CILIPS26: The Impact of the Information and Library Profession, CILIPS West Branch Bursary
Branch: West Branch | Category: Blog
Claire McCluskey, Senior Library Assistant, Glasgow Life
I was fortunate enough to be granted a sponsored place for day two of the 2026 CILIPS Annual Conference courtesy of CILIPS West Branch. As someone with a focus on reader and service development , I selected the second day due to the sessions focused on projects and initiatives that offered valuable insights I hope to utilise myself, both in my daily role and as a growing professional on the route to chartership.
The selection of keynote speakers highlighted a broad range of perspectives, each examining libraries from different positions regarding impact. Robin Ince’s Libraries: Centres of Empathy warmed us all up with funny and heartwarming poems and stories showing the personal connections and sense of community we foster for our users that they carry with them throughout their lives. Klaas Gommers’ thorough breakdown of the research accumulated in the international study Strengthening Europe Through Public Libraries set targets and established central strategies and principles that all professionals can follow to create strong continuity of experience across borders. Professor Catherine Flick provided valuable analytical insight with Data and Information Flows in Games: Ethical and Social Issues, explaining the variety of ways in which game systems and data can be used to create exploitative practises, but also rewarding experiences for players that could be delivered in collaboration with libraries. Bringing together each of these aspects – public engagement, professional guidance, information accessibility – demonstrates a cohesive approach to how we can deliver our services, expand our reach and aspire towards further success.
A library led initiative I have long been intrigued by is the Carnegie judging, so Celebrating Words and Pictures: Inside the Carnegie Medals was the ideal look behind the curtain. Kirsty Sutherland was a knowledgeable guide through the process; the selection criteria for titles, the need to forgo your own biases when nominating, making balanced judgements all while encompassing a role that is both a privilege and a responsibility. Not only did it offer plenty of information to consider if you opt to take part in future award cycles but also provided approaches that could be applied when recommending and selecting stock; enhancing a valuable skill that has a meaningful influence on service users.
Meg Davidson and April Ingram of High Life Highland showcased how impactful collaborative projects with schools can be with Reading is for Everyone: How Can we Overcome Barriers to Pupils Reading for Pleasure? To tackle the dual challenges of disengagement and difficulty that weakens children’s motivation to read, they formed key partnerships between community libraries and their local schools to foster a lasting reading culture through stock selection, programmed activities with an author and training staff on how to best support pupils through guided practise and helpful toolkits. Beyond the benefits to those classes, it provided the schools with the means to maintain and sustain a reading culture with continual library support through the established relationship. This sets a solid foundation of taking the skills of the profession beyond library building and making a difference in the wider community for the benefit of literacy levels across the board.
As I happened to have taken part in the study run by Professor Steven Buchanan and Dr David McMenemy last year, it was rewarding to hear their concluding findings in ‘More than one way to burn a book?” Culture Wars, Censorship, and Neutrality in Scottish Public Libraries. The report effectively summarised how discourse becoming more visible through social media, sensationalised media coverage and declining trust in authorities creates pressure on staff due to challenges from the public, both actual and anticipated. Having this data highlights the importance of supporting libraries on all levels using defined policies, training and institutional backing. Through this structured approach we can combat problems caused by disinformation and distrust, so we can continue to fulfil our core function of being a source of information for all.
Lastly, a community focused initiative that showed how small steps can create a large impact was spotlighted with ‘You can never get enough books into the hands of enough children’: Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library in Dundee. Councillor Lee Mills and library supervisor Sarah Johnston organised a scheme that paired signing up for the Imagination Library with joining their local library at the same time. This provides children 0-5 years old with access to a range of books as they form healthy reading habits at home from the titles they get in the post, leading to promotion of local offerings that will encourage them to come through the door. Rather than treating the programme as separate, the collaboration enhanced the reading experience of those who took part, offering families familiar reading environments at home and in the community as the children grow, continuing to develop as they begin education and beyond.
Overall I found my first CILIPS conference to be an enriching and enlightening event that I am pleased to have attended. I am immensely grateful to CILIPS West Branch for the opportunity to participate. With the increasing restrictions, limitations and uncertainties we regularly overcome through our research, programmes and services, it establishes exactly why we must do as stated in the title of this conference; work to further amplify the impact we are making to demonstrate what makes us essential – a steadfast, empathetic, connected and informed profession that can be trusted and relied upon in a rapidly changing world. Having the opportunity to hear what is being achieved across Scotland and beyond made for an empowering experience full of initiatives and ideas I will employ in my ongoing development.