INSIGHT ‘‘ T
I never cease to be amazed by volunteer library member networks who are so creative and willing to organise events which deliver so much impact with very modest resources.
Carryl Allardice OBE is CILIP President.
President’s View Out and about
HE last few months have been a busy time attending a number of events across the library and information management sector. At the end of March I was very fortunate to attend the UK Serials Group conference in Glasgow where it was good to meet up with a number of colleagues in the very busy exhibition area.
I attended the launch of the well-attended Libraries Alliance held at the British Academy on 15 April, and the CILIP Supplier Showcase on 30 April at the Law Society in London where I enjoyed meeting with the many exhibitors and hearing how many are considering exhibiting at the International Federation of Library Association’s World Library and Congress in London in 2027.
Then on 7 May, the Government Information Group (GIG) held their annual Awards and AGM event and I had the privilege of speaking to GIG colleagues and also hearing Rebecca Dorsett, Chair of GIG, read out the nominations for Sarah Meyer from the Office of National Statistics who received the GIG Annual Award for 2025-2026, and the Lifetime Achievement Award which went to Margaret Gair, former Head of Library Services at the Scottish Government.
Conferences
I was fortunate to join the CILIP Cymru Wales conference held on a Saturday for the first time and online on 9 May. It was inspiring to hear from Dr David McMenemy, inaugural Chair of CILIP’s new Intellectual Freedom Committee and his colleague at the University of Glasgow, Dr Yvonne Eadon, who encouraged us to “Question Everything, Even Librarians?” One highlight was hearing about the Welsh Library Team of the Year Award Winners who were the Wrexham Library Services Team. I was particularly intrigued to learn about People’s Collection Wales which comprises user-generated content and how you can share your own photos, memories, and stories about Wales; an impressive initiative which I can’t wait to contribute to with some of my own family photographs as my mother’s side of the family are from North Wales. In mid-May I attended the annual IRMS (Information Records Management Society) Conference held at to the Celtic Manor Resort in Wales. In a jam-packed programme of multiple parallel sessions two in particular stood out – Rafah Knight’s keynote “How to leverage AI securely” and a masterclass for empowering information leaders led by
June-July 2026
Jacqueline Stockwell, whose book Blooming Good Information Management I’m currently reading and can highly recommend. One of the real pleasures of attending the IRMS conference was having the opportunity to meet up in person with so many colleagues from across Government whom I mainly get to meet online in GKIM meetings.
To celebrate 20 years of The Reading Agency’s Quick Reads programme I met the Quick Reads team on 18 May to hear about their UK-wide initiative designed to engage adults who don’t yet see themselves as readers. I was secretly delighted to be given a number of Quick Reads for my own daily commute, which I’m in the process of re-gifting as I read them.
At the beginning of June, it was a delight to attend the sold-out CILIP Scotland conference in Dundee where the theme this year was “Amplifying Impact”, and to join Shelagh Toonen, CILIP Scotland President 2026, in hosting the welcome drinks. I learned so much from the thought-provoking keynote speaker, Mairi Kidd, Chair of Literature Alliance Scotland, who spoke about “Reading the Room: thoughts on why literature and libraries matter – but that message isn’t getting where it needs to go”. I was also impressed by how well supported the conference was with many exhibitors. All in all a great conference programme – well done to Sean McNamara and team! I later travelled to Sheffield to join the Yorkshire and Humber Health Library Network (YOHHLNet) in person summer event and AGM and to talk about “Trusted professionals in a world of AI” and enjoyed playing “People Bingo”! Indeed I never cease to be amazed by volunteer library member networks who are so creative and willing to organise events which deliver so much impact with very modest resources. Well done everyone at YOHHLNet! IP
Carryl at the Leadership Through Data stand at the IRMS conference. INFORMATION PROFESSIONAL 15
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
