West Midlands Member Network
Summer 2014 Volume 1, Issue 1
Network News WELCOME FROM THE EDITOR Welcome to the first issue of our new Newsletter! The new committee have been hard at work behind the scenes since the official merger in February. We’ve been settling into our new roles (a summary of the new committee can be seen on page 2), as well as developing our Business Plan for 2014, which you should have seen in an email to our members in June. As a part of our event planning for this year we had a chance to analyse a breakdown of where our members are based, which produced the map shown in the below. We’re currently planning to hold a variety of events across the region, including some smaller, informal networking evenings, using this map as a guide. A full list of events will be available on our website as they are confirmed. If you would like to host something in your area, please let us know at cilipwmmn@gmail.com
Lisa
INSIDE THIS ISSUE: Meet the Committee .................. 2 Call for Speakers ........................ 3 Photo Competition .................... 3 Dates for your Diary .................. 4 Meet the CSOs & MSO Report .. 4 Travel Bursaries ......................... 5 Brian Hall ................................... 6
CONTACT US • Email: cilipwmmn@gmail.com • Facebook: www.facebook.com/ cilipwestmidlands • Twitter: www.twitter.com/cilipwm • Flickr: www.flikr.com/cilipwm
MEET THE COMMITTEE Following the merger of the West Midlands Branch with the local divisions of the Career Development and PTEG groups the new look committee is a mix of familiar faces and some new ones too! Chair:
Events Officer This role is being shared by two new faces, Satinda Sihra and Lisa Carty. CSO Support: Sue Helm will be continuing her role as CSO Support.
The position of Chair has been taken by Lisa Basini, previously the Vice-Chair of the CDG Committee.
Mentor Support Officer:
Secretary:
SIG Liaison:
Committee Members
This role has been taken by a new committee member, Sophie Rollason.
you can view individual
Treasurer:
profiles of members on
This position has been filled by the former West Midlands Branch Co-Treasurer, David Little.
Another CDG alumni, Georgina Hardy is taking on this newly created role to help the committee interact with local divisions and activities of other CILIP Special Interest Groups.
FOR MORE INFORMATION:
If you would like to know more about our
our webpages: www.cilip.org.uk/westmidlands-branch/ committee
If you would like to get involved in the committee, in any capacity, please get in touch: cilipwmmn@gmail.com
Candidate Support Officers: The role of CSO is one that has been inherited from the CDG Committee and has been taken on by Anna Brown and Angel Egbuji, both formally of the CDG Committee. International Relations Officer:
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Mike Freeman is continuing in his role as International Relations Officer.
Another role inherited from the CDG Committee, the MSO is now Gill Colbourne.
Communications Officer: This role incorporates the previous roles of Web Officer, Newsletter Editor and Social Media Officer and has been taken on by Lisa Basini in addition to her role as Chair. General Committee We currently have three committee members without a formal job role, Roger Fairman and Hettie Jones who have served on the West Midlands Branch previously, and a new member, Angela Wright.
COMMITTEE* PHOTO GALLERY
PHOTO COMPITITON
We would like to update some of the images we use on our Social Media sites so we’re launching a comLisa Basini
Sophie Rollason
David Little
petition to find photos that you think represent the library or information profession. Entrance is open to all CILIP West Midlands
Anna Brown
Georgina Hardy
Gill Colbourne
*Not all photographs were available at time of going to press!
members. Please email your photos to cilipwmn@gmail.com with
CALL FOR SPEAKERS We’re hosting a CILIP Debates session on 30th September to coincide with the Conservative Party Conference being held in Birmingham. The topic that will be debated is:
“All access to publicly funded research should be openly available for the public good”
the subject ‘Photo Competition’ The winners will be announced in the next Newsletter in the Winter issue, but previews of photos will be available through Twitter, Facebook and Flickr soon.
