Phil Bradley's weblog

CILIP the err.. library and information association.

I noticed a tweet today:

Librarian game time: Go onto @cilipinfo site (https://t.co/1kFAdSfTjM) and, without using Search, try and find the acronym "CILIP" defined.

— Phil Gorman (@philbgorman) February 28, 2017

He's quite right. It's very difficult to find, and I was only able to see 'Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals' in the title of the site and in some images. In fact, if you look a bit further, it seems to have changed its name. And the logo. And the colour of the logo. And the font...

It appears that the 'Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals' no longer exists. No discussion, no voting, no long, angry meetings, nothing. It's an impressively soft launch. And when I say 'soft launch' I mean 'let's not mention it to *anyone*' and see how long it takes them to notice. I am in quiet hysterics here, I really am. All that pain, anguish and quite honestly pure hatred of a few years ago, and for what? I'm sure someone is going to mention the new abbreviation could be LAIA, which is pretty close to La-la, but I'm only doing it because someone is going to, and it may as well be me.

I actually like the strapline - it's got 'library' and 'information' in there, so it's good for those that like to hark back to our roots and look forward. I'm less impressed with the logo, with it's clipped right corner which is not clever branding or artistic; it's just irritatingly sloppy. The blue is best described as 'meh-blue', because it's neither one thing or another, but hey, anything is better than that god awful pink, right? And of course, it IS just a strapline. CILIP remains, but is now a pointless acronym for a phrase that doesn't exist any more. Necessary, because the 'Chartered' bit is very important, and there's only so far that you can go without involving the Privy Council, or consulting members of course. So, if you want, you can still argue that CILIP retains the name CILIP, but as for what that means, well, that's an entirely different story.

I'm already imagining the conversations - 'Yes, I'm from CILIP, the library and information association'. 'Oh right, so what's CILIP then?' 'Well, umm, it's er... well, the library and information association'. 'So what does CILIP stand for?' 'Well, we don't like to talk about it really...' That conversation could run and run.

I'm fully expecting all of the people who took up arms last time around to do so this time. After all, last time, there were consultations galore, this time it's more a case of 'we're doing this and hoping to keep it quiet', so Nick Poole had best be on the look out for flaming brands and pitchforks outside of Ridgmount Street. It's ok - I checked, they haven't moved the offices to Harrogate or the Outer Hebrides, it's still in the same place. And there's still a President, so that's ok. Though, given the way this was done... who knows?

I'm happy with the changes; it certainly works for me. I'm slightly less happy with the fait accompli nature though. Seriously - not a single communication? Not even an update anywhere? Not a news item? Nothing? That does tend to smack of arrogance and a 'f*ck you' attitude and complete disregard for the member vote we had on the name change a few years back. If I'd argued against it, and voted against it, I would be hopping mad right now, and I'm just wondering if CILIP Council is hoping that people are just too damn tired, scared, worried about other things and worn out to do anything - perhaps the most we'll see is a quiet little 'meh, whatevs' response. But in general....

Well played, Library and Information Association. Well played. I shall now get myself a bucket of popcorn, sit back and crank Twitter up to 11. 

The launch of my new training courses

Phil Bradley Training is being launched on Friday 7th October with two courses held in a central London location.

Earlier this year I sent out a survey asking what kind of training you wanted Many of you were kind enough to send me your thoughts. Since then, I’ve been developing what I hope will be a new type of training experience - effective, flexible, affordable – and designed to ‘last for life’.

What’s on offer?
• Two courses available on the day; Advanced Internet Search and Apps for Librarians. Choose one or both, morning or afternoon
• Each course is two and a half hours long
• After you have booked I’ll send details on how you can access the training videos, each covering a tool, a technique or a process The courses have between 5.30 and 6.30 hours worth of video training. You don’t need to wait for the day of the course to start learning!
• Videos will be constantly updated and enhanced as tools change and new ideas/products develop. New videos will be added on a regular basis, keeping you up to date with news and developments
• Access to a dynamic community of fellow learners
• Access to online video chats and text chats with me

Course details
Apps for Librarians
This course will look at a variety of different apps that
information professionals can use in their daily work. It covers browsers, search engines, productivity tools, scanning apps, creatingmultimedia resources, guiding tools, reference and news apps. Although I’ll be using an iOS device, the course will also work if you use Android apps. Delegates will be able to explore these tools, work together, try things out, and learn practical things to help them in their jobs.

