This builds on the success of last year's conference, which was run by The Library Campaign and Voices for the Library, and on the success of the Speak up for Libraries lobby of Parliament in March.
Philip Ardagh and Bali Rai, both award winning authors and active, outspoken supporters of the save libraries campaign movement, will be guest speakers at the conference. There will also be an address by the President of CILIP, Phil Bradley, who gave an inspirational speech recently, which I followed via twitter.
Award-winning author, Alan Gibbons, who is also part of the SUFL coalition as well as founder of Campaign for the Book, will be giving a round up of the state of the nation on libraries as well as directing proceedings during the day, as he did brilliantly at the libraries lobby in March.
UNISON will be there to explore what the future of libraries might be and the relevant legislation surround it. Public Interest Lawyers have offered their time to deliver a session on legal cases and how the law now stands - just one the workshops on offer.
The WI are using their expertise in campaigning to deliver a workshop on harnessing local support. Public librarian Ian Anstice will run a session exploring the thorny issue of volunteers in relation to the library service; a workshop which proved very popular last year and sparked much debate and discussion.
Deputy Leader of Norwich City Council, Cllr Alan Waters, has kindly offered his time to share his knowledge and facilitate a session on influencing the decision makers. The passionate, outspoken library campaigner, Alan Wylie, will be delivering a thought provoking session with fellow presenter, Hannah Bailey from UNISON on different service models, and exploring whether privatisation is a forgone conclusion.
Full details of how to book can be found at http://www.speakupforlibraries.org/conference.asp
The rest of the Voices for the Library team have worked hard to pull this event together and will be there to support and facilitate on the day, along with The Library Campaign. It's unfortunate that fellow founding member and library campaigner, Mar Dixon, will not be able to make the conference but will be willing us all on.
The conference was a brilliant experience last year but is bound to be even more inspiring this year with such a diverse group involved in planning and delivering the event.
Don't leave it too long to book as places are limited, and will be offered on a first come first served basis. The registration fee of only £20 includes lunch and refreshments and a choice of workshops. Full details, a booking form and a flyer can be downloaded from the link above and you are welcome to contact me with any queries, or to book if you have difficulty downloading the forms.
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| Philip Pullman, guest speaker at last year's conference |
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