Information Literacy

It was very encouraging to see how well information literacy training was embedded into the curriculum at UCS. I was able to observe a Year 8 History lesson which took place in the Library and which was partially delivered by the Librarian. The pupils had to prepare a presentation on the history and culture of Roman Bath and the Librarian had prepared a number of online resources for them which they could access from the Library’s page on the VLE. They were encouraged to use textbooks which could be found in the Library, but the Librarian also encouraged them to join their local public library in order to make use of the books and eresources there as well.

After the Librarian had finished her presentation, the teacher emphasised to the boys how lucky they were to have such a good Library as a resource and he instructed them to speak to the Library staff if they needed any help with their research. I thought that this was really positive and it was great to see the boys being taught information literacy skills within the context of their normal school work, as it meant that they were far more likely to appreciate the relevance of these skills.

Later in my placement, I was also able to observe a lesson with some AS Level students who were preparing to undertake a self-directed research project for their Extended Project Qualification (EPQ). This session was run solely by the Library staff who introduced the students to JSTOR for the first time and taught them about the differences between the material that they might find on Google and the peer-reviewed, full-text material that they would find in an electronic journal. It was great to see the students being introduced to these sorts of resources so early, as many first year undergraduates find online journal databases quite complex to get to grips with when they encounter them for the first time.

At the start of this academic year, the Librarian and the Head of IT had agreed to issue a questionnaire for new Year 7 pupils in order to assess the boys’ reading and information literacy skills. This was a new initiative which had not been tried before, and one of my tasks during my placement was to set up a spreadsheet to collate the data which had been gathered from the questionnaires. The Librarian hoped that the information would prove useful when she was planning further information literacy training sessions in the future.

Lesson Observations

As well as the lessons which I observed in the Library, the Librarian arranged for me to observe some English lessons so that I could gain an insight into how teaching was done at the school. One lesson that I observed was a Year 9 lesson on Shakespeare’s Much Ado About Nothing, where the students were taught to identify elements of Shakespeare’s language which revealed the personality traits of the main characters. I also observed a Year 7 lesson on Gerald Durrell’s My Family and Other Animals, where the students were taught how to structure a paragraph in a piece of descriptive writing. Finally, I was able to sit in on an A-Level lesson on Chaucer’s The Wife of Bath, possibly my least favourite text from when I myself studied English at A-Level. However, the teacher made it much more interesting than I remember it being the first time around and there was a great deal of insightful discussion about feminist theory and the perception of women in the Medieval period, which I really enjoyed.

Conclusion: an absorbing and jam-packed two weeks!

I have to say that I really enjoyed my placement at UCS and the Library staff were all absolutely fantastic in finding so many varied and interesting things for me to do, and they were also extremely patient in answering my endless questions! I feel that I’ve gained a valuable insight into a sector of Librarianship which I didn’t really know much about before, and I would definitely recommend UCS to any future UCL student who is wondering where to do their two week placement next year

Visit to the Junior Branch

The Junior Branch Library.

During the second week of my placement at UCS, I spent one day shadowing the Librarian at the school’s Junior Branch which caters for pupils aged between 7 and 10. The Library at the Junior Branch was much smaller than the Library at the Senior School, but it was still well-equipped with reading material, working space and Macs for the children to use.

Unlike at the Senior School, the children were responsible for checking out any books that they wanted to borrow using the self-issue system. The library management system was very child-friendly, but I was quite impressed with the level of detail which the children were able to apply to their searches when they looked for books using the OPAC. I did a search for ‘Harry Potter’ and was offered the option to search by title, author, keywords, series, classification, genre and more. This seemed to me to be quite advanced for primary school level, but I suppose that I have no point of comparison given that the only computer we had at my primary school was an Acorn that played Pac-Man and not much else!

Harry Potter search results on the OPAC

The Junior Branch Library supports an initiative called the Renaissance reading scheme, the aim of which is to enable the boys to improve their reading ability. The books within the scheme are divided into different levels (rather than ages) and the boys have to read a certain number of books at their level before completing multiple choice quizzes about these books on the computer. The quizzes aim to test the boys’ comprehension of the books’ content, and they must score between 90-100% on a given number of books before they can move up to the next reading level. The software which is used for this scheme is also able to count the number of words within each book, and when a boy has read a million words he is given the status of ‘Word Millionaire’ and has his picture displayed on the Library notice board, which I thought was a lovely idea.