If you are interested in speaking on this topic or would like to represent either side in the debate please email the Committee Chair, Lisa Basini, at cilipwmmn@gmail.com
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MEET THE CSO8 AND MSO EVENT: 16TH JULY ‘14 By Jo Alcock
DATES FOR YOUR DIARY 31st Aug ‘14 Deadline for CILIPWM Travel Bursaries (see opposite) 20 Sept ‘14 CILIP’s Big Day and AGM in Bristol 30 Sept ‘14 CILIP Debates in Birmingham 10th Oct ‘14 CILIP New Professionals Conference in London 14th Oct ‘14 Informal Networking Event: Twilight Visit to The Hive, Worcester
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On 16th July, I attended an evening social at Leamington Spa hosted by the CILIP West Midlands Regional Members' Network for all CILIP Professional Registration candidates and mentors in the region. It was a lovely evening, despite it being Jug & Jester, Leamington Spa quite a small group, and I found it really valuable. I'm a relatively new mentor, and found it really useful to chat to others about their experiences and share guidance and advice. We chatted about things from the perspective of both a mentor and as a candidate, including the role of a mentor, expectation of both mentor and candidate, and how to record your professional development activities. I came away with some really useful ideas and things I plan to put into place in future for my own development. I know the Regional Members' Network plan to hold more of these informal events around the region, [Editor’s Note: see column on the left!] and I'd encourage all members to attend if you get the chance to do so. Whether you're currently working towards a level of Professional Registration, plan to revalidate soon, or are currently mentoring or considering it in future (or are just intrigued!), it's interesting to discuss professional development opportunities, tips and advice. Of course attending an event like this counts as a professional development activity in itself too - we also discussed general topics such as working in different sectors, job applications, and interviews. I'd like to thank the Mentor Support Officer (Gill Colbourne) and Candidate Support Officers (Anna Brown and Angel Egbuji) for organising such an enjoyable evening.
Image Credit: Josh Hartnup, http://www.flickr.com/photos/hartnupj/69360774/
TRAVEL BURSARIES We are offering two £50 travel bursaries to our members, one each to attend CILIP’s Big Day and AGM in Bristol on the 20th September and the CILIP New Professionals Day in London on the 10th October, in exchange for a Newsletter article about your experiences. CILIP’s Big Day is a free mini-conference for CILIP members bringing together high profile speakers, award presentations and CILIP’s Annual General Meeting. Publisher and philanthropist William Sieghart is confirmed as this year’s keynote speaker and
Receive £50 travel bursary to either the CILIP New Professionals Day or the CILIP’s Big Day and AGM
is joined by CILIP President Barbara Band and Vice President Jan Parry. For more information visit http://bit.ly/1oZzkND CILIP's New Professionals Day 2014 is an annual conference aimed at those library and information professionals who are seeking guidance on their initial steps into their first professional roles. If you are still studying at university, have recently finished your information qualification or are in your first professional post, then this event is for you! For more information visit http://bit.ly/1m5LBeu To apply for a travel bursary please email us before the 31st August at cilipwmmn@gmail.com with your name, contact details and CILIP Membership number and a short statement explaining in 200 words or less how the conference will be of professional benefit to you. Members may apply to both conferences, but the awards will not both be allocated to the same member. In the event that no applicants apply, we reserve the right to allocate the travel bursaries to interested members of the West Midlands Member Network Committee. 5
CILIP West Midlands Members Network We represent library and information professionals living and or working in the counties of Herefordshire, Shropshire, Staffordshire, Warwickshire and Worcestershire. We also serve the metropolitan districts of Birmingham, Coventry, Dudley, Sandwell, Solihull, Walsall and Wolverhampton, as well as the nonmetropolitan districts of Stoke-on-Trent and Telford & Wrekin.
BRIAN HALL The Committee were saddened to hear of the recent passing of Brian Hall, President of CILIP in 2011, who died aged 71. Brian began his career working in public libraries in Dudley. Brian Chartered in 1965 while working as a Librarian/Information Officer at the BBA Group. He then moved into teaching at City of Birmingham College of Commerce, later the University of Central England (now Birmingham City University) where he held various teaching posts from 1967 – 2003. Brian taught a variety of subjects including library and society, management and local studies. He retired from teaching in 2003 although until 2009 he retained an interest as a University Orator researching, writing and delivering citations for Honorary Degrees. Brian was Chair of the Library Campaign. He chaired a range of validating panels within other Faculties in the University of Central England, including Masters Courses, in the Faculty of Health, Birmingham Institute of Art and Design and the Birmingham Conservatoire.
Feedback If you have any comments regarding the content of this newsletter, or if you would like to contribute to the next issue, please contact: Lisa Basini Newsletter Editor cilipwmmn@gmail.com
Brian served on various CILIP committees including the West Midlands Branch Committee, the Information Services Group, the Government Libraries and Information Group and the Local Studies Group, and held various honorary positions within these groups. Brian served as Vice President of CILIP in 2010, President in 2011 and held the role of Immediate Past President in 2012. A private funeral has been held. If members would like a message of condolence to be passed onto Brian’s family please email web@cilip.org.uk.