The conference ended with John Dougherty reading from one of his books and playing his
guitar. The song is available on http://speakupforlibraries.org and titled:-“What’s wrong
with Ed Vaizey.”
If you would like to know more on the Libraries Taskforce please visit the website
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/leadership-for-libraries-taskforce.
Our Delegate’s Views
Overall, I found the conference informative and inspiring in that all the people there are
coming from libraries in similar circumstances, some with far greater cuts than us. The feeling,
as it was last year, was that we were there because we were all concerned with what was
happening to libraries, not just for our jobs, but for the sake of libraries future and we want
to best for it.
Although, as a Unison Rep, I felt there was deep concern that our roles are changing to the
point that we are in danger of not being known as librarians and library assistants anymore.
One library assistant I spoke to revealed he was no longer called a library assistant, but an
information officer and his library was part of an information centre with other council
services. All these changes are happening in increments so they are not always noticeable and
it is important that Unison is involved in changes that affect all of us.
Gail Thomas, December 2015