Last night I attended a meeting of East Branch at the National Library of Scotland in Edinburgh. I really enjoy these "Meet the President" events. Again it was lovely to meet friends old and new and, yes, of course there was a good number of former RGIT/RGU graduates in the audience and it was lovely to catch up with them. Thank you so much to everyone at East Branch for making me feel so welcome.
I spoke a little bit about my own background and how honoured I am to be the CILIPS President for 2012 and also spoke about the theme of Enriching Society and how it is so important that we talk ourselves out of time of difficulties rather than talk ourselves into more It is so important that we are positive and upbeat about our profession and about the role, value and impact that libraries have on communities and individuals.
I mentioned some of the visits that I have made of recent months, in particular the trip of North Ayrshire which I have blogged about previously. I mentioned some of the really inspiring things I've seen and people I've met and how each of these visits demonstrates, very visibly, the role that libraries play in communities and how valued they are by the public. I also mentioned how libraries (in every sector) were doing lifelong learning and social inclusion long before these terms were consciously applied by those formulating the policy agenda. In fact, both of these concepts are actually fundamental to what we have always done.
To illustrate this, I mentioned John Miller who has researched extensively the Lithuanian community in Scotland and continues to do so although well into eighties (and I'm sure he won't mind me saying that). Mr Miller has directed his own investigations, become an adept researcher and writer and has used libraries fantastically to pursue his interests. He is for me one of the best examples of a lifelong learner, highly motivated, passionate and dedicated to his subject. He is also a wonderful ambassador of his library service and, indeed, a great advocate for everything it does.
As you will imagine, East Branch members had lots of other inspiring examples of things that we've done and people whose lives have been transformed by libraries or librarians. We spoke a lot in the discussion afterwards about how much of a hindrance that the stereotype of librarians is. We also discussed the other fundamental truth of our profession that although a love of books and reading is really, really important, our profession is all about people and that being people person is a key to success as a librarian.
I really enjoyed last night so thank you East Branch once again.
Sometimes, dear readers, your President has moments when he thinks "what have I really done to be worthy of being the CILIPS President" and the old adage "those who can, do and those who can't teach" floods into my mind. In such moments, I'm also reminded of a story about the 2nd Duke of Wellington, the son of the hero of Waterloo. He remarked days after the death of his father: "Imagine people's reaction when they announce "The Duke of Wellington" and only I walk in".
These thoughts are particularly the case when I hear of the excellent things going on in so many different parts of our profession and the enthusiasm with which library and information professionals approach their work. "I love my job" was a phrase I heard several times at East Branch last night and that's just so cool.
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