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Library Knowledge Services (North)

CILIP Conference Reimagined 2020 - Conference Report

Last year was one of ‘reimagining’ and adapting when circumstances are not ideal, and of course the CILIP Conference was no exception. Having only begun my role in health libraries in late March 2020, I was absolutely delighted to receive a YOHHLNet Bursary for November’s CILIP conference, an event that I have always been keen to participate in but never previously managed to attend. Unlike previous years (but maybe setting the precedent for several years to come), instead of getting to head off merrily on a train to some far flung destination (or Manchester), and spend break times chatting over complimentary coffee with librarians from near and far, I attended the CILIP Conference from the PC in my bedroom.…

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Apprenticeship reflections of a library newcomer

I began my apprenticeship in customer service not long after starting a new role as a library assistant in March 2019. The library assistant job is completely different to my previous roles so I had to learn it pretty much from the very beginning. In my previous role my job was to assist patients. Switching to the library meant that now was to help staff. Around two months after starting my new role, I was offered the opportunity to do an apprenticeship. The objective of the apprenticeship was to get me to a point where I could perform my role with confidence and accuracy.…

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Service Update for East Cheshire NHS Trust - March 2021

2020 was a year like no other. In March 2020 with the rise of Covid19 cases and the country going into lockdown, 3 of the 4 library staff were redeployed, at very short notice, to support HR and managers with the recruitment and induction process. This involved contacting all new starters and sorting badges, IT log ins etc etc and doing a local induction. This was a time consuming process, taking on average 4 hours per new starter. At any one time each library staff member had approximately 20 new starters at various stages of the process.…

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Update from Bradford District Care NHS FT

The library team started working from home in March 2020 and have had to adapt quickly to the new environment the pandemic has brought. For example, our library trainee Sonia started cataloguing books from home.…

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Update from Bradford Teaching Hospitals

There’s been a big turnaround of staff at Bradford! The physical library space was closed to readers at the beginning of the pandemic and we also said goodbye to Lead Librarian Federica Bianchini, who moved on to Bradford Care trust. After a nine month period where the service was delivered by library assistants Louise and Caroline, I was appointed as Knowledge and Resources Librarian at the start of January. It’s been a steep learning curve, never having worked in an NHS library before, and I’m grateful to everyone, both at Bradford and in the wider network of librarians in the North, who have been there to answer all my questions.…

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My apprenticeship experience

I have recently completed a Libraries, Archives and Information Services Level 3 Apprenticeship. As I started my apprenticeship in late 2019, it was delivered as a Framework; however the course has recently been replaced by a Library, Information and Archive Services Assistant apprenticeship standard. Due to the change this post will focus on my experience of completing an apprenticeship, rather than the content of the course itself.…

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Calderdale and Huddersfield NHS Foundation Trust

The library team is much depleted and currently consists of me at the moment as both my library assistants have moved on recently. Linda retired and went to live in Spain and Sam found another job outside the NHS. I hope to appoint a new assistant librarian shortly.…

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Blackpool Health Library Service Report for Libraries North 2020

2020 has been a difficult year for the Library at Blackpool, with 2 members of staff (including the Manager) on long term sick leave since June 2019 and of course the COVID-19 Pandemic. However, it has not diminished our attempts to provide service to our patrons, the Trust and Education Centre. The year of 2020 saw the Library actively involved in a number of initiatives and developments including the running of a Staff Crèche, preparing and packing Gift Packs for “first-line staff as part of the Blue Skies Charity Office and being involved in NHS promotions. We also in December 2020 welcomed our new LKS Manager Linda Kalinda.…

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Inducting and training a new senior library assistant whilst working remotely in a pandemic

In March this year, a long established senior library assistant in my team is due to retire. We are a Trust in financial special measures, the site libraries in our Trust only have the capacity to hold one staff member behind the counter areas and ensure social distancing. The question is, how am I going to induct and train a new staff member if there can only be one person on site at any one time?…

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Redeployment reflections from northern LKS staff - part 2

During 2020 many LKS staff across the North rapidly mobilised into a variety of roles across their organisations to support the response to the Covid-19 Pandemic. In the second of 2 articles, 9 of these staff reflect upon their experiences and share their advice for anyone considering redeployment.…

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