curious, and I want to learn more. “In order to be involved, you have to be willing to not be an expert. I think it is useful to start in a position where you don’t know everything and to be com- fortable with that position of learning. “Looking back, taking on those different things probably has been helpful – developing my knowledge, my networks and understanding, and crit- ically, seeing how my work in libraries intersect with all these other organisa- tions. It can be hard to look in and see those connections, but I have developed a view of how all these organisations support quality of life for people and communities.” Now at the National Library of Scotland, Amina continues to see and use those connections. One of the key drivers of her time at the library will be to look at how collections can both be more representative and more accessible. The solution lies, to a large extent, in connections – either utilising existing connections, or forging new ones. Amina says that the library’s five-year strategy, Reaching People, looks at how the library can “open its doors even wider”. The strategy is halfway through its life, and despite being written in 2019, it has some prescient points that chime with events that have developed since it was launched in 2020. Amina says: “It was just before Black Lives Matter and just before Covid. All those things that have happened have really shone a light on the importance of these issues for the library. “When we talk about collecting memo- ries and preserving memories and sharing memories, we need to ask ourselves some really hard questions about whose memories. What is our role as the gate- keepers to those stories and memories, and how do we become more porous as
March 2023
Amina Shah.
an organisation. How do we let more in, and let more out?
“How do we let our buildings breath, and let our stories breath? How do we make sure we are fit for the future, relevant for the future and have a role in the future.”
It is not a unique problem for Scotland, and Amina says that all national library directors are thinking about these types of issues. She points to Canada and Estonia as having embraced cultural change in an inspiring way, and says: “We all need to look at how we build connections, how our institutions become a bridge between people and the collections that they (the public) own.
“Institutions sometimes talk about ‘our collections’, and protecting those collections as though they belong to the institution. That is always an important role, but what we should focus on more is how do we build relationships with communities – and make sure collections are for and of those communities.”
One answer is obvious, if not always easy: “You need to go where people are.” Amina goes on: “We have that opportu- nity through the public library network,
but we also need to do it through raising public consciousness by sharing our collections through the media; working with other organisations to reach peo- ple; making sure people understand our collections. We need to find ways to put resources into the hands of teachers, students and families who are in those communities.”
There is a burden of history on many institutions – not only in how collections have been created, but also in how they are accessed. Amina says: “We need to think carefully about the buildings, be- cause they can be intimidating to people. We used to talk about hard-to-reach people and communities, but now we are realising that we have hard-to-reach institutions. Historically, it is the institu- tion that is putting up the barriers – our building was built in such a way as to keep the books in and the people out, and that is a huge challenge for us.
“Something that I, and lots of my col- leagues, would dearly love to address is how do we open the doors and become much more welcoming to everyone. I love what they have done with Oodi in Helsinki, which is that living room for the
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