NEWS FEATURE Trust libraries


A general election is just round the corner and its outcome will affect us all, with a new government and potentially hundreds of new MPs taking their place in the House of Commons. This presents an opportunity to engage and place librarians, information professionals and knowledge managers at the heart of positive change. Here, Rob Green looks at CILIP’s initial election response and what it means for the future.


CILIP’s public affairs work is an important, if often unseen strand of its work – whether that is as part of a wider alliance of like-minded organisations or through CILIP’s own direct advocacy. The goals are simple – to be part of the con- versation, and to influence policy and positive change for the whole library, information and knowl- edge sector, so it can better serve its users. And while those goals are clear, the process is never straightforward with CILIP just one voice among many. There are other pressures in play as well – for every library advocate, there will be an alternate view that looks at the bottom line and the money that can be “saved” if a library is cut back or closed, often without an appreciation of the difference highly skilled profes- sionals can make. Of course, things are not clear cut and while a public library closure will wipe some spending from a council budget, it will have serious implications for the communities it services. These conversations are not just taking place in the public library sector, but are being repeated in dif- ferent forms across all sectors where money is tight, including prisons, universities, colleges, and schools.


Showing our strengths


So instead of telling people how good their library, information or knowledge management service is – we have to demonstrate it in persuasive ways. This means highlighting the benefits – both the ones that can be counted on a spreadsheet as well as the less tangible impacts. And while some of these are easy to demonstrate, many are not. How do you count the impact of a weekly home visit to an isolated and vulnerable individual? How can you put a value on an early intervention to


12 INFORMATION PROFESSIONAL


coming. We’re planning a Parliamen- tary event later in the year to showcase those stories of impact.”


Building trust


signpost someone to a mental health service? Even in services that are used to gathering data and evidence, there is still a disconnect when it comes to measuring impact.


One way to move beyond that discon- nect is by sharing successes, and that is why CILIP launched its Libraries Change Lives initiative so that services can add their own stories of impact. Services from across the UK are invited to take part by visiting www.cilip.org.uk/ libraries-change-lives and submitting their own case study. These will all add to the evidence base to demonstrate how service are changing lives – not just for the election period, but well beyond. CILIP Chief Executive Louis Coiffait-


Gunn said: “The election is just the start, of all those who end up being elected to Parliament on the 4 July many will be brand new to Westmin- ster and new to the wonderful world of knowledge and information profession- als, including the wide range of positive impacts this profession delivers. Our job will be to find advocates across political parties and government, to show how the sector can help them achieve benefits for the public, in line with our world-leading Charter. “You only have to look at the Librar- ies Change Lives case studies to get a flavour of that, do please keep them


One of the key messages from CILIP is that library, knowledge and infor- mation professionals are already part of the solution. Looking across all the major parties’ manifestos, we can see so many areas where CILIP’s members are either directly involved in delivery or part of the wider support infrastruc- ture, and many library and informa- tion services are perfectly placed to help transform those political aims into reality.


CILIP is calling on any new govern- ment to “Trust libraries to deliver…” through its election pledge. This pledge identifies 10 areas where you and your services can support policy develop- ment and delivery.


Louis says: “The ten areas that this sector can be trusted to deliver may feel like ‘no-brainers’ to those of us who are familiar. But we can’t assume any prior knowledge or interest, many MPs elected on 4 July won’t know anything about us, so the onus is on us to make the case in an engaging and compelling way. We need to show the impact we’re already having, as well as what we could achieve with proper investment and support. That should speak to the next government’s prior- ities and the issues the public really cares about. It’s a crowded space, but we should be confident in the story we have to tell. Successive generations love libraries and for a wide range of reasons, that’s a great place to start from.”


There are also plenty of simple ways that you can get involved in the ongoing campaign and help raise the profile of your library service. Simply visit www. cilip.org.uk/election24.


June 2024


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