CILIPS Annual Conference 2022

Scotland’s Libraries – Homes of Scotland’s Stories

‘The best conference I have ever been to. Phenomenal speakers and so well organised and friendly.’

‘Fabulous to get back together again in person.’

‘A brilliant programme, as ever!’

‘It was so good – so inspiring – actually it has helped me cement where I want to be in my library career!’

‘Disneyland for librarians.’

150+ delegates joined us for two days of inspiration and innovation as our President and National Librarian Amina Shah hosted the first in-person CILIP Scotland conference for three years.

The largest conference in Scotland for library and information professionals, CILIPS22 brought together colleagues from across the country and beyond to share knowledge and engage in professional development. Taking place throughout 6th and 7th June at the Dundee Apex Hotel, CILIPS22 featured fascinating keynote speeches, thought-provoking parallel sessions, networking opportunities and much more. Please click here to download a copy of our digital programme, scroll below for highlights or browse the tweets shared by our delegates throughout their two days at #CILIPS22.

It was a pleasure to welcome our delegates to Dundee – thank you to all who attended! Access our speakers’ slides here or scroll below to watch our conference recordings.

CILIPS22 Keynote Speakers

Damian Barr

Damian Barr is an award-winning and bestselling writer, broadcaster and journalist. His memoir, Maggie & Me, won Stonewall Writer of the Year and was named Sunday Times Memoir of the Year. His debut novel, You Will Be Safe Here, was shortlisted for six major awards and a named a Book of the Year in the Observer, Irish Times and The Times. He has written columns for The Times, Sunday Times and Big Issue and hosted Front Row on BBC Radio 4.  In 2019, Damian brought books back to television with The Big Scottish Book Club on BBC Scotland & iPlayer. He also hosts Shelf Isolation on the BBC and it was shortlisted for an Edinburgh Television Festival Award. In 2020 Damian gained his PhD in Creative Writing and was made a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature. He created the Salon in 2008. He lives in Brighton.

Kate Robinson

Kate has worked in libraries since the 1980s; originally contributing to a range of sectors including public libraries, private members’ libraries and the advertising industry. She is the University Librarian for the University of Bath and current President of CILIP. A previous chair of CILIP’s Professional Registration and Accreditation Board, she now chairs CILIP’s Sector Development Committee and is a Member of the Board of Directors of the International Association of University Libraries, a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts and a Fellow of CILIP.

Zandra Yeaman

Zandra is the Curator of Discomfort based at the Hunterian Museum. Curating Discomfort is looking at ways outside of traditional museum authority to explore the interpretation of contested collections and to design and deliver a series of museum interventions that takes the museum out of the institutional comfort zone. As an anti-racist activist, Zandra works with institutions to gain an understanding of current social systems and how they are influenced by the legacy of slavery and colonialism. Zandra supports them to change a historical narrative that does not centre or privilege colonisers but re-frames the stories to acknowledge and be representative of our shared histories.

Gemma Cairney

Gemma Cairney is a multi award-winning broadcaster, author, activist and life enthusiast. Gemma is the host of Landmark, Sky Arts’ new 8-part series, uncovering the purpose and power of public art, which aired on Sky Showcase in 2021.

Gemma’s documentary radio series include The Leisure Society for BBC 6 Music and The Sound Odyssey for BBC Radio 4. Previous radio credits include: Island Sounds, Dolly, Dylan or Daft Punk, and Mali Music (BBC 6 Music). Tempted By Teacher and Bruising Silence (BBC Radio 1) garnered two Sony Golds and her interview with Grace Jones, Amazing Grace, (BBC 6 Music) won the Best Music Show Rose d’Or.

Gemma has presented acclaimed television documentaries including: The History of Feminism (BBC Learning), Riots: The Aftershock and Dying for Clear Skin (BBC 3). She made royal history by hosting a live Google hangout from Buckingham Palace for The Queen’s Young Leader project alongside HRH Price William and HRH Prince Harry.

