Schools Literacy and Resource Centre, Monmouthshire and Torfaen.

The SLRC van and staff member Annie

Last week (Wednesday 16th October) I had the pleasure of visiting the Schools Literacy and Resource Centre, Monmouthshire and Torfaen.
The SLRC works across the two local authorities to provide a loans and advisory service to schools and nurseries; it is funded by the education services of both authorities.


I was greeted by Angela Noble in the light and open office at the front of three units of a busy business park in Pontypool.

A view from the top of SLRC

The centre needed to move accommodation in 2012 with the closure of County Hall. Angela explained that the specialised needs of the service meant finding a home could have been tricky but when three units at the business park became available, they were perfectly laid out for the service which needs a reception area to meet with teachers, shelving for the book collections and storage space for other resources such as story sacks and project boxes. The SLRC also hosts a meeting area with WiFi that can be used by agile workers from both authorities.

Angela, who has over 30 years experience of working within education and libraries, leads a small team of talented staff ,3 full time and 1 part time, who provide resources, training and advice to 11 secondary schools, including one Welsh medium and 62 primary schools.

The SLRC provides a wide variety of support to school staff including:

• Project loans, 20 professionally selected books and other resources that support the National Curriculum and Curriculum Cymru. Teachers can request up to 3 project loans on any topic at one time

• Fiction exchange, a selection of quality fiction books loaned to schools for 12 months.

• Photograph packs, A5 photographs are used to enhance the project loans and compliment the book collections.

• Big Books, the SLRC has a large selection of Big Books suitable for Key Stage 1.

• Story sacks, these colourful sacks contain books, games, puppets and toys to be used by teachers in nursery classes to enhance story times. 

• Religious and historical artefacts, a selection of artefacts from all major religions and from periods of Roman and Victorian history.

• All of these resources are delivered using the SLRC van.

Designing Libraries

Angela and her team also design school libraries and their expertise has been in high demand.
The SLRC team help teachers reorganise a school library to enable it to function effectively. They remove (and recycle) unsuitable, out of date material, classify the remaining stock and give professional advice on how to set up a cataloguing and issue system. The team also provide a written review of the library and give recommendations on how to select resources. Details of each school library either designed by, or reorganised by the team are kept on file to be reviewed and updated, ensuring the library is kept up to date and relevant to the needs of the school.
Many teachers have written to the team to express their appreciation, one teacher writes

 “The library is brilliant! Staff are really pleased and seeing all the effort you have put in has helped me gain PTA funding to buy new library furniture!”

Angela Noble at the SLRC

The SLRC team also support the shadowing of the CILIP Carnegie and Kate Greenaway Awards in primary and secondary schools.
Angela visits secondary school students to present them with multiple copies of the Kate Greenaway short list, produced by the Youth Libraries Group. Students look at and discuss the books with each other and vote for their favourites.
Primary school students take the Kate Greenaway short listed books home to share with younger siblings and feedback on their reactions to the books.
This often sparks off other creative input from the students; with many classes creating art work and producing dramatic pieces based on the short list.
Angela has noticed how these sessions have helped develop the debating skills of the children involved.

“The enthusiasm and passion shown by the students in these discussions demonstrates an understanding and ability to debate that astonishes any of their teachers present.  In some schools the same students have reappeared each year, so keen are they to take part”
Angela Noble, Schools Literacy and Resource Centre, Monmouthshire and Torfaen.

Only a few days before my visit, author Neil Gaiman talked about the “'the power of fiction to transform our understanding of the world and turn us into citizens” at his Reading Agency lecture.

 "The simplest way to make sure that we raise literate children is to teach them to read, and to show them that reading is a pleasurable activity. And that means, at its simplest, finding books that they enjoy, giving them access to those books and letting them read them."

Angela and her team, in using their professional knowledge and experience to support teachers and pupils are doing exactly what Neil describes and I left feeling amazed at how one small team can achieve so much.

You can contact the Schools Literacy and Resource Centre
Unit 1b, Torfaen business park, Panteg Way, New Inn, Pontypool, NP4 0LS
01633 644 560 / 644 565
angelanoble@monmouthshire.gov.uk

• You can read more about the CILIP Carnegie and Kate Greenaway Awards here and
• find out about the CILIP Youth Libraries Group here
• You can read Neil Gaiman's Reading Agency lecture here

Mandy Powell
CILIP Policy Officer, Wales

CILIP New Professionals Day workshop

Last week (4th October) I ran a workshop at the CILIP New Professionals Day in London.
Although I have facilitated workshops before, and have a professional certificate in training , this was the first time I had planned and run my own workshop...and I thoroughly enjoyed it.

