CPD 23 Thing 16: Advocacy, speaking up for the profession and getting published

Thing 16: Advocacy, speaking up for the profession and getting published looked at what can be done to stop library closures and to underline libraries importance in an information economy. Laura discussed such area as the #savethelibraries hashtag, the Voices for the Library and CILIP amongst others. Laura also pointed out:-

Unfortunately it's very hard for public library staff to campaign for their own sector without risking their jobs, so it's very important for people outside of public libraries (and within, where possible) to shout about the role of public libraries and talk about why they're more relevant than ever.

She then looked at what might be needed to become an advocate such as a campaigning toolkit amongst other things.

She also looked at things to Do to become an advocate. Her recommendations where :-

There's plenty you can do to incorporate advocacy into your day-to-day life; the hardest part is working out how. For this Thing:

Consider why it's important to advocate for the section of library and information sector that you work for or want to work in.
Have a think about what advocacy you've been involved in. Give examples so we can pool resources and inspire others to do the same. Or, give an example of some advocacy that you think has been particularly effective – library-related or otherwise.
If you haven't been involved in advocacy, reflect on what your skills are (or which you want to develop), what you're most passionate about and think about what you might be able to do.
If you're passionate about public libraries and want to help – let Voices for the Library know! We're keen to get more people involved with things like asking organisations and well-known figures for supporting statements, securing sponsorship, liaising with other campaigning bodies and representing us at events.
If you've got any potential content for That's Not Online! let Jacqueline know.
Think about where advocacy fits in with professionalism – maybe comment on Johanna's blog post about Activism, Advocacy and Professional Identity or if you can get hold of any, look at some job descriptions and identify where you think the advocacy might fit within the requirements of the roles.


Ihave done some advocacy. Very lazy advocacy. This was setting up voices for the library wikipedia page.

CPD Thing 12: Mentoring : Puting the social in social media

Well, here is number 12. Bit quick the other one. Part 12 looked at social media within the library and information roles. The article looked at how originally had gone from 100 participants to 750 due to social media.

For Thing 12 I would like you to consider the role of social media in building up networks and a sense of community. Possible areas to consider are:

are there any other advantages to social networking in the context of professional development than those already outlined above?

can you think of any disadvantages?

has CPD23 helped you to make contact with others that you would not have had contact with normally?

did you already use social media for your career development before starting CPD23?

Will you keep using it after the programme has finished?

in your opinion does social networking really help to foster a sense of community?

So, lets go through these one at a time.


1. are there any other advantages to social networking in the context of professional development than those already outlined above?

Social networking can assist with work. For example, creating a work a wiki for depatments to provide how people do things at work (so a form of intranet).

2. can you think of any disadvantages?

The disadvantage with social media are many told. Social media can create people sign up for things and doing nothing with them. Examples, I have many. I have a twitter and Blog. The thing with signing up for both these is having to follow twitter feeds and other blogs to keep up to date. So investment of time is extremely important.
Also, the problem with social media is its easy to promise to do something and not do anything. Whilst if you promise to do something verbally you are more likely to follow it through (or should do in my opinion).

3. did you already use social media for your career development before starting CPD23? As said above i've a blog and twitter account. I've also a youtube channel.

4. Will you keep using it after the programme has finished? I certainly hope. Dependent on time.

5. in your opinion does social networking really help to foster a sense of community? I think social media can help. Note the success Voices for the Library.

CILIP London: Voices for the Library: a new model for library advocacy at The Sekforde Arms Hashtag

As mentioned previously in this blog, Tom Roper will be talking at the Sekforde Arms. I mentioned in the post, that at the time there was no hashtag. Tom quickly responded by saying it might be worth using #vftlciliplond as the hashtag. Thanks Tom. I'm hoping to be there, but workuing until 6.00pm.

Gary Green to have keynote speech at Pancakes and Mash

Gary Green is the Keynote speech Lincoln's Pancakes and Mash. The speech, entitled Loud Library Voices: Campaigning, The Web, Journalists & The Offline World, will look at the his work at Voices for the library. The rest of the event will look practical mashing session about using Web 2.0 tools to help save libraries.