Sustainability, Accessibility and Resilience: Reflections from the CILIP Conference + Expo 2022 by H Kiely

I was lucky enough to be awarded the bursary from CILIP NW to be able to attend the CILIP Conference this year in Liverpool. I am incredibly grateful to have had this opportunity especially as prior to attending I had just started my new job in what is (for me) the brand-new area of academic libraries. I went in feeling as bright-eyed and new as I did the first time I attended a conference some years ago, a little overwhelmed at the choice of so many different talks but looking forward to learning a lot!

Spotted my new workplace at the drinks reception! Museum of Liverpool Life.

The theme for the CILIP conference was Sustainability in all its forms. Day one opened with an incredibly powerful and moving keynote from Sayf Al Ashquar, Secretary-General of the Libraries, University of Mosul; Director of Central Library, Iraq on the destruction of the Central Library in Iraq by ISIS soldiers.

Destruction of Central Library, Iraq.

“To control the people, [ISIS] destroyed the knowledge.” 

Here was a chilling example of what happens, as has happened many times throughout history, when one group of people wishes to impose its control, its ideologies and its power over others and destroys and prevents access to any other means of information or learning.  

Then we saw the inspirational side - the description of rebuilding, from donations of books, financial aid and the dedicated hard work done by volunteers and students – the unquenchable power of libraries as sources for knowledge, and the desire and drive of people to rebuild. 

Dr Paul Ayris, Pro-Vice-Provost, UCL presented on the development - and continued growth - of UCL’s own Open Access Press, I found this incredibly useful and intriguing (and took copious notes). UCL have found a way to develop an open publishing model which focuses on accessibility of quality work - from ebooks, journal articles to monographs - as its solid foundation. It was also very interesting to learn that, even with the content available as free downloads, the print on demand feature showed similar physical circulation stats to those books published in the more traditional print-first route of other academic presses.  

Decolonisation 2.0 – lessons learned, featured presentations from three inspiring speakers looking at their work in their different areas around decolonisation of special collections, organisational structures, metadata, teaching, and resources and the importance of a continued collaborative approach towards challenging assumptions and seeking better practices. It was incredibly insightful and was one of the sessions most discussed at break and lunchtimes throughout the two days.

Slide from Prof McGlade's presentation.

Professor Jaqueline McGlade, Professor of Natural Prosperity, Sustainable Development and Knowledge Systems, UCL opened day 2 with a powerful presentation around the need to challenge disinformation as well as the different forms of information and data sources that can be used to ensure evidence-based approaches to tackling climate change (and climate denial). She demonstrated the use of data showing how world events (including the pandemic) affect the general moods of the people, and also highlighted the importance of using both data and storytelling to bring cold graphs and numbers to life, in order to educate others.

Following Professor McGlade’s theme the climate crisis, the CILIP Green Manifesto and its implications had been discussed on day 1, but was brought to life more at the discussion Working towards Net Zero – ideas and discussion to take back, which began with real-world examples from various sectors about the work that libraries could and are doing to work towards environmental sustainability. This prompted several fascinating discussions around actions both big and small that can be done in this area – from building redesign, challenging commonly held assumptions of practice (such as 24 hour opening) to plastic backing of books and encouraging recycling activities.

Ayub Khan presented the update to Better By Design and facilitated further discussion about the design-both interior and exterior- of library spaces. Key themes arising from the discussion included environmental considerations but also the effects of the pandemic on the changing use of spaces to suit user need, and the need for flexibility in design approaches to allow for future adaptation. There was also an interesting discussion about designing for wellbeing and the use of technology or design to adapt spaces to provide the best user experiences possible, such as using building materials which allow for more flexible use of areas, lighting adaptations and so on.  

Photo from Amy Stubbing's presentation.

Amy Stubbing presented on her new book Data-Driven Decisions with a useful toolkit approach to obtaining meaningful data and using it to inform decision making. The toolkit is designed to be useful to people with different levels of experience and understanding and certainly challenged my thinking around the way I approach analysis and how to use data “well” - so much so I bought a copy of the book!

The second day closed with a session hosted by Kate Robinson and speakers from all different sectors and levels of experience in library and information professions. It was incredibly interesting to hear from them and the new ideas coming forward within the sector as a whole.  

Display from the British Library's 'Breaking the News'.

Despite challenges with trains and transport, panels having to change a bit due to sickness, plenty of pre-attendance COVID testing and the slightly surreal experience of reading the amazing display from the British Library’s Breaking the News while outside of the conference centre walls ‘breaking news’ was happening by-the-minute in UK politics, it really was terrific to have the opportunity to see people in person and listen to - and have - great and interesting conversations with people from all different places and experiences. I’ve come away with a lot of food for thought - and quite a weighty reading list, and look forward to being able to put ideas raised into my practice in the future.