What is the future of libraries? An Edinburgh Reads event, Tuesday 9th June 2015

Edinburgh Reads logo The opening ceremony for Edinburgh Central Library took place 125 years ago on 9th June 1890. On that day the Library’s benefactor Andrew Carnegie sent a telegram in which he stated his hopes for the service that he had funded: “We trust that this Library is to grow in usefulness year after year, and prove one of the most potent agencies for the good of the people for all time to come”.

As part of Edinburgh City Libraries’ 125th anniversary celebrations Edinburgh Reads is hosting a panel session on Tuesday 9th June at 19:00 at which the future of libraries will be the main topic of discussion. I have accepted an invitation to join the panel. The other panel members are:

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More men wanted – to complete the Workforce Mapping Project survey

Workforce mapping project banner
The Workforce Mapping Project survey is found at http://bit.ly/workforcemap

The Workforce Mapping Project survey closes at the end of the month on Thursday 30th April. The Edinburgh Napier project team is keen to encourage those who work within the UK in roles associated with libraries, archives, records, information, and knowledge management, and who have not already done so, to make their contributions to the study.

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Put yourself on the map: complete the Workforce Mapping Project survey

Workforce mapping project bannerThe Workforce Mapping Project survey is live at http://bit.ly/workforcemap

This is a call to workers in the library, archives, records, information, and knowledge management sector to contribute to a research project by completing a short survey. If you work in this sector, please read on to learn more about the project and how you can contribute to it.

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Summer Reading Challenge 2013 Scotland launch

Scottish Summer Reading ChallengeLast week I was delighted to be invited along to the Scottish Parliament for the Scottish launch of the Reading Agency’s Summer Reading Challenge.

In Scotland the Summer Reading Challenge is delivered in partnership by the Reading Agency and the Scottish public library service across twenty-nine of its thirty-two local authorities. For the third year Tesco Bank is the sponsor of the Challenge. In 2013 the project partners hope to support 40,000 children engage in reading activities around the theme of “Creepy House”. The launch itself was hosted by Fiona McLeod MSP. Fiona herself is a Chartered Librarian and currently serves as the chair of the Scottish Library and Information Council.

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Forthcoming presentation at the Institute for Research in Social Sciences, University of Ulster

uuheaderI have been invited to deliver a paper entitled “Leadership in libraries: tying library and information science research to practice” at the Institute for Research in Social Sciences, University of Ulster on Wednesday 13th March 2013.

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