I have been working in libraries for 12 years and I have just attended my first ever proper conference.
I've been to training days, regional events, meetings and an unconference, and have even been on a committee to help organise a staff conference, but a whole weekend away from home, with speakers and seminars and free books to take away? Not even a snifter.
Part of the reason, of course, is cost. Conferences are expensive. A weekend conference with accommodation is going to cost in the region of £500, and most employers haven't got the training budget to stump up for that. And if they have, you need to prove the worth of your attendance, not only for your own personal development, but for your job and your employer as well.
I am lucky to be employed by an Independent School which is very supportive of CPD, and also has a healthy training budget. Without this assistance, I would not have been able to attend the SLG conference.
When you have a large room full of librarians, most of whom you've never met before, it can be a bit daunting. Luckily, I met some lovely people who were happy to chat about libraries, being a librarian and general stuff, as well as some librarians I already knew.
As an experience, it was pretty full on. As it was my first conference, I went to everything bar the AGM. By lunchtime on Sunday I was feeling pretty drained and suffering to some extent from Information Overload. But it is so hard to decide what to miss: what has value to you as a professional? what is going to be interesting?
Highlights:
Cressida Cowell talking about her childhood holiday experiences on a remote island off the coast of Scotland. Her father landing a conger eel encouraged her to think about dragons as real creatures.
Philip Ardagh discussing the books he read as a child, and how they influenced him as a writer. He is a very funny speaker and encouraged us to reflect on books we loved as children to inspire the love of reading in others.
Sam Angus talking about writing her new book, House on Hummingbird Island, and the amount of research required to write both historical and animal-based novels. Her inspiration came directly from her research, from photographs of the period, and from discussions with friends.
Tanya Landman reading Mary's Penny aloud to us after dinner - a wonderful story, brilliantly read by the author.
So many free books from the publishers in the exhibition. Nosy Crow in particular had so many books to give away and were really friendly.
Overall, this was a worthwhile experience. Reflecting on the whole weekend, it was probably not worthwhile going to every seminar. Cherry picking those that are of most interest and then using the remaining time to reflect on the experience is perhaps more useful. Having said that, I took most away from Matthew Wheeler's talk on Professional Registration: as a Chartership candidate, his presentation made me feel less daunted by the whole process, and more willing to get started!
Secondly, I was inspired by Dr Carolynn Rankin's talk on impact and demonstrating value to think about doing some research, and possibly about getting it published!
It made me think about who school librarians are, and who they think they are; also who school librarians are thought to be. This seems rather philosophical, but the point, perhaps is:
Is a school librarian really that different from any other kind of librarian?
To quote Shakespeare, as many of us were doing that weekend:
All librarians are in the profession to aid access to information. Regardless of the age, gender or education of the customer/client/user/whatever, this is our purpose. School librarians really are no different from academic librarians, or those in the public library sector, or law librarians. All require the same skill set, and all can specialise within their sector.
There are various presentations and handouts available on the SLG Conference website here to read at leisure. I will definitely be doing this with Professor Maria Nikolajeva's keynote on the emotional impact of reading on children's development.
I've been to training days, regional events, meetings and an unconference, and have even been on a committee to help organise a staff conference, but a whole weekend away from home, with speakers and seminars and free books to take away? Not even a snifter.
Part of the reason, of course, is cost. Conferences are expensive. A weekend conference with accommodation is going to cost in the region of £500, and most employers haven't got the training budget to stump up for that. And if they have, you need to prove the worth of your attendance, not only for your own personal development, but for your job and your employer as well.
I am lucky to be employed by an Independent School which is very supportive of CPD, and also has a healthy training budget. Without this assistance, I would not have been able to attend the SLG conference.
When you have a large room full of librarians, most of whom you've never met before, it can be a bit daunting. Luckily, I met some lovely people who were happy to chat about libraries, being a librarian and general stuff, as well as some librarians I already knew.
As an experience, it was pretty full on. As it was my first conference, I went to everything bar the AGM. By lunchtime on Sunday I was feeling pretty drained and suffering to some extent from Information Overload. But it is so hard to decide what to miss: what has value to you as a professional? what is going to be interesting?
Highlights:
Cressida Cowell talking about her childhood holiday experiences on a remote island off the coast of Scotland. Her father landing a conger eel encouraged her to think about dragons as real creatures.
Philip Ardagh discussing the books he read as a child, and how they influenced him as a writer. He is a very funny speaker and encouraged us to reflect on books we loved as children to inspire the love of reading in others.
Sam Angus talking about writing her new book, House on Hummingbird Island, and the amount of research required to write both historical and animal-based novels. Her inspiration came directly from her research, from photographs of the period, and from discussions with friends.
Tanya Landman reading Mary's Penny aloud to us after dinner - a wonderful story, brilliantly read by the author.
So many free books from the publishers in the exhibition. Nosy Crow in particular had so many books to give away and were really friendly.
Overall, this was a worthwhile experience. Reflecting on the whole weekend, it was probably not worthwhile going to every seminar. Cherry picking those that are of most interest and then using the remaining time to reflect on the experience is perhaps more useful. Having said that, I took most away from Matthew Wheeler's talk on Professional Registration: as a Chartership candidate, his presentation made me feel less daunted by the whole process, and more willing to get started!
Secondly, I was inspired by Dr Carolynn Rankin's talk on impact and demonstrating value to think about doing some research, and possibly about getting it published!
It made me think about who school librarians are, and who they think they are; also who school librarians are thought to be. This seems rather philosophical, but the point, perhaps is:
Is a school librarian really that different from any other kind of librarian?
To quote Shakespeare, as many of us were doing that weekend:
"If you prick us, do we not bleed?
if you tickle us, do we not laugh? if you poison
us, do we not die? and if you wrong us, shall we not
revenge? If we are like you in the rest, we will
resemble you in that."
if you tickle us, do we not laugh? if you poison
us, do we not die? and if you wrong us, shall we not
revenge? If we are like you in the rest, we will
resemble you in that."
Shylock, The Merchant of Venice, III, i, 58-62.
All librarians are in the profession to aid access to information. Regardless of the age, gender or education of the customer/client/user/whatever, this is our purpose. School librarians really are no different from academic librarians, or those in the public library sector, or law librarians. All require the same skill set, and all can specialise within their sector.
There are various presentations and handouts available on the SLG Conference website here to read at leisure. I will definitely be doing this with Professor Maria Nikolajeva's keynote on the emotional impact of reading on children's development.