While I was shadowing the Librarian, I had the opportunity to observe a couple of English lessons because the children often take their English lessons in the Library and they are encouraged to use the Library’s resources. During one lesson I was lucky enough to hear the children reading aloud from their own pieces of creative writing, which I have to say were of an extremely high standard!

All in all, it was a very interesting day and I’m very grateful to the Librarian for taking the time to show me around and talk to me about the Library

The Entry Reading Challenge

The Entry Reading Challenge is a scheme run by the Library to encourage Year 7 boys to read more widely. Each boy has to complete a chart which looks like this:

Each boy must agree with the Library staff which books he is going to read, and then once he has read them he must come back and tell the Library staff what he thought and whether he enjoyed them. Each book is worth a certain number of points, and once a boy earns seven points he is given a commendation. Once he earns a certain number of commendations, he is eligible to receive a new school tie which bears a different design to the standard tie which is worn with the school uniform. The Library staff explained to me that the new tie symbolises the fact that the boy has accomplished a high amount of reading. I thought that this was a really fun idea, and the fact that the boys can ‘level-up’ their ties in this way must add a certain element of competition to the reading scheme, which hopefully improves their motivation to read!

I was able to sit in one of the Reading Challenge sessions during my placement and it was very rewarding to have discussions with the boys about which books they had enjoyed reading. One particular favourite for many of the boys was Stephen King’s The Shining, which was interesting given the conversation that I’d had earlier in the week with the Librarian about age-appropriate reading material for children. The Librarian had explained that the Library had a policy of not lending any material to Year 7 boys which was deemed to be disturbing or which contained adult themes which the boys might not be ready to cope with. Stephen King’s The Shining was an example of one such text, and indeed at one point while I was there a boy came to the issue desk to request the book and was told that he would be unable to borrow it.

The Library reading room where the boys take part in the Entry Reading Challenge.

I have to admit that I struggled with the idea that a child should ever be refused a book if they ask for one, because I believe that children’s reading should always be strongly encouraged and supported. However, I do understand that the school stands in loco parentis and that it is the responsibility of the Library staff to make sure that children aren’t loaned reading material which they might find upsetting. The fact that so many of the Year 7 boys in the reading group had already read and enjoyed The Shining was interesting though, and it suggests that age alone isn’t enough to determine whether a child is emotionally mature enough to read something. However, it is clearly a challenge for the Library staff to be aware of each individual child’s level of emotional development, and therefore it is obviously safer, easier (and probably fairer overall) to enforce a blanket restriction on the basis of age.

Acquisitions

At one point during my two week placement I had the opportunity to sit in on a visit from one of the Library’s book suppliers. It was very interesting to observe how the Library staff selected suitable fiction and non-fiction for the Library’s collection. As it happened, much of the material which the supplier had brought with him was unsuitable for the boys at UCS, despite the fact that the books were targeted towards secondary school pupils. The Librarian explained that the boys at UCS had been encouraged to attain a much higher reading level than was average for most secondary school pupils, and so much of the material was not challenging enough for them.

There was a further difficulty in picking out suitable fiction for the boys, because most of the books on offer were clearly intended specifically for either boys or girls. Boys were likely to be put off by any books which had pink or sparkly covers and which featured female protagonists. The book supplier explained that publishers often marketed books at either boys or girls because the aim was to sell as many books as possible. However, this severely restricted the choice of fiction on offer and it also meant that a lot of the fiction aimed at boys was overtly masculine, which encouraged the idea of gender stereotypes. It was quite frustrating that there wasn’t much fiction to choose from which wasn’t gendered in this way, but I found the session very useful nonetheless and it raised some interesting issues about children’s literature.