Gemma loves to write, explore the planet, trek mountains and DJ garage classics. Her debut book Open, a toolkit for how magic and messed up life can be, was published by Pan Macmillan in 2017 and was later released in paperback as Open Your Heart. Gemma’s love letter to her adopted hometown of Margate was also published by Weidenfeld & Nicolson in Hometown Tales: South Coast. Her latest book, The Immortal Sisterhood, will be published by Canongate in 2023.

Catherine Salmond

Catherine Salmond is Editor of Scotland on Sunday.

Her paper is a passionate supporter of libraries, having launched a campaign last August to champion their work and fight to secure their futures.

Support our Libraries has received not only the backing of the industry, but key literary figures such as Ian Rankin, Alexander McCall Smith and Damian Barr (Catherine’s fellow CILIPS22 Keynote Speaker).

CILIPS22 day one Parallel Sessions included:

• Building Up the School Library Post-Pandemic: Collaboration, Connections and Creativity with SLG Scotland
• The Archive of Tomorrow: Health Information and Misinformation in the UK Web Archive with the National Library of Scotland
• Innovation in Further Education Libraries – Case studies from North East College Scotland and West College Scotland
• Tales from the Library: Local Studies, storytelling and oral history – Dr. Erin Farley – Library & Information Officer for the Local History Centre at Dundee Libraries

• Empowering students through knowledge about social injustice, Read Woke South Ayrshire
• The Nature Library pop-up installation and a library sustainability panel discussion with Kathy Hopkin (Julie’s Bicycle), Dr Emily Munro (National Library of Scotland), Alison Nolan (Inverclyde Libraries) and Christina Riley (The Nature Library)

• Library Lounge Virtual Study Sessions at the University of Strathclyde: Supporting the student community through the creation of an online study environment
• #WINspiration special – Dr Diane Pennington on the iSchools Women’s Coalition
• Fun Palaces and Cultural Democracy

 

CILIPS22 day two Parallel Sessions included:

• Becoming a Collective Force for Health and Wellbeing: What Next?

• #ebookSOS –  activism and campaigning for academic ebook market regulation
• Advance Your Library Research: supporting student dissertation research at the University of Edinburgh Library
• Walking groups in Scottish public libraries: benefits, challenges, and opportunities – Inga Allan (NHS Lanarkshire) and Dr Perla Innocenti (University of Strathclyde)

• Autism Inclusion with Falkirk Libraries, in partnership with the CILIP Disability Network

• User centred library design – NOMAD (click here for NOMAD’s post-session overview, including images of our delegates’ incredible card creations).
• PMLG Scotland – Public Libraries in Communities workshop
• The Power of CILIP Professional Registration
• Time for Inclusive Education (TIE) and how libraries can support LGBT inclusive education, in partnership with the CILIP LGBTQ+ Network
• The Power of CILIP Professional Registration

‘I wish I could have attended every one. Very passionate and inspiring speakers.’

‘Very good indeed, a wide range of sessions covering a multitude of skills and knowledge.’

‘Really interesting and varied, and it was great to meet and talk to so many other people working in the Library sector.’

‘Something useful at every session with a good broad range of topics.’

‘I found it hard to choose!’

The conference also included the presentation of our 2022 CILIPS Student Medals and the Scotland’s Library and Information Professional of the Year 2022 Award.

For information about the sponsors and exhibitors who generously supported #CILIPS22 and shared their expertise with delegates at the conference, please click here.

What steps did we take to make CILIPS22 as sustainable as possible? Click here to learn more about how we lessened our environmental impact and how every delegate made a difference.

‘A massive thank you for creating something so special, that made us all feel valued and important during these turbulent years. I personally needed it and missed it!’

‘Great conference, very well organised. Helpful and knowledgeable staff made everyone feel welcome. Fantastic speakers.’

‘I had a great time and got lots of ideas about how to take the library forward.’

‘A really positive first experience attending, reminded me of why library work is so important, and gave me lots of ideas for the future.’

‘Absolutely excellent!’