IN DEPTH
Meet the new President
Sue Williamson is CILIP’s new President, having taken over from John Trevor Allen. Here, the former Director Libraries, Arts Council England explains her priorities for the year ahead.
I AM thrilled to be taking up the position of CILIP President when we are focus- sing so strongly on engagement and anticipating a year which could be filled with change.
We live in turbulent times both at home and abroad, probably some of the most volatile in my lifetime. I find this exciting, because change always brings opportunity and because I genu- inely believe that libraries have a crucial role to play in helping people navigate the complexi- ties of 21st Century life.
I’ve been a library user all my life. As an only child growing up in the North West and frequently confined indoors because of the weather, they opened the world for me. They fostered a lifelong love of reading, of history and of culture. When my husband was in the RAF, on a new posting, joining the library was third on my list after sorting out doctors and dentists.
I’ve also worked in and for public libraries for nearly 25 years, starting as a relief library assis- tant in Scotland, then working for Cambridge- shire Libraries in a variety of roles, from Senior Library Assistant to Operations Manager. In 2013, I moved to St Helens as Head of Library Services and finished my working career as Director: Libraries for Arts Council England, a post I held for nearly five years, before retiring in November 2022.
My passion for libraries has diminished not one jot: they are for me, my places of comfort
January-February 2024
Sue Williamson is President of CILIP.
and the people who work in them are a vital part of that feeling.
But public libraries are just one cog in the wheel of the library sector and the opportuni- ties for partnership across the sector are better now than they have ever been: partnerships with health, with digital organisations, with school libraries, with the national library, with academia and with private libraries and chari- ties operating in complementary spheres. I also feel strongly that the skills and compe- tences that library staff exhibit daily have never been more visible nor frankly more necessary. Their professional skills can help us navigate the minefield of fake news, the complexity of the swiftly changing digital landscape and the opportunity for online education, such a growing market. Let’s not forget that public libraries were originally seen as “the university for the poor”! When one in four adults struggle
INFORMATION PROFESSIONAL 13
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
