‘‘ C
hanging Lives is CILIP’s commitment to promote the role of librarians, information and knowledge workers
in social justice, sustainable development and improving the lives of users.
The campaign was launched last October with the publication of our Changing Lives Position Paper that sets out CILIP’s declaration on behalf of librarians, information and knowledge workers to tackle some of society’s most urgent challenges. Working in collaboration with CILIP’s Community, Diversity and Equality Group (CDEG) and Diversity Networks, the paper outlines CILIP’s plan to become an ‘activist organisation’ through proactive advocacy and the promotion of inclusive, participatory and socially engaged knowledge and information services. The paper identifies six priority areas: l Equality and equity for marginalised groups
l Equality of opportunity, irrespective of class or socio-economic status
l Overcoming the impact of poverty
l Opposing prejudice, unconscious bias, discrimination & hate speech
l Rebalancing structural inequality in collections and services l Addressing Climate Change
How we got here
Changing Lives has its roots in an Equalities Summit held at CILIP in 2012, which established both a clear need and an opportunity for CILIP to demonstrate leadership around equalities, diversity, inclusion and social justice. In 2015, in partnership with the Archives and Records Association (UK & Ireland), we commissioned a Workforce Mapping survey that provided evidence to support targeted work to open-up and diversify the library, information and knowledge workforce (
www.cilip.org. uk/page/workforcemapping). Securing the Future, CILIP’s 2016-2020 strategic plan, identified ‘Diversity and Equality’ as the first ‘enabler’ to underpin all of our work. Our 2017 Diversity and Equality Action Plan, and Board and
March 2020 Why now?
Whilst we have made progress, there have been a number of significant developments in the eight years since our Equalities Summit that have created a new dynamic for change. Society has become increasingly polarised, with ideas of social justice, social cohesion and human rights coming under assault. We have seen the impact of fake news on our democracy, an increased incidence of hate speech and racially-motivated assault, and the rise of populist nationalist politics.
New data has thrown light on the issues of gender inequality and pay disparity in our sector. Socio-economic inequality and poverty continue to be a scourge, and the gap between rich and poor is widening. At the same time there has been a fundamental shift in discourse around ethnicity and power, and greater public engagement with the Climate Crisis. There is an increased expectation that organisations – and perhaps mission- based organisations like CILIP more than others – will be considering how best to use our influence to bring about positive change.
Get involved
We will use this regular column to engage with and inspire library, information and knowledge workers to build “everyday activism” into their work. We will profile people and projects that challenge inequality and help create a fair and just society. We will learn from and share best practice, celebrate successes and champion those who are driving change. We will also set out how, as a professional association, we will put
New data has thrown light on the issues of gender inequality and pay disparity in our sector.
Presidential Team ‘Declaration’ on Equalities and Diversity (https://bit. ly/2vtGbes), enabled us to make more progress. In 2018 our revitalised Ethical Framework included a primary and central commitment to diversity, equalities and social justice (
www.cilip.
org.uk/ethics), and our independently- chaired Carnegie and Kate Greenaway Awards Diversity Review, which makes 10 recommendations to ensure diversity and inclusion are central to the awards (
https://bit.ly/2wpt122).
Yvonne Morris (
yvonne.morris@
cilip.org.uk) is CILIP Policy Manager (Diversity and Inclusion).
Changing Lives into practice at the centre of all of CILIP’s work. We want to hear how your work is Changing Lives – whatever your sector background – from public, school, academic, health or corporate librarians, to knowledge managers, data scientists and beyond. Library and information workers from all sectors contribute to strong communities, promote inclusive economic growth and help create a fairer society.
You can submit a case study online
at
https://bit.ly/3av2oHUl or contact Yvonne at
yvonne.morris@
cilip.org.uk. We also want to encourage an open dialogue across the sector about the ideas and questions set out in the Changing Lives Position Paper (find questions for all library, information and knowledge professionals, members and non-members of CILIP, and questions for CILIP on p. 15 of the paper). Join in this conversation at #ChangingLives.
Changing Lives Awards We will be launching a new annual Changing Lives Awards to recognise and celebrate the power of libraries, knowledge and information to change lives. These awards will build on the 25 year legacy of CDEG’s CILIP Libraries Change Lives Award, which have recognised excellence and innovation in the sector and celebrated initiatives that have equality, diversity and social justice. The new awards will focus on the six priority areas identified in Changing Lives and winners will be announced at CILIP’s annual conference on 4 November. IP l Read the full commitment at
www.cilip.org.uk/changinglives
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