In the July 2007issue of OpenAccess, I started toshare somethoughts about theway public library

spaces are being transformed across theWest Midlands (including the scale ofinvestment through Local Governmentcapital sources, PFIs and the BigLottery).The more you think about allthis, the more incomprehensible it isthat public libraries are perceived asbeing in crisis, when so much money isbeing spent to refresh and improvethem.And that’s in as tight a financialsituation for the whole public sector aswe have seen since the mid 1990s. Sowhy isn’t this great tale of success beinglistened to? Are we just very bad story-tellers? Is there something about publiclibraries that just turns influentialpeople and the media off (even, itseems, when we are doing really well)?

I have come to the conclusion that ourmain problem is that we don’t properlyconnect up things in our own minds.Then, because our thought processesare muddled, we can’t make our caseconvincingly to those we need toinfluence and advocate to.This isn’trocket science…invest and as aconsequence you expect (demand even)that things change…transform theproduct and you expect there to be animprovement made for the customer.This is a very simple virtuous circle –invest, transform and make a difference,and then start investing again. If theevidence that the transformed productis making a difference to people, andthere is, then the whole process willkeep going. Success will indeed breedsuccess.This is actually how it works!

So if we have invested in better publiclibrary buildings (and this has certainlybeen the case recently in our region),then we should be able to articulatehow the service and its delivery havebeen transformed and the impact thismakes on people’s lives. If we can’t, thenthe call for more investment will golargely unheeded.

For all these reasons, a small group ofus nominated by the Society of ChiefLibrarians West Midlands and MLAWest Midlands have started work on a“transforming library spaces” advocacyinitiative. It’s an attempt to raise ourgame at the regional level, to push outfrom just having an impact oneauthority at a time, to telling a storyabout 14 library services. Stage one isto clarify and strengthen the reasonswhy we are doing this, developing aproject plan and securing the buy-in ofthe sponsoring bodies.That is theworking group’s initial task. By the timeyou read this, a costed proposal shouldhave been delivered to SCL WestMidlands/MLA West Midlands settingout exactly how it could possibly bedone.

Imagine in 5 years time that every singlepublic library building in the region hasbeen significantly modernised or rebuilt,that overall visits are up by 25%, thatpublic libraries figure in all the high-levelplanning of each local authority(because of the outcomes they areachieving in communities), and thereforecreating more and better jobs for thelibrary workforce. Is that possible? Theinteresting thing is that such things havebeen achieved at single libraries or evenacross a group of service points.Wejust need to take the imaginative leap to

a quality offer everywhere so you cansay to anyone,“go into your locallibrary anywhere in the West Midlandsand you’ll get a good service in anattractive building and it will make adifference for you and your family orfriends”.

Of course, a small working group can’tdo all this so we’ll be thinking of waysof involving others. Perhaps you wouldlike to help us? Maybe you have got oneof the stories about this transformationor you can share the evidence from thelibrary where you work? Any input Ireceive by email will get shared around.It will be really helpful knowing whatyou think about the ways in whichpublic libraries are changing.

Geoff Warren is Deputy CEO andLibraries Domain Lead at MLA WestMidlands.

geoff.warren@mlawestmidlands.org.uk

[The others on the working group areJames Anthony (Herefordshire), SimonRice (Coventry), Dawn Winter(Sandwell) and Carl Franklin (MLA WestMidlands].

ISSN 0048-1904

A supplement to CILIP Update

penaccess A newsletter from the West Midlands Branch of CILIP

Invest, transform and make a difference…

1

In this issue...Editorial ................................................................2

Enhancing the studentexperience..............................................2

In Focus:Bruce Madge ...................................................3

East of Suez ..............................................3-4

Representing the profession....4

www.cilip.org.uk/wm

April 2008Vol.51 No.2

I thought I should begin this, my first issue as Editor,by offering my apologies for the change in design midvolume! That aside, I hope you approve of the newformat. Due to the print deadline being quite tight, afull round up of our Members’ Day (5 March) willfollow in the next issue. However, for those of youwho missed the event or who just can’t wait, we havearticles from two of our speakers.