Advanced Internet Searching
This course will cover exactly what you would expect. How to search the internet quickly and effectively using both
Google and a variety of other search engines. Delegates will learn how to get the best out of Google, and will also have an opportunity to explore other search engines. Videos in the series will look at ways to do other advanced searches, such as reverse image look up, in-depth data mining, and in-depth looks at many different search engines.

Each course will cost £99, including access to the videos, community and chats.
You can find out more about the courses at http://philbradleytraining.weebly.com/ where you can also book your session, or you can just book straight away at https://billetto.co.uk/en/events/philbradley

If you've got any queries or questions, please let me know! I'm really excited about this - I hope that we can start to properly break away from the 'traditional' form of one day training - it certainly has and will continue to have an important place in how we learn, but I think it's time for more flexibility!

Phil.

My Library By Right revisted; SCL ducks out

You will of course have seen blogs and tweets and discussions on the the 'My Library by Right' petition. If you haven't signed it yet, please do. It's currently got 11,279 signatures, which while its an improvement on the 6K I ranted about in my last blog post on the subject still isn't every single member of CILIP! It's still fairly feeble in my opinion, but don't worry - for those of you with a nervous disposition I shan't be swearing in this update. 

It's disappointing that the Society of Chief Librarians has failed miserably to support the campaign. I tweeted them a while ago to ask what they were doing, and their response was basically that they hadn't met to talk about it (quite why they can't use email or video conferencing is a bit beyond me, but there you go), and they were going to have to consider it. Well, now they have. On their website, under the title 'SCL's commitment to library services' they say this:

As a body largely comprising representation from local authorities, SCL recognises that it is for individuals and their local authorities to provide local responses to the My Library By Right campaign.

In other words it's a case of 'Not my problem mate, and it's more than my jobs worth'. There's plenty of very pointless fluff surrounding the statement, which when you consider what they are being asked to support is laughably contradictory. Try this paragraph:

For its part, SCL continues its work on an ambitious programme of innovation to further develop and embed the Universal Offers; supporting our workforce to deliver vibrant library services; building national and local partnerships that enable library services to contribute to relevant policy agenda, particularly those around economic development and health and wellbeing and contributing to the evolution of the Libraries Taskforce.

So how are they going to do that when there aren't any libraries left? These are all very grand eloquent words, but they are backed up by nothing at all. They are not even offering a guide to individuals and local authorities - they have simply washed their hands of the whole situation. There's nothing directly linking to the petition on their website, and the only other reference is from the blog of the President, which says this:

I completely understand that some people would have liked SCL to have signed up to CILIP’s My Library By Right campaign but, as our members know, SCL is not, and never has been, a campaigning body as the great majority of us – the Heads of Library Services across the country – are officers in local authorities, many in politically restricted posts.

This is woeful at best. This is only a political campaign in the very broadest of senses, since the focus is on keeping a strong and powerful library service - a 'vibrant library service' in SCL's own words, to contribute to the wellbeing of communities. Local councils of all colours are cutting libraries; if it was just one political party the SCL may have a point, but they don't. They're not even prepared to say 'it's a good idea, and we're entirely behind it, but can't be any more official than that'. They're not being asked to be a campaigning body - no-one is asking them to go out on the streets and man the barricades (just as well really) they are being asked to support people who ARE campaigning.

Librarians, libraries, and communities are being let down by the SCL refusal to support them.  With friends like these, who needs enemies?

Really angry...

I'm usually fairly easy going, and not much gets to me. However, I'm really angry at the moment, so this is your warning; the blog will not be a nice read for some/many.

There's a petition out at the moment, "HM Government: act now to protect my statutory rights to a quality public library service" However, it would seem that most library and information professionals don't give a flying f* about it. 'What's that?' you say 'Of course librarians want to save their library services, not to mention all of the friends groups out there!' You can read more about the petition/campaign over on the CILIP site. The campaign started on December 15th, and to date the petition has 6,133 supporters.

6,133. 

In. a. month.

Some people seem to think that this is rather good, however, I think it's pathetic, derisory and damaging. That's about 230 people a day signing it. CILIP itself has over 13,000 members, and they will all have seen information on the campaign as it has featured heavily in Update. Let's make a wild guess here, and say that each member knows 4 people well enough to get them to sign it. That's 52,000 people, which is half way to getting the thing debated in Parliament. If each of those people who have signed it know another person and can get them to sign it, we're at a reasonable figure.