The Enav Library

The Enav Library

The Enav Library at University College School holds approximately 18,000 books which are classified using a slightly adapted version of Dewey. The Library also subscribes to electronic resources such as EBSCO and JSTOR. There are two floors with seating for 69 pupils, as well as a dedicated reading room with additional seating and beanbags. There are 11 PC terminals and 2 OPAC terminals for the pupils to use, and the Library is staffed by a full-time professional Librarian and Assistant Librarian, as well as a term-time Library Assistant who takes responsibility for managing all the serials to which the Library subscribes. The school itself caters for pupils aged between 11 and 18 years old, but UCS also has a separate primary school, the Junior Branch, for pupils aged between 7 and 10 years, as well as an infant school, known as The Phoenix.

Teacher Training Day

When I first arrived at the school, the pupils were still on their Christmas vacation which meant that I was given the opportunity to attend a teacher training day before the start of the new term. As part of the teacher training day, I attended a fascinating lecture from Matthew Syed who had recently published a book called Bounce: The Myth of Talent and the Power of Practice. In the lecture, Matthew Syed criticised the idea of ‘natural talent’ and instead argued that a person’s skill and success came about as a result of hard work and practice. Syed himself had been a three-time commonwealth table tennis champion, but he claimed that his success was not as a result of a natural talent but was instead because he had spent his childhood playing the sport every day from a very young age, and because he was coached by a local teacher who was fanatical about table tennis. He criticised the concept of the ‘child prodigy’ and cited Mozart as an example, arguing that Mozart had completed 3,500 hours of piano practice before he had even turned six years old and that it was this which made him appear so talented when compared to his peers. Syed claimed that this stood as evidence that child prodigies were made and not born.

Turning to the subject of education, Syed argued that the myth of ‘natural talent’ was potentially a very damaging one for young people. He argued that pupils who perceived themselves as having no talent for a subject would have no motivation to work hard at that subject. Conversely, he suggested that pupils who saw themselves as naturally talented would be unlikely to view hard work as being important to their success. Often, the idea of being talented is linked to the idea of effortlessly achieving things which other people find difficult. Syed argued that ‘talented’ pupils would not want to challenge themselves with difficult work, because they would be afraid of losing their ‘talented’ status if they had to work hard to achieve their goals. Syed argued that it was extremely important, therefore, to avoid praising pupils for their talent and he pointed out that teachers should instead be praising pupils for their hard work and emphasising the fact that it was hard work and not talent alone which would bring them success in their studies.

It was a really interesting and thought-provoking lecture and definitely one of the highlights of my placement!

Shadowing the Library Assistant

I spent some time during my placement helping the Library Assistant with her daily tasks. As mentioned above, the Library Assistant is responsible for managing the library’s serial subscriptions, and as she only works during term-time there was quite a backlog of journals for us to process on the first day of term! Because the Library doesn’t subscribe to an overly large number of journals, a card catalogue is used to keep a record of every issue received. Once everything has been recorded and processed, the contents pages of certain journals are photocopied and placed in the relevant teachers’ pigeon holes. The teachers then highlight any useful articles and the Library Assistant catalogues these articles so that pupils can find them on the OPAC. I thought that this was a really good idea, because it is unlikely that many pupils would think to search through journal back copies on the off-chance that they might find relevant material for their homework.

One other task that I helped the Library Assistant with was the creation of a display celebrating the centenary of Captain Scott’s voyage to the South Pole. The Library Assistant frequently creates displays for the Library based on current events, or literary prizes, or topics that she thinks might be interesting for the pupils. I had never created a display before so I approached the task with a little bit of trepidation; however, it turned out to be quite fun doing the necessary research, creating some eye catching pictures and putting it all together – I think that it looked quite good in the end!

Our Captain Scott Centenary Display

I wish I could say that I’ve enjoyed classification just as much, but unfortunately this has been my least favourite subject this term because I’ve just found it fiendishly difficult. It’s not because I don’t understand the general theory behind it – it’s more that the physical classification schedules for the various schemes, especially Dewey, have seemed so impenetrable and confusing to me. The Dewey classification comes in four volumes which means that lots of page-flipping and cross-referencing is necessary, and Dewey also has lots of complex rules for the correct way to build classmarks. The first book that I classified using Dewey took me five hours!