I had 34 people in my session and received some useful feedback.

The theme of the session was 'developing professional skills' and my aim was to help delegates explore ways of developing professional skills using examples from outside of their day jobs. As the title of the event explains, the audience were new professionals , so I was aware that some may not actually be in posts and I wanted to help them find other ways of getting the experience they need in order to apply for jobs.

To prepare for the workshop I looked up a number of library and information job vacancies in the UK and chose the 6 skills most regularly asked for by employers.

On the day the room was set up theatre style and I wanted the 34 people to work with each other, so after a quick introduction from me, I asked them all to put themselves into small groups.

Monty Python breaks the ice.

I followed this with an ice breaker: I asked everyone to explain to each other which of the Monty Python team they were most like* This immediately lead to groans, laughter and lots of noise, which is of course exactly what I wanted...everyone talking and getting to know each other







I then asked each group to look at one of the 6 skills, and chat about ways they could develop examples.
I had slides ready with my suggestions, but I was very pleased to find that all the groups worked well together and came up with lots of ideas.

After each group had fed back to the whole room, I then asked the same groups to look at 6 activities or actions (blogging, networking etc) and asked them to answer three questions:

1. What skills will it help you develop?
2. How would you start?
3. How would you improve?

Again, I had slides ready with suggestions, but they were just for back up in case there were any awkward silences..., but there were none.

I received some very pleasing feedback.

32 people took part in the workshop, 25 filled in feedback forms.

• 19 rated the speaker's knowledge as Excellent, 6 as Good.

• 23 rated the speaker's communication skills as Excellent, 2 as Good.

• 8 rated the slides as Excellent, 14 as Good and 3 as OK.

• 15 rated the handouts as Excellent and 10 as Good.

• All 25 said yes they had enjoyed the session.

• All 25 agreed the workshop helped them identify ways to develop professional skills.

• 24 out of 25 said they had enough time to discus topics with their group.

                                         
Comments

“Really useful collaborative session”

“Great speaker!”

“Many thanks, it was useful”

“Good interactive workshop, thank you”

“Handouts are great, relaxed and fun workshop, thanks”

“Really fun session, well done”


It was a useful and interesting day, very well organised by Matthew Wheeler at CILIP. The best part was of course, getting to know more new professionals, whose enthusiasm was uplifting.
You can read more about the day and the other sessions here.

Matthew will also be speaking at the CILIP Cymru Wales FREE Information day and AGM , booking is open now.


Mandy Powell, CILIP Policy Officer, Wales

* For the record, I think I am most like Terry Jones.

CILIP AGM, Birmingham Library

Left to right: Stephen Gregory CDG Wales, Mandy Powell CILIP,
Dot Higham and Thomas Allen

On Saturday the CILIP AGM was held at the beautiful new Birmingham Library.
160 members attended, including members from Wales, around 900 sent in proxy votes.
The AGM was lively and there was a lot of debate.

Members voted:

• Against changing the organisation name to Information & Library Professionals UK (356 members for, 644 members against, 22 abstained).

• In favour of the proposed subscriptions for 2014 (778 members for, 128 members against, 64 abstained).

• In favour of the motion expressing ‘no confidence’ in Ed Vaizey MP (669 members for, 200 members against, 103 abstained).

CILIP Cymru Wales invited members to apply for free travel to attend the AGM and names were picked out of a hat.

One of the lucky ones, Dot Higham, Library Assistant, Holywell Library, tells us her impressions of the day...


What a day! Attending my first CILIP AGM in the brand new Birmingham Library! 
The  AGM was interesting in that the controversial renaming of CILIP as ILPUK was being voted on. 
The reaction from the attendees was in the main, quite hostile, resulting in the vote not being carried. (a moment of drama just before the vote - a fire alarm! Everyone had to leave the building.) There was also a lively discussion of the proposed membership fees for 2014  but a majority voted in favour. The greatest implication of this will be for students as joining will be free from next year. The hope is to attract more members to CILIP without the need for a more expensive recruitment campaign. 