6,133.

In. a. month.

But apparently not. Apparently not enough people care about their library services to give 5 minutes (or less!) to signing the petition. I apologise to the 6,132 other people who have signed this, because you're excluded. But for the rest of you - what the fuck are you doing? I've got 10,000 people following my Twitter account, and yes, a lot of those are overseas etc, but if each one who could sign the petition did, and encouraged one other person to sign it, that figure would be looking a little bit healthier.

I've taken a look at a few accounts on social media from Friends groups, other librarians, other library groups, special library groups, CILIP groups and so on. Deafening. Seriously, you wouldn't know that there's a problem, let alone that there's a petition that people could sign. Apparently most of you don't give a fuck. THAT's why I'm angry. 

Of course, there are a number of reasons why people have chosen not to sign the petition. Let's take a look at a few of them.

'It's CILIP. Too little, too late'. I get that, but NOT to support a petition to save libraries because CILIP started it is about as pathetic as it gets. Yes, CILIP is late to the party in this respect, though it has done some great stuff with previous campaigns, #Savelibraries and so on. However, it IS doing something now. If you're in that camp (and I can think of at least one high profile group that is) pull your fingers out, grow up and start signing. Get more people to sign it. Not signing isn't telling CILIP what you think of them, it's telling the government that you're quite happy for them to close as many libraries as they want.

'I'm afraid that someone might see that I've put my name to it'. Doesn't work that way, and even if it did, if there are enough signatures yours is going to be lost in the mix. And to be honest, if you are too scared to sign it, then you deserve to see your library closed and your job lost. 

'I don't have time'. 5 minutes or less. Doesn't wash.

'Oh, someone else can do it'. Yeah, and someone else can save your library as well. But what if they don't? What if, as seems likely at the moment, every one is passing the buck? Everyone is expecting someone else to do it, so nothing happens. Which is pretty much the case that we've got here. 

6,133.

In. a. month,

Maybe it's simply not reaching the number of people that it needs to. We ALL need to start sharing details on the petition more than we have, and I'll hold my hand up to this one - I've only done so a few times on Facebook and Twitter, so you're going to be seeing much more of it from me in the future. And I hope that I'll see much more of it from all of you as well! Have YOU shared it? I'm guessing probably not, since I haven't been bored witless yet by seeing references to it. Put it into your own Twitter stream, write about it in your blog, share the hell out of it on Facebook. Thrust it under the face of everyone that you know, march them over to their computer(s) and get them to sign it today. We are an information profession. We should be able to do this stuff without even thinking - it's dead easy.

Having said that, there's been high profile support from authors such as Neil Gaiman, bless his heart. And it's been mentioned in The Bookseller, and in the national press. It's not as though it's an invisible campaign. 

'Bit worried about my employer finding out.' They don't need to know you signed, and besides you should be telling your boss that they bloody well need to be signing it as well. Because at this rate, your boss isn't going to be your boss much longer, they are going to be standing in front of you in the dole queue. 

Can't think of many other reasons right now to be honest - but if there's a good reason why you're not prepared to sign it, do let me know in the comments, because I would love to know.

Why is it important to sign it?

If you choose not to sign it, you're covertly giving the government more permission to close libraries. They look at this petition, Vaizey, Cameron, Whittingdale and the rest of the sorry crew are going to be laughing their socks off. If all we can manage is 6,000 signatures it's basically saying that we don't care. Rather than stopping them in their tracks, it's going to be encouraging them to do even MORE to close libraries because they think they can get away with it. And you know what - they'll probably be right, because if most of you can't be bothered to get up off your backsides and even just sign a petition, you're not likely to do anything else, let's face it. 

So I'm angry, and quite frankly, you should be as well. 6,000 signatures is pathetic. It's making the entire profession look like a laughing stock, and it's giving the government a green light to do whatever they want. And if you're angry, do something about it. Sign the petition. And if you've already signed it, get two more people to sign it. Ask your loved one, your siblings, your parents and your adult children to sign it. If you're cross with me, then show me just how cross you are and tweet a link to the petition. Share it on Facebook. Print copies of the details off and leave them in your staff rooms. Then next week, do it again. And again. Rinse and repeat until we get something that's not quite as pathetic as 6,133 signatures. 

