2019 CILIP Conference by Julie Burrell, CILIP North West Bursary Winner

Recently, I was lucky enough to attend this year’s CILIP conference, thanks to a bursary from the CILIP NW Member Network. 

As a recently qualified library professional, who’d never attended a conference before, the CILIP conference seemed the perfect place to start, especially as it was being held just down the road at Manchester University. So I submitted a short bursary application form, kept my fingers crossed and was delighted to receive an email a few days later telling me I’d been awarded a place at the conference! I was so excited and couldn’t wait to get stuck in. Fast forward to the morning of 3rd July…

The excitement was now mixed with a healthy dose of apprehension. What if I didn’t know anyone else there? Was I wearing the right clothes? The questions went round and round in my head but luckily, all of my fears were allayed as soon as I stepped inside University Place. I instantly spotted a couple of work colleagues, and soon met up with a couple of other familiar faces too. I was greeted with a warm welcome at the registration desk and was relieved to see a wide range of outfits on display amongst the other delegates! So, now on with the conference! It was such a jam-packed 2 days that there’s no way I can discuss everything, so I just wanted to pull out a few of my highlights:

Day 1

Kriti Sharma

Kriti delivered the opening keynote, which posed the question “Can AI create a fairer world?” Her talk explained how a lack of diversity in AI and machine learning leads to the development of biased algorithms that have a negative impact on our social fabric. She spoke passionately about the potential AI has to create a more positive impact on society, and reminded us that how the next decade looks depends on the systems that are created now. This speech was both funny and interesting – the perfect way to start the day!

Media and information literacy panel

I am currently developing a digital identity and well-being workshop with a colleague, so this session was a perfect fit for me. It was great to hear from speakers who were actively involved in projects in this area, and I especially enjoyed Sangeet Bhullar’s presentation on promoting digital literacy and wellbeing for children and young people, which left me with a lot of food for thought.

Slide from Sangeet Bhullar's presentation

Day 2

Shirley Yearwood-Jackman

Diversity was one of the overriding themes of this year’s conference and it was again evident in Shirley’s breakfast seminar about the BAME network and Allies forum. This was another thought-provoking session, which really challenged me to consider my power and privilege as a member of a dominant group, and think about ways in which I could use this to promote the rights of non-dominant/marginalised groups. I’ve since signed up to the Allies forum as a result of attending the seminar, and I’m really keen to hear more from them and the BAME network in the future.

CILIP Leaders Network

Whilst not currently in a leadership role, I went along to this series of lightning talks in the hope of picking up some useful career tips. And it certainly didn’t disappoint. Although the speakers were a diverse bunch who worked in a variety of sectors, a number of common themes emerged; the importance of establishing a work-life balance, self-reflection and engaging with CPD were just three of the things I took away with me. I’m also determined to take part in more peer observation and see if I can seek out a mentor too.

Higher Education Developments seminar

As I currently work in a university library, this seminar seemed like an obvious choice. The talks covered topics including the new Knowledge Exchange Framework (KEF) and Open Access publishing, with the most relevant from my personal point of view being Ann Rossiter’s talk on challenge, creativity and drivers for transformation. Ann addressed each challenge in turn, before closing with eight predictions for the university library of the future. As someone who is right at the start of their career, it will be interesting to see which if any of these come to pass over time.

To sum it all up, I had a fantastic time at CILIP 2019. I feel lucky to have listened to so many amazing speakers who were passionate about making libraries work better for users and staff alike. I definitely feel that I did a lot of learning over the 2 days of the conference and left feeling inspired, hopeful and uplifted. Thank you so much to CILIP North West for this amazing opportunity. I’ll definitely be applying for more bursaries in the future - and would encourage anyone else to do likewise!