In my opinion, the opening of this iconic new library could not have been better planned. It occupies a place next door to Symphony Hall and other worthy, timeless buildings, validating the presence of a library right in their midst. What better symbol of all that is good about libraries and worthy of protection. 


Another lucky name out of the hat was that of Thomas Allen, who works at Swansea Central Public Library.
Thomas is working towards Chartership and this is what he had to say about the day...


The CILIP AGM of 2013 was certainly an interesting one for an AGM virgin such as myself.  The preconceptions that this would be a very dry and brief affair couldn't have been further from the truth.  Probably on a personal note it became quite exciting from the moment I saw the non-avatar version of library luminaries such as Phil Bradley, Annie Mauger etc.  
The new Library of Birmingham also gave the meeting something extra too (although I did feel sorry for the empty old central library that seemed much like Woody to Buzz a la Toy Story 1) with it's Shakespeare room, gardens  vintage SF craft event and glass elevator that brings to mind a strangely appropriate Roald Dahl book.  
The meeting itself really picked up and impressed when it came to the speeches by the fellowship awardees.  Particularly poignant points were made; especially how the recent Hillsborough result showed the power of information.  However, what I was truly happy to take away from the AGM was the passion expressed in the questions that were put by the audience.  
This certainly makes me want to be part of the profession more than I did before. 

You can read more about Thomas on his Chartership blog.

Birmingham library in pictures.

The impressive new library of Birmingham was designed by Dutch architects Mecanoo and includes 10 floors, covering 31,00 square metres, making it one of the largest public libraries in the world.

Here is a short slide show of photos I took on the day, but you can learn more about the library here.

Mandy Powell
CILIP Policy Officer, Wales

Youth Libraries Group Wales CILIP Carnegie & Kate Greenaway Awards Day 2013

Meet Gill Lewis, author Of Sky Hawk & Moon Bear

• Friday 18th October 2013

• Civic Centre, Swansea

• Free event with refreshments throughout the day.

• All staff providing services to children & young people are welcome to attend.

Short lists for the awards discussion & further details from angelanoble@monmouthshire.gov.uk

http://www.cilip.org.uk/youth-libraries-group/youth-libraries-group-committees/regional-committees/wales-0

Opportunity to attend the CILIP AGM at the new library in Birmingham.

CILIP Cymru Wales are offering the chance to three members from Wales to attend the CILIP AGM. 

CILIP Cymru Wales will cover the cost of your travel (train / coach ticket); in return you will be asked to write a short report of your experience to be published on the CILIP Cymru Wales blog.
Ideally, we would like one representative from public libraries, one from academic libraries and one from other libraries.

If you would like to be considered for a free place please e-mail 
mandy.powell@cilip.org.uk using the subject line CILIP AGM and stating the approximate cost of your travel.

Offer closes 28th August 2013

CILIP Annual General Meeting Saturday 21st September 2013
Registration 10.30am
10.30 Registration
11.00 AGM commences
13.00 Lunch*
*please note timings may vary depending on length of AGM

Address: Library of Birmingham Centenary Square, Broad Street B1 2ND Birmingham, BIR United Kingdom

For more information about the AGM please visit the CILIP website http://www.cilip.org.uk/cilip/events/cilip-agm-2013   


Cyfle i fynychu Cyfarfod Cyffredinol Blynyddol Sefydliad Siartredig y Gweithwyr Llyfrgell a Gwybodaeth Proffesiynol (CILIP) yn y llyfrgell newydd yn Birmingham.
Mae CILIP Cymru yn cynnig y cyfle i dri aelod o Gymru fynychu Cyfarfod Cyffredinol Blynyddol CILIP. Bydd CILIP Cymru yn talu eich costau teithio (tocyn trên / bws); yn sgil hynny, gofynnir i chi ysgrifennu adroddiad byr ar eich profiad i’w gyhoeddi ar flog CILIP Cymru.

Yn ddelfrydol, hoffem gael un cynrychiolydd o lyfrgell gyhoeddus, un o lyfrgell academaidd ac un o lyfrgell o fath arall.
Os hoffech gael eich ystyried i fynychu’n ddi-dâl anfonwch e-bost at 
mandy.powell@cilip.org.uk gan roi CILIP AGM fel testun a nodi amcan bris eich costau teithio.