6,133

In. a. month.

For fucks sake.

Edited to add: Apparently my language is 'vile'. Yes, it is. It's because I'm angry, and sometimes language like that makes a very strong point. However, at least one person has it would seem decided not to sign the petition because she doesn't approve of it. I'm not entirely sure how to respond to such a pathetic and infantile approach, but will have a go. If you think my language is worse than 2 libraries closing a week, get over it. If, as it seems is the case, that you're not signing because you want to spite me for my use of language, then you're part of the problem. 

CILIP shows some teeth

I was delighted to see an article in the Guardian today "Librarians take legal battle against library closures to government". It's a report that CILIP is taking a strong and robust line against library closures. Nice fighting talk from Nick Poole, CILIP CEO "“We’ve had enough. We’ve marked our line in the sand here. The government is behaving as if it doesn’t have a duty of care and they do, under the law. We think it’s time to be clear about what that means”" You may recall that I was critical of CILIP's weak statement to the Prime Minister back in November. I said then "We should not stand politely at the door of Number 10 hoping to be noticed by one of the PM's aides. We need to be there hammering on the door, demanding to be let it. If we don't show the passion, if we don't shout louder and louder, if we don't make it clear to our communities that we are fighting for them then we deserve to lose everything we have." so I'm really pleased to see this step being taken. 

There is also a petition that people can sign. I know that petitions have little value, but given that it's only going to take 10 seconds of your time, it's worth doing. It's also worth doing in order to show that you support the action that CILIP is taking here. If I, or anyone else is critical of CILIP it also behooves us to be positive as well. So toddle along and sign it at Change.org. While you're here, it's worth also adding that there will be a lobby of Parliament on Feb. 9th next year, so it's worth making a note in your calendar to that effect. 

Attacks on encryption still on the menu

In the wake of the awful events in Paris there is a renewed interest in trying to attack internet resources that encrypt our conversations. Despite what organisations such as #CILIP would try and have you believe there's still a great appetite to try and stop encryption. In the United States John McCain is keen to introduce legislation that would require companies to provide the government with access to encryption. It's worth saying time and time again that it's technically impossible to provide a back door to encryption that can be used by security services which can't be broken into by crooks. 

Meanwhile back in the UK Boris Johnson is weighing in on the debate. He wants the government to fast track the Investigatory Powers Bill (which isn't going to give people much time to debate and consider the consequences). He also said “I have less and less sympathy with those who oppose the new surveillance powers that the government would like to give the security services.” Basically then, people who support freedom and liberty are being tarred with the same brush as the terrorists who want to destroy it. Laughably, he was also quoted as saying "I would like a better understanding of how so many operatives were able to conspire, and attack multiple locations, without some of their electronic chatter reaching the ears of the police.” He's therefore quite happy to pontificate about the subject without knowing anything at all about it. 

We need to ensure that we keep a close eye on what the government is trying to do, and as information professionals I believe that we have a moral and ethical duty to keep raising the subject as often as necessary.

 

International Games day @your library

The board games group of which I am a member held a nice little event at Billericay Library on Saturday, to coincide with the aforementioned Day. We were given the use of four tables, and we had Castle Panic, Settlers of Catan, Ticket to Ride and Tsuru set up for people to play. The event lasted from 10am - 2pm. It was well attended - as you can see, there were mainly children involved (since they don't come with either a manual or a rulebook I stayed well away from them), but some adults did turn up as well. It was a really nice event, and no-one seemed to mind the children having a slightly noisy time of it!

I spent a lot of time talking to the librarian, Graham. Absolutely fantastic librarian, and I really enjoyed our chat. He explained that he was very keen to see the library being used far more by the local community - we already have a pop-up cinema after hours which shows a variety of films for family audiences, as well as evening 15+ rated films for the adults. The library also runs a very successful yoga class after closing time as well. Graham was open to the idea of having a games morning for children on Saturdays as well. I absolutely loved his enthusiasm - I should say that even though it was his day off he came in with his daughter to play and take part. While he was there he was greeted by library users as though he was an old friend. Graham is really keen to see the library as a focal point in the community, and his work was a great example of “Bad Libraries build collections. Good libraries build services. Great libraries build Communities”

Great day, great initiative, all made possible by a welcoming, encouraging and enthusiastic librarian. :)

 

CILIP's weak statement to the Prime Minister

In the wake of the realization that the Prime Minister has no idea what's happening in his own back yard, let alone the rest of the country, CILIP has written to him to develop publicly funded libraries. It's a good time to really push home the message that Cameron doesn't want to hear, which is that the library service is in extreme danger.

