Information Scotland The Journal of the Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals in Scotland ISSN 1743-5471 Issue contents | Journal contents | About the online edition of the journal June 2008 Volume 6(3)

Conference: Presidential Address

Libraries on the agenda

Alan Hasson demands your energy and involvement to do justice to our professional past.

Its a privilege to deliver this Presidential Address, in the centenary year of the professional association for librarians and information scientists in Scotland.

As I was doing my research the parallels between 1908 and 2008 kept intruding. 1908 was the full flush of Edwardian optimism. And what an interesting and optimistic time it is to be alive now. We have concerns and worries, but look around. There are millions of people in India and China, with opportunities that have been denied to them for millennia: imagine the innovations and inventions and improvements in life that these people, with educational opportunities greater than they have ever had, will bring.

Think of the talent that has been released through our growing intolerance of gender and racial prejudice. Look at the extensions to democracy that have been made in Eastern Europe, in South Africa, in South America and in Scotland.

As a professional association, whose members’ business includes the support of education and who provide that hall mark of democracy, the opportunity for free access by all, to all shades of opinion, it’s a wonderful time.

And of course as Scots these developments are particularly welcome. There’s a lovely wee book by Arthur Herman, which sums up why we especially, should welcome these developments. It also gives in its title an insight into the difference between Americans and the British. In Britain it’s entitled The Scottish Enlightenment. In America, where I bought my copy it’s sold under the title How the Scots Invented the Modern World: the true story of how western europe’s poorest nation created our world and everything in it.

One hundred years ago there was that same optimism, the first model T came off the assembly line, the London Olympics were held (within budget), the old age pension was introduced and then as a fitting culmination of that year’s social progress... the Scottish Library Association, fore-runner of CILIPS, was founded: our English colleagues had led the way 31 years before with the establishment of the LA. Since that time the Scottish association has grown from 65 members to over 2,300.
In the last 100 years we have been fortunate in the leadership of the professional body. In a talk such as this only a few can be mentioned but as a sample, it would be hard to better FT Barrett, through EA Savage, WB Paton and Alan White to Brian Osborne.

It would not be doing these people justice however, if my talk focused on the past. They and their colleagues were innovators, developers of services in changing times. So must we be. Remember where our predecessors brought their services from. Closed access, ratepayers only, the jani at the door to get the books back. To show my age, I was one of those wee boys who was put off using their library (Kingston, Glasgow) for weeks, because they were asked, no, told, to show that their hands were clean.

There’s a Border saying “Its aye bin an it’ll aye be”, meaning it’s always been that way and it always will be. Well no. Nothing stays the same unless you make the conscious decision to step off the highway and stand still. And if you do, don’t then complain that you feel irrelevant and you’re not valued.

The theme of this conference is inspire and transform: regenerating services. You can read that two ways, it’s either about the services which need regenerating or it’s about services which help regeneration. As a member of CILIPS, at this time in our national story, my emphasis is on the latter interpretation.

The services which we run add value throughout our society, whether it’s in support of lifelong learning, in the business world, in support of CPD and research, in the bolstering of democracy or in that most undervalued of areas, providing more quality to life. Walter Scott said that Scotland was a breeding country, not a feeding country. Well, we feed ourselves now through our competitiveness, our innovation, the continuing need to regenerate. If libraries don’t support that thrust we are nothing.

The challenges we as a profession face are those which our nation faces. I don’t want to be in charge of what some of my colleagues in other disciplines call “Cinderella services”. Then again, look where Cinders ended up when she got smart and a wee bitty assertive. Lets take a quick tour of our environment and some of the challenges that environment brings.

We have an increasingly rich society but one where the unwillingness of tax payers to sustain the panoply of public services at the cost acceptable in the 1960s onwards is taken as a given by all the major parties.

We have social divisions that are becoming accentuated whether it’s in sink estates, age-related social exclusion or equipping our population to reach its full potential. The most recent figures I’ve seen in Scotland, stated that over 20% of the post-16 population were functionally illiterate. A recent OECD report on educational attainment stated that the UK was third bottom in rates of literacy, in what they defined as the developed world, above only the US and Poland.

Surely it’s not acceptable that in the country which was the first to attempt to provide a universal education system, through the Act for Setting of Schools of 1696, the surest way to guarantee academic success in our school system is to have parents in social classes A and B.