Although we used Dewey in the library where I used to work, this was the first time that I had ever used it to classify a book from scratch, because when I was a trainee I used to classify books by doing a subject analysis of the book and then searching the library catalogue to see where other books on that subject had been classed. I would also look at other libraries to see where they had classed the same book, and this often helped me to assign a correct classmark.

Sometimes the final choice of classmark would also depend upon the subject for which the book had originally been bought, as it sometimes happened that a book would fall into two possible categories. In this case I would often choose to class the book in the place where it would be of most relevance to the students and where they would expect to find it – I think that this can be a good way to classify books in practice because it shows that you are considering your users’ needs rather than just blindly following the rules of a classification scheme.

My final piece of work for the Classification module will be to create a classification system of my own, albeit on a greatly reduced scale! I’m actually quite looking forward to tackling this piece of work because I think that I will get a lot of satisfaction out of attempting to create a classification scheme which is less convoluted than the ones I’ve been working with – and one which makes more sense to me than devilish Dewey!

My favourite module this term has been Principles of Computing and Information Technology. Even though part of the module involved us learning about binary mathematics, which was quite terrifying, the subject matter was very engaging and it was really interesting to learn all about how computers really work ‘under the hood’. We also had the opportunity to build our own website as part of the assessment, which was fun as I enjoy tinkering with HTML – however, I rather wish that I’d spent a bit more time on this as my final result was a bit 1990s-esque when compared to some of the brilliant websites created by other people on the course. I’m taking a second web-based module next term though, so I may decide to have another bash at creating a website in my spare time.

The optional module that I took this term was Digital Resources in the Humanities. It turned out to be a very interesting module, but I have some mixed feelings about it due to the fact that it didn’t really meet my expectations. A large part of the module was related to the digitisation of artefacts such as manuscripts or museum objects and we explored the different ways in which the digital forms of these objects could be developed into a scholarly resource. We learned about the role that computing has played within the Humanities and we also had some very interesting lectures from guest speakers who explained in great detail the technical processes behind the creation of digital objects. The reason that the module didn’t really meet my expectations was because much of the material wasn’t directly related to libraries. I had expected the module to have much more of a library focus, but it was clear that the content was far more tailored towards students on the MA/MSc Digital Humanities course, which in retrospect is unsurprising because this was a compulsory core module for them.

Nevertheless, I did enjoy the module and I’m quite looking forward to writing the essay for it as I think that I’ve chosen an interesting topic. The assignment is to compare a digital object with its analogue equivalent and I’ve chosen to explore ebook digitisation by investigating Project Gutenberg – should be a fun project over Christmas!

The first two weeks of next term will be spent on a work placement and I have chosen to do mine in a school library. Having never worked in a school library before, I decided that the placement would be a great opportunity to try something different and I’m really looking forward to the experience – expect plenty of blogging from me in the New Year as to how I got on!

In the meantime, this is likely to be my last blog post of 2011 so I will finish up with a festive UCL-themed picture and wish everyone a Merry Christmas

The UCL Portico at Christmas.

Artefacts from around the world

The collection is tailored to support the national curriculum and it also aims to reflect the multicultural and diverse community in which many of the local schools are based. It’s a fantastic resource for schools because it provides a cost-effective and efficient way for them to acquire additional learning materials.

The service in Tower Hamlets also offers professional advice and training to schools with regard to the management of their school libraries; this includes advice on stock purchasing, library computer systems, classification, information literacy, and the development of library policy. Schools are also encouraged to employ a professional librarian on a regular basis.

In addition to this, the service helps to organise creative writing and poetry competitions, compiles lists and reviews of the latest and best Young Adult fiction, and also organises the annual Tower Hamlets Book Award which encourages children to read and vote for their favourite books.

Puppets and games

Fortunately, this service hasn’t yet been subjected to any harsh budget reductions and so it continues to be very successful, but many similar services across the UK have ceased to exist due to a lack of funding and this is a huge shame because services like this clearly have the potential to be highly valuable to schools and school libraries.