Open Access, distributed to all members of thebranch (and available on the web site), is an excellentmeans of communication. Many people tell us that ofall the publications they receive, Open Access is theone they read first (or certainly read cover to cover –

not just because it is shorter I hasten to add)! Thisnewsletter enables us all to share news and celebrateachievements within our own region, and for thisreason I am looking forward to serving as Editor.

On behalf of the committee, I would like to thankSylvia Jenkins for all her hard work and dedicationover the last ten years, and for producing a newsletterthat has been a pleasure to read and now to edit.

Finally, as always, any news items, articles or ideas willbe gratefully received.

David Viner

dviner@solihull.gov.uk

Hello and welcome to your new look Open Access

The Mary Seacole Library at theEdgbaston Campus of Birmingham CityUniversity, was officially opened in June2006 and forms part of a multi-millionpound development for the Faculty ofHealth.The library, named after thepioneering nurse and heroine of theCrimean War, occupies the whole ofthe ground floor of the new SeacoleBuilding.

Associated Architects, who designedthe new building, worked very closelywith the Faculty Librarian on all aspectsof the library’s final design, fromincorporating the suggestion of usingglass walls to separate the group studyarea from the silent study area, to thelayout and choice of counters for theLending Services and Enquiry Servicesareas.

The Library features two large glass-roofed atria separated by oak panelledceilings. It houses approximately100,000 books and 650 electronic andprint journals. Staffed by a team of 8librarians and 16 library assistants, it isone of the largest specialist healthlibraries in the country.The library,which provides more than 200 studyspaces, is specifically designed to be arelaxed and welcoming environmentwhere students can meet and study incomfort. In keeping with thisphilosophy, the library has leather sofasand armchairs; a large informal seatingarea; flexible group study areas with

wall-mounted LCD screens andindividual study rooms.The study deskswere manufactured in Sweden to adesign by one of the architects andfeature motion-activated desk lights.

The new library has its own state ofthe art teaching room that seats 50,where a comprehensive programme oflibrary skills sessions for all students isnow run. In addition, a rollingprogramme of updating sessions on theuse of electronic resources is offerednot just to the Faculty’s academic staff,but also to the NHS mentors andassessors of BCU health studentsworking in Birmingham and the BlackCountry.

In 2005 the Faculty of Health wasawarded a Centre of Excellence inTeaching and Learning (CETL) and thenew library has benefited from thisfunding in several ways:

70 laptops for use in the libraryA wireless networkAn RFID self-issue systemAn Enquiry Services Librarian, to establish an electronic enquiry service aimed at supporting placement and distance learners, and to strengthen existing links with NHSTrust partners

In addition to the public areas in thelibrary, there is a large office thataccommodates 10 library staff, akitchen, an archive room, an IT

workroom, and plenty of staff workspace behind both the Lending andEnquiry Services counters. On the firstfloor of the Seacole building, above thelibrary, there is another very largeassistants’ office that comfortablyaccommodates 14 staff, plus 5 smalleroffices, a kitchen and a stack.

Finally, the Mary Seacole Library wasthe first university library in the UK tohave a LiveReader.This is a fusion ofCCTV and computer technology, whichenables a printed or handwrittendocument to be digitally captured sothat the image can be manipulated tochange the font size, background colouretc., the LiveReader then reads the textaloud. This is proving to be of immensevalue to dyslexic students, as well asthose with a visual impairment orsimply as a means of students proof-reading their assignments.

The new library, with its improvedavailability of learning technology, designand organisation of flexible learningspaces, plays an important role inenhancing the student experience.

Jane Richards is Faculty Librarian atThe Mary Seacole Library, BirminghamCity Universityjane.richards@bcu.ac.uk

Enhancing the student experience

2 www.cilip.org.uk/wm

One of theeffects of mybecomingPresident ofCILIP, and I amsure this is true

of allPresidents,is areflectionon how I

managed to get this exalted position inmy chosen profession. My career inlibraries and information workstretches back over 30 years ofworking in medical and health libraries.

