CILIP North West Member Network Blog

What was it like being a student rep? I started as a CILIP NW student rep in September 2017 alongside Helen Kiely and Kathryn Graham. When we started, the role was very flexible in terms of how much input we could put in. This worked in our favour because it meant we could really make the role our own. Throughout the year we helped organise two visits: to John Ryland’s Library and The Portico Library, as a result of feedback from a student needs survey we conducted. We also took turns to attend CILIP NW committee meetings throughout the year where I developed a better understanding of the internal workings of our professional body. What are the benefits of being a student rep? The committee is made up of LIS professionals from various sectors so it is a great way to learn about different types of libraries. It is empowering to be able to say how the network can support students and actually make this happen. It’s not as scary as you think because …t here’s loads of support from the

Name: Kathryn (@kakafrin) Briefly describe your role on the CILIP NW Committee:  I am one of the Student Representatives, acting as a channel of communication between the students on the Library and Information Management MA at Manchester Metropolitan and CILIP NW. My aim is to find out how CILIP NW can help library students and inform the students how CILIP can benefit them. Work : Library Assistant at a large NHS Trust Brief summary of work role/responsibilities :  As one of the six Library Assistants across the Trust’s three library sites I am responsible for a lot of the front-desk and patron-facing interaction within the library. I complete the day-to-day roles of issuing, returning, reservation fulfillment, inter-library loans, and general queries as well as assisting with reclassification and wedding of the stock and helping to administer OpenAthens accounts for the whole of the North of England. I also regularly update our 1300+ followers on Twitter and actively comp

In order to increase my knowledge of the wider profession I recently attended a tour of the British Library alongside seven other Library and Information Professionals from the North of England. Our tour guide for the afternoon was the friendly and informative Chris. Chris started the tour by introducing us to the history of the building at St Pancras. We were told that when the Library was constructed it was the largest public building project in the 20th century and it took over 30 years to reach completion. It was designed by architect Sir Colin St John Wilson and has a number of nautical features such as port hole shaped windows.  The collection The visual centre piece of the Library is the King’s Library Tower. The 85,000 books displayed in the six-storey glass tower formed King George III’s personal collection. The collection can be used by readers and whilst we were visiting we saw one of the Library staff retrieving a book via the internal lift and retracta