December 2020 www.cilip.org.uk/infopro


Published by CILIP. Printed in Great Britain by Manson, St Albans, Hertfordshire.


Nick Poole Chief Executive nick.poole@cilip.org.uk @NickPoole1


magazine recently asked me to comment on ‘What 2021 has in store for librarians’. On the face of it, it’s an impossible question. Between the pandemic and the nail-biting conclusion of the Brexit saga, it is hard to see beyond the immediacy of our current political and public health challenges. But beyond the headlines, there are some funda- mentals that should give our profession real cause for optimism. People are reading. Across all ages and demographics, for pleasure, work and learning, in all genres and formats, readership is thriving. We see it in the huge increases in book clubs across the nation, the surge in electronic lending in libraries and the strong sales figures reported by publishers and retailers.


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We continue to see an extraordinary flowering of creativity and imagina- tion in publishing, particularly for children and young people. The sheer range and scope of children’s books and illustration – celebrated in this year’s nominations for the Carnegie Greenaway Awards and the pages of Pen & Inc. magazine – speaks to a new generation hungry for ideas. The past year has seen an increasing recognition of the vital role of school and college librarians in ensuring that their learners have a strong foundation in information literacy, critical thinking and digital skills. There is even a burgeoning recognition that access to a public library is a question of social justice rather than just local politics. That ‘information poverty’ is a real threat in our world, which librarians and information professionals are ideally-placed to tackle.


Every organisation I speak to, in every sector – whether public, private or 3rd sector – is stepping up to its responsibility to correct the injustices of the past and to create a more equitable and inclusive society which recognises and prizes diversity as a strength. And many of those organisations are increasingly alive to the opportuni- ties to harness knowledge, information and data to achieve more. I have spoken to senior leaders who have come to recognise that Knowl- edge Management holds the key to unlocking the intellectual and social capital of their teams. I have seen Information Management recognised as the bedrock of accountability, compliance and good practice. Everywhere I look, people are looking ahead to the opportunity to har- ness data to make better choices. I was proud to lead CILIP’s response to the Government’s National Data Strategy this month, arguing for a ‘benign data-driven economy’ which places the rights of the informed and empowered citizen at its heart.


So the honest answer is that I don’t know what 2021 has in store for our profession. I am sure there will be challenges and frustrations along the way. But I do look back on 2020 and see a year that marked a turn- ing point in the recognition of the value of our profession. Whatever lies ahead, I can’t imagine a better place to start from than that. Wishing you a very Merry Christmas!


Nick Poole, Chief Executive, CILIP


Editor-in-Chief: Rob Green rob.green@cilip.org.uk Senior Reporter: Rob Mackinlay rob.mackinlay@cilip.org.uk


Production/Design Editor: Richard Gibbons richard.gibbons@cilip.org.uk


Advertising Manager: Angela Krzyzanowska angela.krzyzanowska@cilip.org.uk


Honorary Book Reviews Editor: Diana Dixon diana.dixon@cilip.org.uk


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Publication dates


Publication and copy dates for the next three issues of Information Professional are:


Jan/Feb 2021: published 4 Feb. Features: 19 December. News by 7 January 2021.


March 2021: published 18 March. Features: 11 February. News by 25 February 2021.


Apr/May 2021: published 6 May. Features: 29 March February. News by 15 April 2021.


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December 2020


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