My experience of the CILIP Conference 2025 by Sarah Kaye

On Wednesday 2^nd July, I travelled from Cheshire to Birmingham for a day at the CILIP Conference 2025. After registering and being given a map and a timetable, I entered the exhibition room which was pulsing with excitement. People were hugging each other and shaking hands, waving from across the room and running to say hello with huge smiles on their faces. This was obviously an opportunity for colleagues and friends to come together and celebrate librarianship as well as for librarians like me to network and build new connections.

After pouring myself a cup of coffee, I spoke to the people on the Better World Books stand and the BorrowBox stand. These were both brands I recognised due to Cheshire ELS working with them. Although I knew about what those companies did, it was lovely for me to ask questions, learn more about different project they were undertaking and some of the history of the companies. I walked away feeling more confident and uplifted.

The opening comments by Louis Coiffait-Gun (CILIP’s CEO), opening speech by CILIP’s President Sue Lacey Bryant and first keynote speaker, Sebastian Cuttill (Parliamentary and Campaigns Manager at the News Media Association) threw us all into an immersive and upbeat state of being. Laughter and smiles flew at the stage as they talked about their different subjects. Sue touched on librarians being professional voyagers, whilst Sebastian spoke about the power of advocacy and how he believes newspapers and librarianship share a similar goal of giving trusted information to the public.

I then stayed in the Keynote Theatre for the AI and Copyright Regularity Update. I have found that when librarians are faced with a conversation about AI and its future, there is usually an audible intake of breath, however this debate was well put together – both sides of the argument for whether AI is a benefit or a hindrance to our profession were engaging, with quotes sticking with me such as ‘Are we trying to nail down water when it comes to controlling/limiting AI and is there a way to turn off the tap?’. Overall, there was agreement about finding a balance between when it is and isn’t appropriate to use and it was helpful to listen and learn from what they were saying.

After a short networking break where I chatted with other conference goers and acquired myself a copy of ‘The way, the deep’ by Rishi Dastidar, I took part in an interactive workshop by Dr David McMenemy from the University of Glasgow. The talk was called ‘Dealing with Ethical Challenges and Controversies’ and focused on library and information settings. Topics that were covered included ethical challenges faced in library settings on a regular basis such as patrons objecting to materials e.g. LGBTQA+ books, as well as the principle of ‘we want to serve you well, but we have other people to serve as well’. We could answer questions he asked via a QR code which made the experience even more engaging. It was disheartening to see how many similar difficulties people working in libraries face when it comes to this set of challenges but also uplifting to know that we are all fighting against these issues in the hope to provide diverse and equal settings that are safe for everyone.

Before getting some food, I spoke to more vendors such as WhoFi, Oxford University Press and Lyngsoe Systems who were all very insightful – the woman from WhoFi had come all the way from America, so it was fun to be able to listen to her whirlwind experience so far of the differences between libraries here and across the pond.

After a delicious lunch of cannelloni and lemon posset and some lovely library related chats with my new friendly acquaintances from a high school library in Croydon and Balham Library, it was time for the second keynote speaker. This talk was given by Rebecca Lawrence, CEO of The British Library. She spoke about her experience of being a civil servant at HM Treasury as well as her time at the Home Office. She then spoke about her experience as a leader and what principles she valued highly in terms of leadership. These included intellectual freedom, preservation of knowledge, confidentiality and privacy, and impartiality and banishment of inappropriate bias.

Fuelled by another cup of coffee, I listened intently to the next talk, ‘Branding 101 – Increasing User Engagement: Core Marketing for Service Users. As someone who is part of a small social media team that is continuously trying to find new ways to engage with new followers and potential customers, this talk really was fascinating. In the 45 minutes, we heard from Suzie Henderson, Creative Director at Storyhouse as well as Hayley Chevell, an Academic Liaison Librarian from Coventry University. They each spoke about their companies and how they host different events in multiple setting types in order to reach as large an audience as possible. For example, Storyhouse in Chester have multiple festivals each year including ‘Storyhouse Queer’, ‘StoryhouseElders’ and ‘Storyhouse Childless’. Each of these events was created in collaboration with that community to try and best represent it. Hayley spoke about how the Liaison Librarians at Coventry University are often involved events such as open days, student union events etc. They also create new and diverse workshops and activities to bring students into the library and help them show that they are welcome in the environment regardless of background and prior experience with libraries. Both women also spoke about the importance of multiple approaches to engagement, including online, in the building and in the surrounding areas. Additionally, the talked about being inclusive and diverse as often as possible in what and how things are promoted. I found this session in particular very beneficial and wished, if anything, it had been longer!

Before I knew it, it was time for the final talk of my day. This was ‘Leadership Talks Wellbeing, Management Makes It Real’ which was given by Helen Rimmer, the founder of ‘A Kind Brave Leader’. She spoke passionately about the subtle but definite differences between leadership and management and gave useful examples to assist in remembering them. One example she used was ‘Management keeps the train running, leadership decides where it goes’. She talked about the need for both in a business and how it is easy to be good at one, and not at the other and what the consequences of both could be. The importance of wellbeing being prioritised in the workplace was something she highlighted as well as work/life boundaries being set in order to avoid burnout. Most, if not all, of the points she made are already in place in my work environment, however it was useful to hear statistics on the topic and learn more about the differences between leading and managing.

As I walked one last time back through the exhibition space and headed towards the exit, I took a moment to take it all in, the hustle and bustle of like-minded people around me, information professionals and library workers from all over the world and from a huge variety of backgrounds and sectors. It gave me such a deep feeling of pride. I was already so grateful to CILIP North West for helping me be there for the day but in that moment, I felt truly thankful beyond words and elated to have been given the opportunity to be there. I have taken away so much useful and interesting information which I will endeavour to put into practice and will pass on to my colleagues as needed. I hope that in the future I can come back to a CILIP Conference and maybe a new conference goer will see me waving to the people I met this year, catching up with them and reminiscing about CILIP Conference 2025 with a big smile on my face.