I’m glad that I had the opportunity to visit such an interesting and diverse collection – a collection which, in my opinion, is made even better by the inclusion of this one particularly fabulous item which I discovered while I was exploring: an extremely grumpy-looking plush figure of Vincent Van Gogh, complete with his own detachable Velcro ear – brilliant!

A cuddly Vincent Van Gogh...

... with detachable ear!

Many of the graduate trainees, both on Twitter and in our group, expressed concern at the rising tuition fees which they will face next year when they apply to library school. Higher fees, coupled with the fact that MA funding opportunities are being steadily reduced, mean that trainees who choose to pursue a postgraduate course are likely to find it difficult to fund their studies. The extent to which AHRC funding will be available for library school students next year is uncertain – this year the ten funded places offered by UCL were reduced to five at a late stage, which meant that previously eligible students missed out on an award. Career Development Loans are an alternative option for students who don’t receive funding, but the value of these loans would need to increase in line with rising tuition fees in order for them to remain a viable source of income.

It is possible that higher tuition fees will cause greater numbers of library school students to opt for part-time or distance learning courses in the future. The ability to work while you’re studying makes postgraduate education slightly more affordable and has the added benefit that you can gain extra work experience during your studies. However, working and studying at the same time is not an easy option and certainly requires a lot of hard work. It also seems unfair that some students who would really prefer to attend a full-time course might be unable to do so for financial reasons. I feel that attending library school full-time has a lot of benefits and that the social aspect of a full-time course can be really valuable. One of the things which I am enjoying most about the full-time course at UCL is being part of a community of students – everyone on the course is so enthusiastic, friendly and supportive of each other and I feel that I’m getting a higher quality learning experience because of this.

It will be interesting to see how the increased fees and reduced funding will affect take-up of postgraduate courses in the long-term and how this will in turn affect the profession of librarianship. If fewer and fewer would-be librarians can afford to take a postgraduate course in years to come, will this change the status of the Masters degree within the profession? Could it be the case in future that fewer professional posts will specify a postgraduate qualification as an essential requirement, simply because this is beyond the reach of most people? If more people choose to forgo the traditional academic route, perhaps they will instead choose to work towards ACLIP Certification, which could lead to this becoming the required professional qualification in librarianship rather than the Masters. It is interesting to consider how such a change might affect the overall shape of the profession.

As things currently stand, concerns about higher tuition fees are affecting all professions which require a postgraduate qualification, and I sincerely hope that the government will recognise these issues and implement a better support system for postgraduate students before most of them are priced out of the market. In the mean-time I wish all current and future graduate trainees the best of luck, whichever route they decide to take towards becoming a professional librarian.

Many thanks to Annie Johnson for organising a brilliantly successful LISNPN meet-up, and to Adrienne Cooper for hosting such a thought-provoking session of #uklibchat!

The next career step for me will be to complete my Masters degree, although there’s still a long way to go yet as I’m only three weeks in! As I mentioned in my previous post, I’ve already identified a couple of gaps in my experience which I’m hoping to fill this year by doing some volunteering. My personal development plan is still in my head at the moment though, so I’m going to follow the advice of this programme and start writing it down in a bit more detail. I usually make a habit of writing down my goals because this helps me to stay focused – and it’s also very satisfying when I’m able to tick off the things that I’ve achieved! I’m a very goal-orientated person so personal development plans are definitely the way forward for me.

And so, in conclusion, here is my CPD23 six word story which sums up my impressions of the CPD23 programme: ‘a technological adventure into professional development!’

At the moment, the current gaps that I’ve identified on my CV include a lack of teaching experience and limited experience of working with young people. Given that my current interests are in school libraries and information literacy training, I know that I need to build on my experience in these two key areas so that I’m in a stronger position when it comes to applying for jobs. As it stands, I’m currently pursuing a couple of voluntary opportunities which I think will be really useful for me, as well as being interesting and rewarding in their own right. One great thing about being a student is that there are a huge number of voluntary projects which you can potentially get involved with.

