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CILIPS Council Conversations

Category: Blog, CILIPS Council Conversations

CILIPS Council Conversations, with white text on a blue background and a graphic showing a diverse crowd.

At our biannual CILIPS Council meetings, representatives from each of our Regional Branches and Special Interest Groups come together to share updates on their committee’s activities, help shape the future of CILIPS event content, and discuss key themes related to cross-sector professional practice.

At our first meeting of 2026, reps reflected on the theme:

National Year of Reading

2026 marks the National Year of Reading (NYR), encouraging readers of all ages and stages to ‘go all in’ and reconnect with the power of reading for pleasure.

  • How are our libraries of different sectors working with their respective communities to foster a lifelong love of reading and harness the benefits this brings?
  • What challenges and/or opportunities has NYR highlighted?
  • How should/could we tailor advocacy campaigns like NYR to the different and diverse library user communities that we support?

 

  • As we happened to be meeting on World Book Day, many Council attendees felt inspired to encourage patrons and families to look beyond the costume to books themselves!
  • Reducing shame, particularly for under-pressure parents concerned about their children’s reading, can be a key role for us too by offering support grounded in evidence.
  • Equally, in academic libraries, we must look beyond tie-ins at a course level e.g. there are different ways to engage with our student bases.
  • NYR and its themes offer opportunities for cross-sector working, and connections can also be made via other media like films, as well as existing groups representing our diverse communities within libraries e.g. age-specific bookclubs or language groups.
  • The cost of running activities is consistently a challenge, especially when no additional funding is offered for NYR events. Should it therefore focus on celebrating what we are already doing, rather than asking library staff to do more with less? Media contacts may also be more likely to express interest in our existing activities when we can ‘brand’ them afresh via NYR.
  • The benefits of reading to our communities are clear, taking people away from instant gratification and promoting deeper engagement that brings richer wellbeing benefits.
  • Do people really not have time to read? It’s important that we as a sector challenge this myth and champion the love of reading that we witness every day.
  • We can use up-to-date statistics and opportunities for advocacy to reinforce the case and evidence base for reading e.g. the Scottish Library & Information Council Vision Statement on Securing the Future of Scotland’s Libraries and CILIPS’s election campaign Librarians Are the Answer.
  • We can also build on our existing events and practices e.g. employability activities.
  • We all want to reiterate to our communities that reading comes in many formats. All that ultimately matters, this year and at any time, is that if you’re into it, read into it!

 

Email the CILIPS team anytime at admin@cilips.org.uk to share your views and stay tuned for another post in our Council Conversations series coming soon!

The next CILIPS Council meeting will take place online via Teams in November 2026. To join us and add your voice to these vital member discussions, please contact kirsten.macquarrie@cilips.org.uk.

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