As a health library service manager with procurement constraints, I was able to support one member of my team to virtually attend CILIP Health Library Group (HLG)’s 2024 conference. As CPD and engagement with our profession is crucial for all our roles, I strove to find a way to also attend myself. 
CILIP NW group came to the rescue with a bursary contribution, enabling me to gain invaluable learning, networking in person at London’s Royal 
College of Physicians, with peers and others whose work I found inspiring. 
Spread across two days (20th-21st June), the menu of keynote speakers, presentations, stimulating workshops, high-quality refreshments, posters, suppliers, quiet spaces, and medical history struck the right balance. 
What did I learn?
Day One
  • Sue Lacey-Byant’s (outgoing Chief Knowledge Officer) legacy includes key areas for health library focus going forward.
  • The delivery of The Reader’s (charity) shared reading programme by Sandwell and West Birmingham NHS Trust library team is money well spent.
  •  Gillian Siddall and Alison Brettle’s research indicates despite supporting research ranking above doing research, we do value undertaking it with support.
  • The West Midlands Evidence Repository (WMER) accessible to staff, students, and the public, is a successfully curated gateway to research produced by their Trusts. The partnership between the library services produced a quality product for their end users. 
  • University Hospitals Dorset’s permanent Living Library is underpinned by focus group work, development of guides, executive level sign-off, and careful cataloguing.
Day Two
• Michael Rosen remains a literary hero! A surprising keynote speaker, his tribute to NHS staff who helped him recover from Covid and a coma was very moving. The opportunity to thank him for his contribution to promoting reading was one I’ll never forget, as was his message for the future government “Stop closing libraries, start opening them.” 
• Innovations such as Seed libraries, libraries in a box, behavioural mapping really work!
What else did I learn?
  • The Royal College of Physicians is home to wild green parakeets, plus the Merlin ID and Seek by iNaturalist apps are must have for species identification. This information was gleaned through an incidental conversation at the relaxed garden party has had a positive impact on my ongoing well-being.
  • Talking to new people has many benefits.
  • If you are a collector attendance at the conference earned you 16 CPD points!

 

If these words have whetted your appetite, visit Neena Shukla Morris from the university of Brighton’s Padlet for a fuller flavour of what was on offer, and find a way to attend next time. Reach out, don’t miss out!