I started out as a Library Assistant atthe London School of Hygiene andTropical Medicine (LSHTM) where, dueto pure nepotism, I had worked parttime in my school holidays mainlymoving books up from the basementand then back down to the basement inthe next holiday. I am not sure I wantedto be a librarian at that point but waskeen on a career in the arts although,on reflection, I was never going to bethe next big thing in sculpture. I movedfrom the LSHTM to a one man bandpost as Librarian at the NationalPoisons Unit, a post that always garnersinterest! I stayed with the NHS in mynext post at Bromley Hospital NHSTrust, where I got more involved withcomputers. One of the highlights of mytime there was to procure, set up andmanage the computer network for thePostgraduate Centre which ultimatelyled to my being head-hunted for mynext post at the British MedicalAssociation (BMA).

This was a new post of Informationofficer in Medical Informatics and was a

new area of interest for the BMA so Ibecame very involved in going out andmeeting the movers and shakers in thearea. It remains an interest to this dayand in 2004 I got my FCLIP for thework I had done in the area. It also ledto me becoming a founder member ofthe UK Council for Health InformaticsProfessions (UKCHIP), a body seekingto regulate the informatics profession inhealth.After the BMA, I went to beHead of Healthcare Information at theBritish Library, where I was in charge ofthe team that worked with theNational Library ofMedicine in Washington DCto produce the Medlinebibliography.This was thestart of my interest in theinternational scene whichhas subsequently led to me beinginvolved with both IFLA and MLA,which is the American Medical LibraryAssociation.

So where does one go from working atthe National Library? I moved back intothe NHS in a slightly different role asAssistant Director of Patient and PublicInvolvement at the National PatientSafety Agency and from there back tothe Library of the British MedicalAssociation – a very cyclical career. Mycurrent role as Director of Marketingfor the London Upright MRI Centre isdifferent again, although I am finding mylibrary skills are incredibly handy.

As you might guess my themes thisyear revolve around my previouscareer. I am pleased that CILIP arecurrently reviewing their internationalactivities.We now exist in a globalvillage where many of our concerns are

also of concern to a wider internationalaudience.As a measure of which, Iwould like to see more internationalhonorary FCLIPs in my year in office.

My second theme is related to how werespond to technology and the need toconstantly reinvent ourselves. I ampleased that we are talking to theBritish Computer Society and hope toprogress this during 2008.

My third theme is around marketingnot just our libraries but ourselves andour skills.We need to concentrate on

the L as Librarian oreven the IP as ininformationprofessional.We needto promote this ideaand do this through

more good media coverage, I think mypredecessor has done particularly wellin this area but I want to keep gettingmore positive coverage in the pressabout our profession.

Of course I will, in my own small way,be challenging the stereotype oflibrarians through my work with thefirst international open access rockband “The Bearded Pigs”.

This will be an interesting year forCILIP as it is the first of our newGovernance system and I am hopingthat all will go smoothly and anywrinkles will be ironed out as quickly aspossible.

Bruce Madge is CILIP President 2008and Director of Marketing at TheLondon Upright MRI Centre.

In Focus: Bruce Madge

www.cilip.org.uk/wm

’‘So where does one gofrom working at the

National Library?

Malta Interlude

3

Once again your intrepid Hon.International Relations Officer enduresthe appalling food and casual cabinservice of Air Malta to visit andencourage our friends and colleaguesoverseas. I slipped over to Malta for aweek in January to ‘press the flesh’ forthe Branch and ‘stiffen the sinews’.

In between the tourist bits, I managedto visit Laurence Zerafa at his splendid

new Library of the Malta College ofArts, Sciences and Technology(MCAST). I last saw it in 2006 as anearly finished building. It has turnedout to be a well used Library with lotsof potential. However, an ambitious newproject to centralise all MCAST’steaching onto the one site at Paolomeans that Laurence has had to buckledown and start planning a new Librarysome four times the size of the present

one. So lots of work for hard pressedLaurence lies ahead.

On the Thursday evening I gave a wellreceived Lecture to the MaLIAmembers at the University of Malta.Thesubject was ‘Professional Ethics andDiscipline’, an area of some interest inthe profession at the moment.After

Continued on page 4

4

Open AccessPublication of the West MidlandsBranch of CILIP.Views expressed are not necessarilythose of CILIP-WM or of the Editor.