Mae’r cynnig yn cau ar 28 Awst 2013
Cyfarfod Cyffredinol Blynyddol CILIP Dydd Sadwrn 21 Medi 2013

10.30 Cofrestru
11.00 Cychwyn y Cyfarfod Cyffredinol Blynyddol
13.00 Cinio*
*nodwch y gall yr amserau newid yn dibynnu ar hyd y Cyfarfod Cyffredinol Blynyddol Cyfeiriad:
Library of Birmingham Centenary Square, Broad Street B1 2ND Birmingham,
BIR Y Deyrnas Unedig I gael rhagor o wybodaeth am y Cyfarfod Cyffredinol Blynyddol, ewch i wefan CILIP http://www.cilip.org.uk/cilip/events/cilip-agm-2013 

Newbridge Library has a new home!



Manic Street Preachers star James Dean Bradfield unveiles restored Newbridge library.

Newbridge Library has a new home, having recently been relocated into the Newbridge Memorial Hall and Institute in the heart of the town centre as part of a wider £5.6million EU-backed restoration project.

The unique and impressive facility is twice the size of the former building, and offers a variety of enhanced services for residents. The cash office service, previously on Newbridge High Street has also been relocated into the building, with additional opening hours to meet the needs of residents.

Caerphilly County Borough Council has supported this important initiative with £170,000 of funding to furnish the new library, introduce self service and security technology, wireless access and also contributed to the physical conversion cost. The library and cash office service will be an important long-term tenant within the Grade II-listed Institute building.

Cllr Rhianon Passmore, Cabinet Member for Education and Lifelong Learning said,

"It is an absolute pleasure to see this much enhanced library facility in such a truly iconic setting – bringing a contemporary dimension to this fantastic listed building renovation".

"We continue to make significant investments in library provision and enhancement works at libraries across our county borough, so it is especially pleasing to note that this facility is already proving popular among our residents, with a near doubling of the number of people already through the doors compared to the former facility".

She added, "This statement facility will be one which the community will be able to enjoy for many years to come, and is an excellent example of what can be achieved when the council and local groups such as the dedicated Memo and Institute trustees come together to achieve a collective ambition".



James Dean Bradfield - unveiling plaque to library

The library facility, unveiled earlier this week by Manic Street Preachers star James Dean Bradfield, offers a wide range of improved facilities including:

• Dedicated spaces for children, young people, adults and learners
• A wide collection of books and other resources
• 17 free public access computers
• Free wireless Internet access throughout
• A self service kiosk and security system
• Event and meeting space, suitable for author events, talks and story-times
• Fax, photocopying and printing services

Also located within the newly reopened Institute building are multi-purpose community rooms, including a function room, meeting rooms and a Royal Air Force Association office. A striking new glass extension links the Institute with the Memo, and provides a new main entrance to the complex, as well as a new staff office, new WC’s and two passenger lifts.

The relocation of the library and cash office into this facility forms a key part of Caerphilly County Borough Council’s wider £12 million EU-backed regeneration works in Newbridge town centre.
For further information on library facilities across Caerphilly county borough, please visit www.caerphilly.gov.uk

Sent to us by
Gareth Evans
Interim Manager Community Education (Libraries and Community Centres)
Caerphilly County Borough Council

CILIP Umbrella 2013 Conference, Manchester, 2-3 July.

I was fortunate enough to attend the CILIP Umbrella 2013 conference in Manchester, 2-3 July.
The two day event was attended by 600 delegates and there was a lot for us to take in. The packed programme was divided into four areas of interest

• Future Skills and Future Roles
• Information to Best Support Society
• Beyond Information Matters
• Partnerships for Progress

There was so much on offer that I can only give you a glimpse in the space I have here, but you can view the whole lot on the Umbrella web pages.

Roly Keating, Chief Executive, The British Library gave a keynote on the first day entitled Born digital? The British Library at 40. We were given a history of the organisation and heard how developments at the library had lead to a need to change the organisational structure, with a Chief Digital Officer and Chief Executive at its centre.
Surprisingly, only 1% of the Library’s enormous collection is digitized, and this is the reason why they have partnered with organisations like Google: the British Library could not afford to undertake wide scale digitization on its own.