However, having read the statement, I have to say that I think it's not going to have the desired effect, not by a long way. You can read the entire thing yourself by following the previous link, but I'll pull out some of the statements in order to examine them in a little more detail. Nick Poole (who I have a huge amount of respect for) says:

"The impact of reductions in centrally-distributed funds to Local Government has already been profound for the Nation’s publicly-funded libraries and is likely to become critical after the Budget statement on the 25th November."

Passive, passive, passive. It WILL become even more critical than it already is. We are already in a situation where hollowed out services give the impression that library services are managing when in actual fact they are being destroyed from the inside out. The Prime Minister needs to understand that a volunteer run library is not a library. He further needs to understand that an attack on a library is a direct attack on the people within the community - the children who need to get their homework done in the library because they don't have one at school - the library as a safe place for people without any where else - the refugees learning English, the unemployed, the people without computer access at home who rely on a library service to give them a window into the world. The Prime Minister needs to be reminded of Birmingham's Central Library, and how that is being damaged so soon after it's opening. The Prime Minister isn't interested 'profound' or 'likely' - he works on extremes. We need to make it crystal clear that under his government(s) the library service is being destroyed.

We continue:

"Our best estimates show that as many as 200 public libraries have closed since 2008 and many hundreds more are being forced to make short-term decisions to transition into community-led models the sustainability of which remains an open question without appropriate planning or support."

I'm sorry, but estimates don't mean much. Another weak statement. "200 and more public libraries have closed since 2008." Stronger, and more definite. Saying 'our best estimates' simply illustrates that CILIP doesn't actually KNOW how many libraries have closed. The PM is going to look at that and really wonder if we have any handle on what is happening at all. The phrase 'which remains an open question' again illustrates that we don't KNOW what's going to happen with volunteer, community led models. I'm sorry, but we do know exactly what's going to happen, because we've seen it happening time and time again. The libraries fail. Moving into 'community led models' doesn't save libraries, it merely delays their closure. This has to be spelled out in far stronger, more impassioned language.

Further on we go:

"1000’s of qualified librarians have either lost their jobs or find themselves at risk of redundancy – a permanent loss of professional skills that will do profound and lasting damage to Britain’s future as a globally-competitive Knowledge Economy." 

How many thousands? Rough estimates will not interest the Prime Minister. If we don't know, and I fully accept that it's virtually impossible to, we need a better figure and a stronger approach. The PM doesn't care about risks of redundancy - if he did he would have done something about it in other areas. No, no, no. We need to illustrate what happens when we lose librarians. 'The loss of skilled information professionals has already damaged library services and the communities they serve. If Britain is to compete in a future globally competitive Knowledge Economy we need more well trained professionals who can teach the general population, can assist local businesses make better and more informed choices, provide children with more access to the digital world. Librarians can help propel us forward, not only in a cultural sense, but in a very real economic sense. More professionals lead to a better, more powerful economy, while a reduction in their numbers leaves the entire country the weaker for it.'

More:

"I need hardly point out that the likely outcome of further significant savings passed on to Local Government in the Chancellor’s Autumn Budget will trigger an avalanche of short-term decisions and further redundancies and is likely to put the Public Library Network itself – long the beating heart of our communities, a foundation of Britain’s education, equality and social mobility and a central pillar of our economic future – at risk."

You do have to point it out, and do so strongly. Lose concepts like 'likely outcomes'. I'm not interested in likely - and neither is the PM. We are the professionals, CILIP is the body, and it needs to make it a damn sight clearer than likely. Tell it like it is CILIP! 'We will see further, and increasingly damaging cuts that cannot be reversed. Our education system has already been damaged by library closures, the equality and social mobility of our citizens is being reduced, and our local businesses are struggling to compete.'

More:

"While we recognise the Government’s aim to reduce public expenditure, it is essential to recognise that library services are often one of the smallest expenditure items in Council budgets but that they unlock a tremendous range of benefits including improved literacy and attainment, improved health and wellbeing, digital literacy and employability."