Editor: David VinerSolihull Central Library,Solihull. B91 3RGTel: 0121 704 8534Fax: 0121 704 6907Email: dviner@solihull.gov.ukCopy date for next issue:13 June 2008

www.cilip.org.uk/wm

Representing the professionLast year David Viner asked me toaccompany him to a careers fair at theUniversity of Warwick, and without aclue as to what it would entail, I think Isaid something like,“yeah…okay, soundsgood!” Little did I know what a valuableand rewarding experience it would be,not only, I hope for the students wespoke to, but for David and myself.

The Careers Unlimited Fair at theUniversity of Warwick took place on 29January and is an event that CILIP WMhas attended for a number of years, as arepresentative for the profession. Theevent is intended to provide Warwickstudents with an insight into what theydescribe as the “hidden jobs market” -sectors which are perhapsunderrepresented within Warwick’scourse programme. The event inprevious years had gained high numbersof students so we were hoping for asuccessful turnout. After a long walkfrom the Car Park laden down with aweighty stand, boxes of leaflets, bags ofenticing Glacier Fruits and bucketfuls ofenthusiasm, two intrepid librariansarrived on campus. After a couple ofincidents whilst assembling the stand,we were presentable and raring to goin order to inspire some futureinformation professionals!

Throughout the day, we spoke to over40 students, many of whom seemedextremely interested, and who wereoften quite surprised at what anexciting prospect the information andlibraries sector could be as a futurecareer. Our main focus was topromote CILIP’s graduate trainingopportunities, which offer

undergraduates the chance to gainexperience in the information sector,and to earn a competitive salary toboot, after which they would thenpursue postgraduate study in the field.It was timely that the University ofWarwick’s own library service wereadvertising a graduate trainingopportunity, so we could also referinterested students to this. We alsoprovided information on wherestudents currently study postgraduateILM courses. Unfortunately, a number ofstudents were disappointed to discoverthat there is now nowhere to studywithin the West Midlands region.Students asked a number of insightfulquestions about the type of workinvolved within each of the differentsectors, salary levels, job prospects,where jobs could be found and howtheir undergraduate study could link inwithin the profession. We alsoexplained the benefits of joining CILIP,and hopefully, recruited some futuremembers.

All in all this was an extremely positiveevent that felt really worthwhile. Davidknows how influential it can be, as onestudent who he had spoken to in aprevious year’s event followed hisadvice and was subsequently successfulin being recruited to one of thegraduate training opportunities on offerat the time. Hopefully we’ll have thesame positive outcome to this year’sevent. I felt that we both found it to bea rewarding and rejuvenatingexperience simply because it gave us achance to explain what an exciting anddiverse profession we work in,something that can sometimes get lost

in amongst the everyday. I hope to beinvolved in the event again next year,but am slightly worried by thediscovery that our esteemed Editor hasa Glacier Fruits addiction – maybe analternative sweet might be in order fornext year!

Sarah Tongue is Principal LibraryAssistant with Solihull MBC

stongue@solihull.gov.uk

‘singing for my supper’ I was taken outby MaLIA Council for a very pleasantmeal at a good Maltese restaurant. Ivisited briefly the National Library inValletta and met the National Librarian,Philip Borg. Some much neededrestoration work is in progress on this18th Century historical building.

It was pleasant to meet old friends inthe Malta library community and theyreiterated how keen they were toreceive any librarian visitors, who wouldlike a break from the incessant partyingand give a short talk on their ownlibraries back in the UK.This sort ofexposure to new ideas in professionalpractice is really helpful for Malteselibrarians - and Maltese hospitality is

warm and plentiful! Contact me(doc_mike@btinternet.com) or RobertMizzi, Chair of MaLIA(robmiz@maltanet.net) if you feel youcan offer anything to Malta.

Mike Freeman is Hon InternationalRelations Officer.

Continued from page 3

In the next issue...Nicola Thomas attends theregional launch of TheNational Year of Reading

Mike Freeman reports on atour of the Far East

A full round-up of the CILIPWM Members’ Day & AGM