On Monday 20 June 2022, I attended the LIHNN AGM 2022 at The Storey in Lancaster. There was a lot of excitement because it was the first “in person” meeting since before COVID. Add that I am new to the post and had never been to Lancaster, I was really looking forward to it!
The day started with updates from the chair and treasurer, then short updates from the subgroups. Subgroup updates were from New Members Support, Northern Lights Editorial Group, The Wellbeing Group, Clinical Librarians & Trainers Group, and Mental Health Librarians’ Group. All updates reflected how COVID has changed plans and expectations, sometimes for the good (the LIHNN budget is quite strong at the moment). Listening to these reports, there was a lot of anticipation about what to do next and a bit of uncertainty about what “next” will look like.
Next came perspectives from two new network members. Kathryn Bennett spoke about her training and work through The Prince’s Trust and how that led her to be a library apprentice at MCHFT. Tilly Dixon, Digital Librarian at MCHFT, spoke about her previous work in corporate governance and what that looks like for our roles (more about Tilly at https://www.lksnorth.nhs.uk/blog/posts/hello-from-tilly-dixon-new-starter/). Both speakers brought aspects of work and training experience that I never thought about and were inspiring, informative, and interesting.
The main speaker was Adam Tocock from Barts NHS Library. He’s the chair of London Searching and Training Forum (LSTF) and talked about the history of the network and where they are now. Adam clearly knows how to run a group because he had us all enthralled; we laughed a lot but also gave moments of feeling we could take on aspects of LSTF’s great work. Adam invited us all to join any of their network meetings; his email address is adam.tocock@nhs.net.
Our last group event was a Knowledge Café session, discussing current big questions (like “What are you excited about?”). The responses will be compiled by the committee and shared in time. If you want to add to the discussion, you can do it at https://padlet.com/katie_nicholas/LIHNNAGM2022 Password: LIHNNAGM2022!
The AGM ended with a very ample lunch and a chance to catch up with colleagues. I appreciated that part a lot (not just the delicious food) as I got to talk with people who have a breadth of experience in health libraries and are clearly full of enthusiasm and joy in their work.
https://www.lksnorth.nhs.uk/events/lihnn-agm-2022/
Karen Storms
Assistant Librarian
The Royal Oldham Hospital
Northern Care Alliance NHS Foundation Trust
