IN DEPTH
Still time to book for CILIPS Conference – Reinvigorate and Renew
THE CILIPS Conference returns on 7 and 8 June 2021 and President Cleo Jones will host two days of keynotes, workshops, and talks on the theme of Reinvigorate and Renew: Emerging into a better, brighter, new world. Once again, due to the restrictions we are all living under the event is once again taking place by Zoom – bookings are still open and will remain open until 28 May.
THIS two-day event is the largest conference in Scotland for library and information pro- fessionals, bringing together colleagues from across the country and beyond to share knowl- edge and engage in professional development. This year the programme is both cross-sectoral and due to the online nature of the event should appeal to delegates from across the UK and beyond.
Day one of this year’s programme features talks on Archives and Activism, decolonising collections, the future of public libraries post-pandemic, school librar- ies during Covid, creating a rocking online presence as well as the day being opened by CILIP CEO Nick Poole talking about the key priorities for the library and information profession and award winning author Kerry Hudson talking about the value of librarians. Day two will feature an overview of the new National Strategy for Public Libraries (being released later in 2021), digital disinformation and politics, the impor- tance of literacy and access to information in engaging people around environmental issues, Systemic barriers and inclusivity in literature programming, librarians and REF, Glasgow Women’s Library, Health Librarians Add Value, School Libraries and Role-Playing Games and The RIVAL project (
https://lisrival.com). We also have the incredible bonus of Dr John Scally, the retiring National Librarian and Chief Executive of the National Library of Scotland reflecting on the past and future of the profession.
Information Professional features two interviews with speakers at this year’s conference, Bridget McKenzie who is looking at how libraries and other cultural institutions can work towards a sustainable future, and Barry Houlihan who will be talking about his involvement with a living archive for survivors of
34 INFORMATION PROFESSIONAL
the Tuam Mother and Baby Home scandal in County Galway, Ireland.
Bridget points to the Culture Declares Emergency movement as a way of empowering people to act to protect the environment, adding: “Libraries matter because they’re present and ‘everyday’. While hyper- local they’re also well networked to local governments and academic institutions and to the library profession as a whole. It would be great to see the emergence of a group called Libraries Declare to join the ‘ecology of declarers’ forming alongside Culture Declares Emer- gency.”
You can read the full interview on the opposite page. Barry Houlihan has been instrumental in document- ing the stories of survivors from the Tuam Mother and Baby Home in a living archive. Local historian Catherine Corless uncovered a scandal at the home that saw almost 800 children buried on the site without proper burial records. Barry worked with Catherine and some of the survivors from the home to give their stories a permanent place in the archives of the National Uni- versity of Ireland, Galway.
He says: “The project has been a truly unique experi- ence. It can only exist through the openness and trust of survivors in giving us their personal testimony to preserve and make accessible online. For generations, the state have ignored their requests for help and for access to personal records. Recent State enquiries and mismanagement of records has not helped. That is why the support of survivors for this partnership with NUI Galway has been so rewarding.”
Read the full interview with Dr Houlihan on pp. 46-48. The conference is open to anyone, not just those living and working in Scotland. To view the full pro- gramme and book a place (it is only £60 for the full event) go to
http://bit.ly/CILIPS2021 IP
April-May 2021
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60
