diversity for our collection because we get everything that is published. But how we tell the story about those things is where we can really benefit from working outside of the library sector. “We need to move beyond the idea of gatekeepers – people have felt respon- sible for collection development and protecting collections and have seen that as the primary role. We need to get to the point where we see that an essential part of being a librarian is about community engagement and reaching out to people. Engagement should be embedded in the collection development and the stories we tell about those collections.”
Leadership That notion of leading in a different way, doesn’t end with the way the institution interacts with its community. Amina is passionate about allowing different leadership styles to prosper. She warns that if we only recognise one style of leadership, then many capable leaders will either be ignored or feel unable to be authentic.
Amina says: “If we have an image of a leader being a really assertive older man, then that is probably what you are going to get. We should aspire to seeing leaders who can also be humble, be unsure, ask questions, be empathetic. If we don’t, then we aren’t going to make it a space for diverse leaders, not just women, but from all backgrounds. “If we don’t broaden our image of what a leader is then we make it hard for people in terms of authenticity and being allowed to be yourself. Why would someone want to become a leader if they can’t be authentic?”
For Amina, a more nuanced approach to leadership is about trying to give voice to the best talents in an organisation. She says: “Another hugely undervalued skill is the ability to see connections. For me, being a leader isn’t about being brilliant all the time, but it’s about making other people brilliant – whether its members of the commu- nity, members of your organisations, or partners, or stake holders. It’s not about the individual, it’s about everyone. “Sometimes it can take bravery to say ‘I don’t know the answer, what do you think?’, and to be open to other people’s ideas. You also need to be able to be inspiring, to give people hope and have a vision, but it is not always about being at the front of the charge.”
That notion of leadership being about more than a title, is something that Amina can see in the new generation of talent entering the profession. As CILIPS president in 2022, she was able to meet some of these “bright stars” and says:
March 2023
“We have a lot to be proud of and a lot to be hopeful for in the future. They seem to be driven by these strong values and ready to embrace change with sustainability, EDI, and decolonisation – they are a very impressive group of people. It makes me really proud to be part of the profession when I see what they are doing.”
Telling the right stories
Although Amina is optimistic that the next generation will ensure a bright future for the information profession, she warns that there are hard times ahead. “We cannot rest on our laurels because there are huge challenges coming up,” she says. “The issue at the moment is to reassert that libraries are an investment in communities – money for libraries is a preventative spend because we are part of the solution to all the other problems that we can see in society.”
Unfortunately, many key decision-mak- ers do not fully appreciate the value of libraries, with assumptions based on their childhoods, or student experiences. Amina says: “They look back at when they used them, but don’t see the reality today. If we can bring them in and show them round, then they start to get it. If you tell a councillor a story about somebody from their constituency and why the library was valuable to them, that gives them some- thing to be proud of and they start to tell that story.
“A lot of the advocacy is about storytell- ing, finding those stories and using them as a tool to show how important libraries are. That is not only true for public librar- ies – in academic libraries, for instance, the lecturers are not in that space so they don’t see that libraries are the places where students come to and spend time in. They sometimes don’t know the extent to which librarians are supporting them.
“We have to reflect those stories back to the people who are influencing decisions. As a profession we are quite good at talking to each other about how good we are, but we don’t often step outside and have con- versations with other unlikely partners.” The value of stories was clearly demon- strated when Amina was Chief Executive of SLIC (Scottish Library and Information Council), leading on the development of the first National Strategy for Public Libraries in Scotland. Amina was keen to share as many positive stories as possible – the end result is not just the adoption of a nationwide strategy, but also an additional £5m in funding to help ensure its success.
Amina says Scotland is an ideal place for those types of conversations to take place, describing it as a Goldilocks environment. She says: “We are just the right size for those conversations and collaborations to take place. We know each other, we know the stakeholders and we work closely together and across sectors. It makes it easier to make a clear case to politicians about what libraries are doing and what they can do for communities.” Wales and Northern Ireland are similar in size, but whether England can replicate that “Goldilocks environment” through more devolved power to the regions remains to be seen. But even where it does not happen at government level, more institutions are looking at local partnerships, closer ties with existing stakeholders and building connections.
These moves help to strengthen the profession and Amina reminds us that “if libraries didn’t exist, it would cost a huge amount of money to re-invent them. We should be nurturing them and showing them even more love in these times of difficulty.” IP
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