The perception of can pay don’t want to pay is reinforced by the caution, if not apprehension, with which central government views the impact of the rise of the far eastern economies. This is perhaps most sharply articulated in the Gershon Report, which has suggested a need to shrink UK public sector spend in a major manner.

The corollary to these facts is that all of us in management positions are being asked to be more efficient. What does that mean? It means both less and targeted specifically to government priorities. It’s a reductionist model being articulated not only in continuing attrition of budgets but in fundamental reviews of resource allocation and purpose.

The statutory base for public libraries in Scotland is loosely worded, adding to their vulnerability. The legislation in Scotland talks of the need to provide “adequate” library services, which is so capable of interpretation. When a team comes second in the league, that may be adequate to some: it isn’t to me. Cups are nice but leagues are the benchmark. In Scotland our position has been greatly strengthened by the Public Library Quality Improvement Matrix, supported by government, for which once again this Institute must thank SLIC, but a lot remains to be done to actionalise PLQIM.

Many current innovations strike at one of the historic core roles of librarians: as organisers of and gatekeepers to knowledge. I used Google to research for this paper, not a library. We seem to have a substantial body of opinion which says if you have access to Google, you get accurate, balanced usable information. No, you do get such information, but it’s embedded in dross, or exaggeration or unacceptable bias.

And yet, and yet… I’m more than optimistic about the future for libraries and the members of CILIPS.

Recently I was invited to a presentation by the SFA at the Scottish Parliament. It was a fantastic, slick presentation. They started with a film of great Scottish goals: three of them were in colour! The message they wanted to get over was how successful their engagement with grassroots football has been and it was a story to be proud of: they now have 115,000 registered players.

And yet, and yet… After years of cuts, latest figures show that about 22% of the population are active library users in Scotland, that’s about a million people. And that there were just under 28.5 million visits to libraries in Scotland: that’s more than the annual ground attendance at the entire Scottish professional football set up. By a considerable margin. And that over 60% of the population use library services regularly. And then of course, there were an additional 10,400,000 virtual visitors to libraries.

We build from a solid base both of use, which we can prove, and a sentiment which is harder to prove, until you try to shut a community library. Roy Clare, CEO of the Museums, Libraries & Archives Council, in his paper to this conference, was absolutely right: we need to sharpen our knowledge and presentation of the measurable impact which libraries make on the economy, on social cohesion and on myriad other government priorities. Challenge and change always bring innovation – that’s the key issue for us as a profession. It’s an opportunity not a threat.

We already see the innovation that the changing environment brings. Our sector is alive with new or re-invented or improved initiatives. One of the most prominent of these for me, on an organisational level, is the PLQIM . Here’s a tool which allows an assessment which is meaningful to politicians to the most senior management and to the Scottish Government. It’s focused on outcomes; it’s a vibrant tool for use in corporate discussion of services.

I see individual projects of excellence, such as Sighthill’s positive response to social challenges, proving the library as a cost-efficient social and personal regeneration vehicle. I see Penicuik’s new library exploiting co-location with Sports and Education. I see Abertay, John Wheatley, our NHS libraries, West Lothian, Highland and more, all innovating.

But there is a need for much more, a need which can – must – be fulfilled by you. We have a need for more innovative ways of gaining access to new or redirected sources of funding, for new outcome-focused models of delivery. We need to exploit these sources of funding to release the creativity and energy of our staff. There is a jewel of such a project, on a small scale, close to this conference venue: Kelso’s Readers’ Garden. Initiated by local staff who love their community, supported by management who trust their frontline people, partnered by local community resources and underpinned by Lottery money.

But we also need to look at our skills base and the assumptions we have made in what our professional qualifications fit us for. When I first came into local government the Director of Library Services was a second tier official. My Library and Information Services Librarian, every bit as gifted, is now a fifth tier officer.

I’m increasingly struck by the common attitudes, knowledge and skills of the successful leaders of Library, Museum, Community Learning, Archives, Sports, Parks, Recreation and Arts services. As management structures flatten, the fitting of successful librarians for senior positions in multidisciplinary organisations seems to me to be a crucial part of professional preparation if influence and a knowledge of the multi-user solution which the library service can be, is not to be lost.

We are all familiar with the Tutor-Librarian: do we not need to be just as comfortable with the Librarian/Community Worker, the Sports Development/ Librarian or the Community Arts/Librarian? Parity of esteem, flexibility, innovation, change initiators, that’s what I look for in all levels of staff. A customer focus, marketeering, energy, doing it different and changing and rechanging the ‘it’ are what gets you motoring down that highway.