Enterprising Libraries

Keating announced The Enterprising Libraries programme, a partnership between Arts Council England, the British Library and the Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG). The aim is to “fund a number of projects in which libraries will use their role as community hubs to spark local economic growth and improve social mobility in communities across the country.”
You can find out more here


#uklibchat: instant ideas and collaboration + access to knowledge
Ka-Ming Pang, Online Support Librarian, St George’s University of London. @agentk23

#uklibchat runs regular discussions on library and information topics using tweets.
For those of you that already follow the discussions, you’ll know this is a useful way of keeping up to date with developments in the profession, as well as a way of contributing your own ideas.

Check out the website for more info http://uklibchat.wordpress.com/

Create the job you want!

Janice LaChance, CEO, Special Libraries Association International gave the keynote speech on the second day of the conference. Without the use of slides or video, Janice thrilled the audience with her tales of working at the White House as part of Bill’s Clinton’s inner circle...she has flown on Air Force One (respect).
The theme of Janice’s speech was reinvention, she explained how she trained and qualified as a lawyer, and is incredibly proud of her degree, but she has never practised because her career took off in other directions.
The lesson Janice urged us to take from her experiences is that we, as library and information professionals, should not let our careers be defined by titles. We were encouraged to look for the jobs we want, in what Janice acknowledged as increasingly difficult times, by thinking about the skills we have and applying them to the needs of organisations.

 ‘If you think of yourself in terms of your degree or job title it will limit your opportunities.’ said Janice. ‘Align your role with the organisation and specifically with the senior executives. Look at the organisation’s needs and weaknesses and look at leaders’ goals. If you adopt this mindset you will become more integral to the success of the organisation, not just your team or department.’

Janice argued that the jobs of the future will not necessarily be in a traditional library setting, she suggested the profession needs to look at how skills can be transferred and used in the wider world. As library and information profession, we need to show potential employers what our skills will bring to a role and how we will contribute to the success of their organisation.
She added that employers also have a responsibility to change the way they recruit, to focus on ability and potential rather than experience.

Janice ended her speech with three pieces of advice

1.  Look for opportunity where you wouldn’t normally look.
2.  Take risks that stretch your abilities.
3.  Believe you can make a difference, not just a living.

Avoiding information overload

Gary Green, Technical Librarian, Surrey County Council Library Service gave a great session on the benefits and drawbacks of automated information feeds. Gary talked us through using a tool like If That Then This (IFTT) www.ifttt.com, which can connect over 60 online & messaging services and automatically feed information/data between channels.

I found this an especially helpful session because having just returned to work after 8 months, there is a lot to catch up with and there are so many channels of information, there is a danger of ‘Information overload’ . However, Gary gave suggestions for managing news feeds and avoiding bombarding people with too much information.
If you want to learn more, check out the link

An inspiring partnership

The session I found the most inspiring was called Is it a bird? Is it a plane? No, it’s a librarian! from Victoria Treadway, Clinical Librarian, Wirral University Teaching Hospital NHS Foundation Trust & Dr Girendra Sadera, Consultant, Critical Care and Anaesthesia, Wirral University Teaching Hospital NHS Foundation Trust.

Victoria showed us how, as a clinical librarian working in a library setting, she developed the role with the help and support of Dr  Sadera, to become a part of the critical care team in a busy hospital.
As  clinical librarian, Vitoria provides information to the critical care staff about patient health. Previously Victoria would have to return to the library to carry our information searches.

However, together she and Dr Sadera planned a 10 month pilot project, where she became part of the critical care team, actually taking part in the health assessment rounds on the ward, and with the use of a portable devise, was able to search for health information there and then.
The information Victoria searches for can determine the treatment of a patient, for example, if information about a drug or particular form of treatment is found, the health care team can make use of it straight away to inform the way they care for an individual on the ward.

It was a truly inspirational presentation because it showed the very real benefits of having an information specialist as part of a wider team.
There was much more to the session than I have space to describe, so please do have a look at the project and find out more.
I am always keen to encourage librarians to gather and use facts and figures to make their case, to prove their worth and this is an excellent example.
http://www.whnt.nhs.uk/hrod/development/library_services/services/clinical_librarian_service.html



Mandy Powell, CILIP Policy Officer, Wales