THING 15 .. ATTENDING A PRESENTATION

I attended the Northeast CILIP AGM in May 2011. This was my first group meeting I had gone to, which wasn’t within the remit of my job. There was one speaker for this meeting, and she was called Annie Mauger. Not knowing what I know now, Annie was introduced and her topic was going to be on the future on libraries. Having heard what the Government plans were for libraries and there futures, I wasn’t expecting any more from Annie’s talk than a lot of ‘oh we are going to be fine and we’ re all just going to have to wait and see’. The talk turned out to be one of the most invigorating, honest approaches I had ever witnessed.

Annie talked to the group explaining her new role was going to be changing CILIP and its qualifications, and how having professional library staff, who are committed  to their  library career and own development, makes for a good service. Changing mangers and library services ways of thinking was going to be Annie’s role, and watching her talk, her body and her delivery made me come away from the meeting a more valued person.  She acknowledged every library service from prison libraries to medical libraries to very small charity libraries, I believed every word she said, and felt that everything she said was achievable.

I have never spoken to an audience before and if I did ever have the courage to, I would want to be like the woman I watched that day. Annie new her area, she knew the faults of the service and she knew how to take it forward, but she also understood the concerns of CILIP members. This was my best and most worthy presentation I had ever been too, and I would suggest to anyone out there in library land, if you ever get the chance to hear Annie Mauger speak, go along and listen, you WILL come away with a better outlook for your career!