This is great, but if we're reminding the government about what it needs to do, let's make the point that Ed Vaizey isn't doing any of it. How about making it clear that he has done nothing to fight library closures, and moreover, he's not talking to CILIP. We all know *why* he isn't, but that's beside the point. The PM needs to know that decisions are being taken without proper consultation with the appropriate professional bodies. 

Further:

"...it is all too possible that the legacy of your Government may be a network of hollowed-out services, delivering only the most basic of library functions and failing to meet the reasonable expectations of the public."

Sorry CILIP - 'all too possible'? Get rid of that for starters. The legacy of the government will be hollowed out services, damaged communities, closed libraries that will never, ever open again, increased illiteracy and more citizens for whom a computer is a closed magical black box.

Nick then goes on to talk about some good stuff about working together to promote libraries, all of which is good stuff. However, there's another line here that just doesn't work:

"We urge you to work with the Chancellor, the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport and the Local Government Association to recognise the importance of libraries, to protect them as far as possible in the forthcoming budget"

That's the language of the defeated. Anything that's protected as far as possible isn't protected at all. Yes, I know that there are plenty of other services that are being wrecked, and that's appalling. However, we need to protect our own at this point. We need to state, in far, far stronger terms that not only do libraries need complete protection, but in order to create more jobs, better educated citizens, increased literacy (both written and digital), more confident communities, better informed local businesses we need to expand the library service. By starting with the assumption that we're going to be cut back it's inevitable that we will be. 

I understand that the language being used in the letter has to be tempered. However, I can also tell you that if Cameron actually reads what Nick has written I'd be astonished. It's going to get flung across to Vaizey who will then ignore it, or continue with the usual platitudes. We need strong, vibrant powerful language for everyone else. The letter needs to be in the Bookseller, professional press, local newspapers and so on. We need to demonstrate that we care about the library service, the information professionals and our communities. We need to be strident in pointing out that better library services lead to better communities, and every penny we put into a library service pays us back time and time again. We should not be ashamed or embarrassed of our passion. We should not stand politely at the door of Number 10 hoping to be noticed by one of the PM's aides. We need to be there hammering on the door, demanding to be let it. If we don't show the passion, if we don't shout louder and louder, if we don't make it clear to our communities that we are fighting for them then we deserve to lose everything we have.

CILIP - you need to do more. You need to be passionate. You need to be vocal. You need to be seen to be standing up - if not for the Prime Minister, but for your members, their library services, and most of all, for their communities.

Internet Librarian International 2015

Another excellent conference! #ili2015 was great fun - lots of really interesting talks, 2 great keynote speeches by David McCandless and Jodie Ginsburg and chats with people. I'm afraid that I didn't get much chance to sit in on talks that I wasn't moderating or otherwise involved with, but there was lots of really good feedback. 

My presentations are on Slideshare, and here's the links:

Changing world of search

'What Phil has found'

There was also a closing plenary session, based on the feedback given to the roving reporters, and I produced a quick Haiku Deck, which will make little sense unless you were there, but hey, it's there so may as well be shared. 

Oh dear, CILIP

Difficult to know quite where to start really. I'd missed out on this turmoil due to being unwell, and when I come back to look at Twitter et al there's a right old row going on. Let's start with the blog post at the centre of the row. 

"David Cameron’s vision of a “Greater Britain” is intertwined with creating a very British knowledge economy" I'm really not sure exactly what this means. It's a political comment and observation to start with, but I'm not sure what a 'very British knowledge economy' means. Unless it's the destruction of libraries, the encouragement of well meaning but untrained volunteers and so on. His vision is not my vision, and it's not the vision of the majority of people in this country. 

"Public libraries provide equal access to information and knowledge that underpins the drive for equality that the Prime Minister calls for. In communities, Universities, schools, prisons, healthcare and banking it is our professional skills that will unlock the transformative potential of this economy." I think that's the job of all libraries really, not just public libraries. Do public libraries provide equal access? Only in places where there are libraries. This government seems hellbent on reducing access without any care or concern about the people who need - not want, but need - their services. I agree that libraries are vitally important, but I'm less sure on what the 'transformative potential of this economy' means. Again, this seems to me to be a politically charged statement and observation. The way that the economy appears to being transformed is not to aid and assist and create equality - quite the opposite in fact. A library should be open for people to address issues that matter to them, to obtain information to bolster their cause, to inform and enlighten them. A strong democracy requires a strong, well educated population, and that doesn't happen by closing libraries.

