Council Briefing - Notes from the September Meeting
It seems a long time since I put together the last summary of Council business, but in between there has been a summer of sorts, the IFLA Congress in Quebec, and a lot of work behind the scenes: Task and Finish Group (TFG) meetings, and so on. Council came together again on Thursday 25th September, and so it is time to report back on some of the main topics.
At our last meeting we had asked for further work on the issues surrounding the use of members’ e-mail addresses by Branches and Groups – this work was undertaken by the Membership Support Unit and a report with four options was presented to us by Jill Martin. There was lengthy discussion focusing on the needs of Branches, Groups and the Celtic Nations, from which emerged the decision that two (rather than one) of the options – the initial provision by CILIP of a dedicated mailing service, backed up by a trial of exporting data from the CARE database in read-only format – would be taken forward. There are real issues surrounding data protection and liability which have to be addressed in whatever approach is taken, and the options agreed were seen as providing a satisfactory (from the members’ point of view) solution while offering CILIP a secure, manageable and cost-effective way forward.
The final report from the Framework of Qualifications and Accreditation Steering Group was also received and its recommendations unanimously accepted. The hard work undertaken by this Task and Finish Group has been a huge success, and will guide CILIP forward on such matters as revised documentation, the use of ICT to enhance candidate’s experience and to streamline the process, and a simplified fee structure.
The Task and Finish Group on Branch, Group and Celtic Nation Funding reported back on their opinion survey on options for future funding models; the responses had been diverse and often reflected strong views. There was agreement on the need for change but disagreement on what should be done, though there was support for the proposal to introduce a membership recruitment reward scheme. Respondents also clearly wanted a dialogue with the TFG, and Council agreed that time should be set aside for this at the scheduled meetings for Branch and Group honorary officers later in the autumn. In the interim no changes were proposed for 2009 in the funding mechanism; while the possibility of an increase in capitation would be considered in the budget discussions starting in November. Council also noted a statement on the rationale for the funding arrangements for CILIP's offices in the devolved administrations of Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland; this would be circulated to branches which had enquired about this subject and would be published on the web.
The Task and Finish Group on Branch and Group Regulations met two days before Council, and agreed on the need for clear and simple rules which are easy to use and understand; in the same vein they felt that it would be easier for Branches and Groups if each category was provided with a separate set of rules, despite the inevitable duplications that this would involve. The TFG noted that the arrangements pertaining to CILIP in the Celtic Nations are different to the arrangements pertaining in the English Branches, and thus separate consideration should be given to the regulations governing CILIP in each of the Celtic Nations. The TFG agreed that this lies outside their remit and is a matter to be taken forward by CILIP Council. The TFG worked through the existing Rules and agreed that the Chief Executive would produce a draft text, reflecting the views expressed by the TFG, by the end of October. Next Council (20th November) will receive a full report and there will then be full consultation with Branches and Groups on the proposed revised text with a view to finalising proposals in the Spring of 2009.
The Policy Forum (PF) met on 4th September at Ridgmount Street, and Peter Griffiths, as its Chair, reported on the meeting. PF recommended that Council should endorse the MLA Guidance on Dealing with Controversial Stock, while establishing a PF Task and Finish Group to produce guidance for library services on issues to do with access to information, privacy and surveillance. PF also recommended the endorsement of the Libraries and Public Health Policy Statement, but decided that further work was needed on the draft policy statement presented to them by the Joint International Task and Finish Group. The PF aligned itself with Council on debates over professionalism – acknowledging that their discussions and those of the Society of Chief Librarians and the more broadly-based discussions around changes to the Framework of Qualifications and Accreditation needed to be brought together to create an overall CILIP view on the nature of professionalism in the modern world. The next PF meeting is on 27th November.
In a wide-ranging agenda item on Advocacy, Council received and noted a policy statement on public libraries drafted by the Chief Executive, who also presented a more general “think piece” on Professionalism in a Post-Modern World, which he introduced to stimulate the future discussions on professionalism called for in-part by the PF. There was a general discussion on advocacy, including a review of a composite list of skills of professional librarians in public libraries resulting from the Society of Chief Librarians/CILIP Workshop on Professional Standards, and an update on dialogues with major stakeholders concerned with the Conway Report. The upcoming CILIP Public Library Authorities Conference 2008 – Culture Connects – 8th - 10th October (http://www.cilip.org.uk/groups/plg/pla2008/index.html) will be the source of much interesting debate! Following concerns expressed by a number of school librarians about the need for chartered librarians in schools, the CILIP School Libraries Summit in March evolved a set of action lines including the development of a web-based resource (http://www.cilip.org.uk/policyadvocacy/learning/Schools.htm), work to show where school librarians contribute to the new curriculum, and the development of an evidence base showing the contribution of school librarians/libraries to the quality and outcomes of learning. A delegation from CILIP will be meeting with the Training and Development Agency for Schools to ensure that it has a clear understanding of CILIP’s qualifications framework and the skills and knowledge of chartered school librarians. The CILIP/SCONUL Health Strategies Group (which reports to PF) has responded positively to Peter Hill’s “Report of A National Review of NHS health Library Services in England”. Finally in this area, Trustees agreed to work with Government Libraries & Information Group and the Office of the President to prepare a work plan linked to Information Matters, the Government's forthcoming strategy for improving professionalism in knowledge and information management.
CILIP
has recently negotiated an agreement with the Open University that will enable
CILIP members to claim a 10% discount for Open University continuing
professional development (CPD)courses. Many of the courses offered through the
OU CPD programme will be of specific interest and benefit to members working
towards CILIP qualifications, but are likely to appeal across the whole
membership. Details and a full up-to-date list of the OU CPD courses are
available at http://www.open.ac.uk/cpd.
Follow the “If you belong to a Professional Body” banner..
Trustees were also alerted to the re-design – following consultation with members – of the CILIP website home page, which will be launched at Members’ Day on 16th October (http://www.cilip.org.uk/training/membersday/).