Sarah Simpson.
(Unless I crowd surfed to the exit). But hearing another speaker admit they felt terrified too helped me. I was sharing the stage with two other new speakers – Deborah Varenna, Direc- torate Co-Ordinator of the Disclosure and Barring service and Marlène Rak, Subject Support Librarian, University of the West of England (UWE). Both were brilliant speakers who gave very inter- esting and different talks. (I wish I’d taken notes!) Marlène highlighted the progress UWE has made implementing inclusive practice into their library offer and diversifying their collections. Debo- rah gave a powerful talk about juggling the commitments of work, professional networks and advocacy plus the holy grail of ‘work life balance’ when librar- ians have ever increasing workloads. Then it was my turn to speak. Despite my nerves I seemed to get through it OK (at least I didn’t have crowd surf!) and our talks seem to generate a lot of questions from the audience (always a good sign!)
One question in particular – from an audience member asking about ways staff in remote working roles can get support for their well-being – seemed to open up the floor to a general dis-
July-August 2023
cussion about the importance of men- tal health. Perhaps in an increasingly uncertain, post-pandemic working world open discussion about mental health challenges particularly resonate. John Vincent discussed how much he wel- comes this change in workplace culture. John remembered (as I do) how in the 1990s’ workplace, poor mental health was a ‘secret shame’ often perceived as ‘weakness’ to admit to. The stigma was huge. Nowadays both mental health and well-being support seem part and parcel of an enlightened workplace – and rightly so.
Once the questions had finished, every- one headed off for refreshments whilst John, Deborah, Marlène and myself stayed on stage (and a few people came up to ask more questions!). I mentioned to Marlène I was pleased to meet a fellow subject librarian as a speaker – I had been worried that not being a manager meant I wouldn’t be seen by the audience as an authentic ‘leader.’
“But maybe leadership is not so much about management as how we lead in our roles?” Marlène suggested to me. What- ever that role may be? Leadership is about much more than a job title.” And I realised Marlène was absolutely right. Leadership is also about the prob- lem solving and new ideas we bring to our daily workplace challenges. And as librar-
INFORMATION PROFESSIONAL DIGITAL 29
ians, we are brilliant at doing this. So, if – like me – you don’t see yourself as the sort of person who’d ever speak at a conference, I’d recommend being a new speaker. Even without a management title you have the force. You’re a thought leader. (Which sounds a little ‘Star Wars’, so maybe best I stick with ‘librarian’). Come and speak at CILIP. You’ll be great. You’ll be terrified. I was. We can be terrified together. You’ll have something important to say. IP
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