Your Career: Leaders Network Careers Tips Panel
Thursday 4th July, 10.25
Room 2.219
Members of the CILIP Leaders Network will share their experiences of how they thrive, learn, challenge themselves and reflect in leadership. An exciting panel from across the profession will deliver lightning talks, each focusing on one aspect of their leadership journey or skills. Suitable for established and aspiring leaders this is an excellent opportunity to learn from expert practitioners and guide your own development.
Imrana Ghumra, University Hospitals Coventry & Warwickshire NHS Trust
Imrana has over 25 years experience as a Library, Knowledge and Information Professional mainly in the health sector with brief interludes into the civil service, higher education and private member organisation having started off in the Schools Library Service upon graduation. As a certificated change agent, Imrana has a passion for excellence and commitment to continuous improvement whilst her areas of experience and interest are strategy and service development, coaching and developing staff and collaborative working across sectors.
Kick-step your way up: managing a library
There is no one way to manage a library. Sometimes having the skills to get a library job is not enough to know how you can maximise your own potential to become a library manager. "Kick-step your way up" provides insights in the role of a library manager moving from a traditional museum library to a radical specialist collection; advice on challenging your own biases and critically looking at perceived expectations of managing a library team and diverse collection.
Tavian Hunter, Library and Archive Manager, Iniva (Institute of International Visual Arts)
Tavian is currently the Library and Archive Manager of Stuart Hall Library at Iniva. She has a keen interest in developing diverse library collections and recently published an article on 'South Asian collection development at the British Museum' in Arts Libraries Journal (2019). Previously, she managed the Department of Asia Library at the British Museum and worked as a Collections Library Graduate Trainee at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. She completed her MA in Library and Information Studies at UCL in 2015 and also holds a degree in Business Management and Information Management with Japanese.
"The Oonagh Ripples"
It is hard to select one place in time or one action in time that has led me here, then to summarise it into five minutes. Allow me to simply share with you the consistencies that have shaped my decisions to bring me to CILIP Leadership Network.
Linda Kalinda, Head of Library and Knowledge Services, United Lincolnshire Hospitals NHS Trust
Linda Kalinda is currently working at United Lincolnshire Hospitals NHS Trust as the Head of Library and information services on four hospital sites.
She studied at Loughborough University, followed by ten years' experience in different sectors including higher education; School Libraries, Parliament and Academic Libraries. She found her home in the diversity of Health Libraries, where she has been since 1989. Following postgraduate studies at UCL, Linda became enthused about technology, systems and databases. It was the HEE/CILIP Leadership course that excited Linda about advocating for information professionals as being business critical in all organisations.
Why self-determined learning matters for leaders
Andrew will outline briefly why learning from outside the profession and our own experiences are key to shape a critically informed reflective practice. An independent approach, questioning habit of mind, and willingness to sit with the discomfort of 'not knowing' is central to such learning and beneficial to leaders at all levels.
Andrew Preater, Director of Library Services, University of West London
Andrew provides leadership and strategic direction for library services at the University of West London. He draws on experience in further and higher education including posts in Leeds, Durham, and London. Andrew's professional interests include the role of libraries in widening access and participation to higher education, critical information literacy practice, and all aspects of user experience (UX) of libraries and learning spaces.
Adapting and thriving
When working in the same profession for 30+ years how can you remain engaged and continue to thrive when the world around you is in a constant state of flux and libraries are different (but sort of the same)? One woman's perspective on the highs and lows of a long career in the same sector.
Liz Weighell, Area Manager – Hampshire Libraries, Hampshire County Council
Liz has been involved in libraries all her working life. Starting out as a library assistant for Humberside County Council on a large council estate in Hull in the 80s she qualified and took her first professional post for North Yorkshire County Council. Finding her path as a children's librarian brought her to Hampshire where she has worked ever since. Many roles (and restructures) followed which has led her to her current role as Area Manager for the East of the county. Still a children's librarian at heart, she remains convinced of the power of libraries to change lives.
Peer observation: learning from and with colleagues
I have benefited from working in a team that strongly supports peer observation for staff development, and I will talk about my experience of this, how it's helped my personal and professional development, and how people can use peer observation to learn from and with their colleagues in their own workplace or sector.
Emily Wheeler, Learning Advisor, University of Leeds
Emily has been a Learning Advisor at the University of Leeds for four years, teaching academic skills and information literacy to undergraduate and taught postgraduate students. She is interested in pedagogy and the role of librarians as teachers, and recently achieved FHEA. Outside of work, Emily is happiest on a bike, in a swimming pool, or on a mountain.
Panel Chair: Jo Cornish, Head of Sector Development, CILIP
Jo is Head of Sector Development at CILIP and leads a team of experts to provide development opportunities for information professionals. She informs CILIP's service development by working across the sector with key partners, learning providers and employers to understand the current and future needs of the information workforce. With over 20 years' experience as an information professional and a Fellow of CILIP, she is a passionate advocate for the profession.