I think that my biggest problem with undertaking voluntary work this year is going to be lack of time – this first term is going to be particularly busy because I have a high number of contact hours. However, I’m hoping to have a bit more free time next term, so watch this space for further developments!

I was lucky to get a ticket to Library Camp because the tickets were gone within 24 hours of the event being announced on Twitter! It seemed like every single librarian in my Twitter feed was going to the event, so I knew that this would be a really good opportunity to meet up with all the people that I’ve been following online.

On the train to Birmingham I met up with a group of my former library colleagues from Cambridge and upon arrival we trekked across the city centre to Maple House where the event was being held. After making ourselves up some badges with our names and Twitter IDs on them, our first priority was to investigate the huge amount of cake that was on offer!

I love the fact that each cake had its own QR code which you could scan with your smartphone to get the recipe – deliciously geeky!

Epic amount of cupcakes...

As well as the 200 or so cupcakes provided by Swets, one of the event sponsors, lots and lots of librarians had pledged homemade cakes for the event, which was really lovely – though I think that most of us were suffering from a sugar crash by the end of the day!

In our Library Camp welcome packs we were all given paper feet, on which we had to write our reasons for coming to Library Camp. All the feet were then stuck up on the walls, which I thought was a cute idea.

Lots of feet...

This was my favourite reason for coming!

I spent most of the first part of the morning chatting to anybody whom I recognised from Twitter (lots of people!) and then we all gathered in the largest room to decide on the day’s programme. Before this, though, the Library Camp resident poet Mark Niel performed a poem that he had written for us, inspired by words about libraries that Library Camp attendees had given to him before the event.

After this performance, each of us had to do our own little performance by taking turns to introduce ourselves into a roving microphone. I’m sure I’m not the only one who found this to be a rather nerve-wracking experience – I became convinced at one point that I was going to forget my own name as soon as it was my turn to speak into the mic! Thankfully this was soon over and then lots of people began pitching for sessions and all the interesting suggestions were put on post-it notes and stuck to a board at the front of the room.

Library Campers listening to the session pitches for the day (via Dave & Bry on Flickr)

There was so many interesting sessions that it was hard to choose between them, but here’s a quick(ish!) summary of the ones that I attended:

Session 1: School libraries and the transition between school and University
I found this session really interesting. We talked about the fact that many pupils do not arrive at University with adequate information literacy skills and that we should not assume a certain level of competency just because these young people are part of the so-called Google Generation. One person mentioned that she had observed school children typing their assignment questions into Google in order to find the answer, which suggests that they need to be taught more effective search strategies. Another person drew attention to the fact that some children would not have computer access at home and so would be at an automatic disadvantage.

We discussed the need to embed information literacy training into the curriculum from the earliest stage possible and to ensure that teachers recognised librarians as a resource not only for the pupils but for themselves also. It was generally agreed that such training was paramount to pupils’ success at school and that it would greatly improve their ability to develop the more complex information literacy skills required later at University.

Session 2: Librarians as agents for social change
This session was presented by Maria Cotera, who discussed her experience of working in a prison in Uganda. It had been part of her role to help the prisoners there to improve their literacy, and she had worked particularly hard to empower the women by helping them to gain access to education. She argued that access to information helps people to transform their lives, and she felt that librarians in the UK should be doing much more to market themselves as the providers of this life-changing access to knowledge.

It was noted that the CILIP Libraries Change Lives Award was an excellent example of this type of marketing, but that there needed to be much more of this in future. Maria felt strongly that government funding would be obtained more easily if librarians made an effort to promote themselves as agents for positive social change. She also argued that these issues should be taught explicitly on library school courses.

Session 3: Convincing politicians that libraries improve literacy
This was one of my favourite sessions. We spent some time discussing the meaning of literacy and it was generally agreed that literacy was about more than just the mechanics of reading and writing – it was about comprehension, engagement, critical awareness, and the ability to develop yourself through the written word. We also discussed visual literacy and the fact that literacy is about being able to decode the symbols that you see around you every day. This raised the question: if literacy is so broad, how can we teach it effectively?