This need to sharpen is heightened by the Scottish Government’s recasting of its relationship with other publicly-funded bodies. The Scottish Government through the Single Outcome Agreements has ensured that Scottish national priorities now, in potential, achieve a consistency in desired outcome locally, which has never been achieved before.

Allow me to read part of a letter I have recently received from Alex Salmond, First Minister of Scotland:
“I am pleased that the Scottish library sector is at the forefront of current thinking about modern library services, particularly in the increasingly important field of digitisation. It is a matter of national pride that Scotland has so many library and information services and that the staff of these services, and their initiatives, are well-respected amongst the international profession…
“Local authorities throughout Scotland are bringing forward new ideas to re-invigorate and modernise the public libraries service. SLIC is strongly supporting this activity with financial help from the Scottish Government. It is encouraging to see local libraries playing a major role in the lives of Scottish people, promoting employment skills and computer skills – and of course promoting reading to provide a lifetime of enjoyment and benefit…”

And so, we, you, are, through the good work of CILIPS, SLIC, library professionals, you yourselves, recognised in the highest government circles as being an example of excellence and innovation. You are providers of solutions.

The road set out is clear: increasing interweaving of Scottish Government priorities and local priorities. For us as a profession this has been foreseen. Bob McKee, the Chief Executive of CILIP, wrote in 2002:
“Scotland is different. The different legislative and administrative context of libraries in Scotland is now underpinned by political devolution and the likelihood that over time the policy context of library services in Scotland will diverge from the policy context in England.”

I started this talk by citing the continuity between 1908 and 2008. There are similar continuities between the 1930s and today. The affiliation of the then SLA, with the LA saw a merging of common interests for a common good, and the retention of autonomy. Such partnerships are never without their ‘challenges’. As Bob has written:
“This state of interdependence does not mean that relations between the LA and SLA since the union of 1931 have been harmonious. On occasion there has been friction usually because a document or policy has emanated from the LA in London without taking due account of the situation in Scotland.”
We are an affiliated body of CILIP, with a primary duty of ensuring that the interests of library and information professionals in Scotland are optimised within Scotland’s distinctive cultural, legal policy and legislative environment. That provides the sure and solid basis for co-ordination with our colleagues in the other three home nations.

To use in a Scottish context and in a library setting, words emanating from across the North Channel, Scotland is “a nation once again”. The policy context, as shown in the Single Outcome Agreements and perhaps even now, the concept of cultural entitlements, is moving apart. It will continue to move apart. The divergence of that movement can be seen also in our sister nations of Wales and Northern Ireland and England. We are operating in a federal state. As such we can no more be a branch of CILIP than can the Library Association of Alabama be a branch of the Library Association of Vermont. We are not and never have been a branch of the LA or CILIP, we are the Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals IN Scotland affiliated with CILIP.

We need to build on the common interests of the professional bodies in all the kingdoms and principalities and provinces of these islands. But anything which militates against CILIPS’ primary duty to its members is not acceptable, whether that be in financial and staffing resources, in structures and governance or in responsiveness to the new, invigorated sources of legislative power that now exist.

Last year your then president noted that your Council and under Council’s instructions, your officers were engaged in robust discussions with CILIP UK on governance issues. These discussions continue. I hope for the continued unity of our profession that they will reach a mutually satisfactory conclusion… soon. I was brought up as a union man, I suppose you could put that another way and say I’m a unionist. But, things change: I’m no longer a member of a trades union.

As two of the three best poets to come out of England in the last 50 years have written:
“You can’t always get what you want,
But if you try sometimes,
You just might find
You get what you need.”

Your Council has innovated by contacting members directly to get views on what you want from CILIPS. That information, along with the views of the representatives to CILIPS Council, forms a key part of the policy underpinning our discussions with CILIP. What is also needed is your energy and engagement, your involvement in governance. Don’t step off the highway. Don’t be an “Aye Bin”.

Colleagues, my theme today has been regeneration. Of a country, of services and of a profession. The sub-plot has been about the opportunities which our time of change provides. We are at a crucial time, we are at an exciting time. It’s an interesting time. We are the people who must provide the solutions. Our predecessors have given us an honourable professional past. Make sure that people 100 years from now can say the same of us.

Information Scotland Vol. 6(3) June 2008

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