"In many ways, he presented a more inclusive and liberal narrative than might have been expected from a Conservative  Government that came to power with a strong majority" Political commentary. We have a government that wants to implement greater control over the internet using the excuses of terrorism and child abuse, to reduce welfare and assistance, that wants to give the government greater control, not less. This is not an inclusive and liberal agenda. This is an agenda based on more power and more money for those who already have it at the expense of those that don't.

"For those of us engaged in advocating for the interests of library and information professionals, the speech is an opportunity to look at what we are already doing that can help the Government deliver on these key agendas, while flagging areas in which urgent support is needed through policy, intervention and investment." First of all, it's necessary to agree on what the Government wishes to deliver, before we are in a position to decide if we want to help them obtain it. I'm very uneasy with the idea of assisting the Government to continue down a road that is unremittingly anti professional, anti intellectual, anti poor, anti disabled and so on. I do however agree that we need to flag up areas where we feel that the Government is not doing well. This means that we - as a profession - need to take a political standpoint, and to define what that standpoint is. At the very least it is the protection of libraries, and the development of library services for those that need them most. With the best will in the world I cannot see how we can achieve that within the confines of the Government's agenda which is pro-austerity and anti library.

"The Prime Minister put social justice front and centre in Conservative policy, making a commitment to an “all out assault on poverty” and to promoting policy which would “finish the fight for real equality”." Politicians say a lot of things. Sometimes they actually mean a few of them. I don't believe that this is one of those times. I see nothing - NOTHING - to make me believe this. 

"CILIP is calling on the Government to make good on this commitment via policies which will promote the sustainability and accessibility of library services in communities across the country" This I agree with. We need to put our professionalism at the heart of everything that we do, our morals and ethics should reflect our concern for our users. It is OUR job to stand up and fight in whatever way we can for those who cannot do it themselves. We need to alert our users to restrictions on their freedoms, on the threats to their privacy and to protect them by providing them with as much information and power as we can. Not so that they can attack this or any other government - but so that they have the knowledge to decide for themselves on what best to do, be that to support to denounce what those we have put into power decide to do.

"Libraries and information services are central to this vision as community hubs, trusted public spaces, places for learning" The vision being referred to it a crusade to get more homes built and to create more communities. Are they central to that Conservative vision? If libraries are central to the vision for a better community, a more inclusive community, a more equal community then why are they not currently central to the development of local communities? Rather, instead of building an improving communities their closure is doing the exact opposite. Until the Prime Minister actually comes out and says that libraries are central to the vision of a better community, and proves it with actions, I doubt his interest in our profession or our role in society.

"CILIP’s members are committed to promoting information literacy skills for all." Yes, we are. However, we can only do that when we have those skills ourselves. We need to be expert in those areas, and that comes from good quality training. Clearly I have a particular bias at this point since I'm a trainer myself, but what I have seen is the wholesale destruction of professional training services, the piecemeal attempts to provide it by groups, the financial interests of third party trainers and the limited role that CILIP itself plays in training. I see a reduction in every area, and while the CILIP VLE is to be applauded, much more needs to be one. I know that I'm not the only person who is furious at seeing the Barclay's bank adverts for 'digital eagles'. It should be OUR job to do that, and OUR professional body taking a lead.

In the addendum to the blog post we see the comment:

"CILIP is non-partisan and politically-neutral". The blog post is actually very political, making assumptions about Tory policy, and aiming to assist the Government do whatever it is they are considering. I want statements that start from the position of the profession, and those of the clients and members of our libraries that we support. If we do believe in a " fair and economically prosperous society is underpinned by literacy, access to information and the transfer of knowledge" then we need to show it. We need to call out any government that does not fully match our vision and our view of the world. The government should exist to better the lives of its citizens, and it's role is to support US, it is not for us to act as poor cousins begging for scraps. We need to set out a vision, to criticize and praise as appropriate - that means acting politically, but it also means that we are neutral in that we put our beliefs front and centre, irrespective of which colour is in government. 

I'm disappointed in the entire tone of the CILIP blog post, not least because it appears to put the needs of the Government above those of the members and our users. Consequently, rather than just moaning on Twitter, speak up loudly in CILIPs 'Shape the Future' consultation, especially the questionnaire.