Council Briefings: April 2008 [Longish posting]
The new
Council met yesterday for the 4th time, and now that we have been
able to set up our blog and forum, here – as promised – is a short report on
our current work. In due course, members will be able to read the full Minutes
on the CILIP website.
In my
introductory post, I set out the dates for future meetings – in June we are in Cardiff as guests of CILIP Cymru and it now
looks as if we may have second out-of-London meeting – we are trying to
organise the September meeting in Liverpool.
We had a
very full agenda yesterday; what follows are notes on the most important
business covered.
- Following earlier discussions,
an International Task and Finish Group has been set up with 6 members.
- Council has been aware of concern
from Groups and Branches as to their access to members’ details and this
issue was discussed sympathetically and at length in the light of the
project already underway to improve the ICT infrastructure – CILIP has new
Database and ICT Managers in post, and an ICT Project Board with agreed
terms of reference has already met twice. (There is a short report by the
Project Board in the CILIP Update
which members will receive this week.)
- In previous years there has
been preliminary (and unfinished) work to unify Branch and Group Rules,
and the Governance Task Force and Implementation Group recognised that
this would remain a requirement under the new governance. Council has now set
up a small Task and Finish Group to work on this – ‘plain English’ and
consistency are to be the key words.
- A second Task and Finish Group
has been set up to consider all of the issues surrounding future funding
for Branches and Groups, to report back in July or September.
- Work on a Corporate
Communications Strategy is progressing and the May Council will receive a
scoping document for discussion.
- In previous Council meetings,
the Framework of
Qualifications and Accreditation Review (FoQA – see http://www.cilip.org.uk/qualificationschartership/foqareview.htm)
was established with a Steering Group, which has now had two meetings and is
liaising with the ICT Project Board as some of the FoQA requirements will
have ramifications for ICT. A dissemination strategy for the Group’s
report has been agreed.
- The
Encompass Initiative: Towards an Inclusive Profession – picking up on
threads in the CILIP Corporate Plan – was presented and a pilot Positive
Action Training Scheme for Public Libraries in England
was approved unanimously by Council.
- Colleagues
will recall that under the new governance structure the Policy Forum is –
as its name implies – the source of policy recommendations, and Council
received, through the Forum’s Chair, CILIP Vice-President Peter
Griffiths, recommendations following from their first
meeting. Council was unanimous in adopting a Policy Statement on Libraries
and Learning; and in approving an Action Plan to Support Learning and work
to establish an appropriate evidence base.
- Councillors
have been concerned that they should receive appropriate training as
Trustees of CILIP and work has begun to develop a programme of training
for this and future Councils.
- Finally,
Council reviewed and approved ongoing work being undertaken in the area of
professionalism in the profession.
This is a necessarily brief overview of the main points
discussed yesterday I hope colleagues find it useful.
Notes
CILIP: the Chartered Institute of
Library and Information Professionals is the leading professional body for
librarians, information specialists and knowledge managers. It forms a
community of around 36,000 people engaged in library and information work, of
whom around 21,000 are CILIP members and around 15,000 are regular customers of
CILIP Enterprises.
CILIP Council is the body of
Trustees responsible for the good governance of CILIP, and these briefings are
a means of reporting back to the community on our activities.