One person suggested that we should focus on the learning rather than the teaching and that each person should be allowed to build their confidence on their own terms, rather than being taught in a prescribed way. The librarian who was leading the session said that she valued her freedom to teach literacy in a variety of different ways, and she felt that she was doing much more for literacy as a librarian than she had been able to do as a teacher. She particularly advocated storytelling as a way to engage and enthuse children and she argued that they found it useful to hear words spoken aloud as it helped them to understand meaning and pronunciation. She also argued that, unlike school, the library was an informal space where children could learn at their own pace and where they could take ownership of their reading by choosing books for themselves. As such, libraries had a very important role to play in the support and development of literacy.

The second part of the discussion focused on the fact that although there was a lot of research to suggest that libraries improved literacy, this message wasn’t being communicated forcefully enough to the government. We discussed the difficulties in getting this topic on to the government’s agenda and it was agreed that librarians needed to capitalise on the existing research when campaigning for libraries. The public librarians in the group were frustrated that they were unable to promote their libraries because they had been forbidden to do so by the local councils. Some people felt that CILIP was in a position of influence when it came to talking to politicians, but others were not convinced that this was the case. It was generally agreed that librarians needed to demonstrate impact in order to communicate their importance, but that they also needed powerful representatives to advocate for libraries and to get their message forcefully across to politicians.

Time for a cake break!

Session 4: Libraries without buildings
The speaker for this session had experimented with creating a travelling library. Her enterprise started when she decided to rent a space in a gallery in order to set up a small library exclusively for poetry. However, she became frustrated with the limitations imposed on her by the owners of the space that she rented and so she packed up her library books and began couch-surfing her way around Europe, setting up her library in different places as she travelled.

She told us that she had run her library at various points from markets, bars, people’s houses, theatres, and parks. As time passed, people donated more books to her library and she gained several thousand members. She found that people liked to be able to contribute to the collection, and that they liked being able to consult with a librarian. She explained that she wasn’t necessarily proposing this as an ideal model for libraries, as obviously it did have certain limitations – the transport and storage of resources being one of them – but she felt that it had been an interesting, thought-provoking and worthwhile experiment.

Session 5: Social media and #uklibchat
This session was delivered by the #uklibchat team who run a fortnightly discussion on Twitter about current issues affecting libraries and librarians. In this session we discussed the format of #uklibchat and gave feedback as to how useful we had found it. Many people felt that it was an excellent way of connecting with other information professionals, while some also thought that it could be a useful way for people to get started on Twitter if they hadn’t used it before. It was suggested that the #uklibchat sessions could provide a way for people to instantly become involved in a conversation on Twitter, without having to spend time figuring out whom they should follow and how they should join in.

Some people thought that the agendas used during #uklibchat made the sessions a bit too formal, but other people felt that the agendas provided a useful structure for the conversation (I agree with the latter). We also briefly discussed what attracted us to social media and why some people were just not interested in it. One person commented that Twitter could seem a bit mysterious to new users and that the point of it wasn’t always immediately obvious. I agree with this as it certainly took me a little while to get the hang of Twitter and to understand jargon such as hashtags, DMs, @mentions and retweets.

Final round-up
By the time the fifth session was over I was full of new information and feeling very enlightened, despite also being rather tired and extremely over-sugared! For the final session of the day, we all gathered together again to hear some more poetry and to award prizes for the raffle and for the tastiest cake of the day, an honour which was given to the beetroot cake (I wish I had sampled a bit of this now!). Afterwards, the Library Campers descended on the pubs of Birmingham for more chatting and some much needed relaxation after a hectic but inspiring day.

I have to say that I really enjoyed myself and it was great to meet so many motivated and passionate librarians – I’ve heard rumours that people are already planning to organise a Library Camp 2012 and it would be brilliant if this were to become an annual event. One of things that I liked best about Library Camp was the unconference format because it meant that the sessions were much more dynamic and interactive – definitely more engaging than listening to traditional presentations all day. The fact that the event was free also made it a lot more accessible for people (like me!) who are on a tight budget. Overall, I think that the first Library Camp was a resounding success and a big thank you goes out to all the organisers, sponsors, speakers and bakers who made the event possible!