2017 in review - part one
This year has been my busiest yet since I started working in libraries. It's Christmas and I've come down with the flu - which sucks, obviously but does give me the chance to finally take stock...and also to consume plenty of Mānuka honey & lemon (yum! 😋).
It's hard to know where to start; in terms of library wanderings, I took part in my fifth Cycling for Libraries Tour, went for a library-spotting voyage along the Danube and toured parts of Northern Ireland and Scotland. I had another successful year with the team at the Royal College of Nursing (RCN) Library and Archive Service too and I took over as Editor of the CILIP International Library and Information Group (ILIG) Focus journal.
I've visited some incredible libraries again this year, some of which now feature on my ever-changing Top 10 list. Cycling for Libraries gave me another opportunity to explore the border between Denmark and Sweden - a route I previously blogged about in my Around the Øresund post. This short tour from Copenhagen to Malmö was perfect for cycling and took in some amazing examples of Scandinavian libraries, including Biblioteket Kulturværftet in Helsingør and Malmö City Library which remain two personal favourites of mine. It was also a chance to return to the Black Diamond Royal Danish Library in Copenhagen (pictured above) where the first official Cycling for Libraries tour began back in 2011.
Once again it was brilliant to meet up with Cycling for Libraries colleagues from around the world, both veterans and newbies! 🚲📚
It was on to Stockholm next:
Still one of my fave library facts, by the way → Stockholm Central Library's rotunda inspired Arnos Grove tube station! True story, look...
I took the 'party boat' from Stockholm to Helsinki - an overnight cruise which I'd highly recommend as a grand yet very affordable transit between Sweden and Finland, complete with onboard smörgåsbords and karaoke! Helsinki was another chance to meet up with Cycling for Libraries comrades, including partying with some 200 or so Finnish librarians at Töölön library in the north of the city. There was an oompah band and more karaoke involved! Finns are mad for karaoke as it turns out... Subsequent sore head notwithstanding, there was just about time to visit the Finnish National Library (pictured left, in glorious vertical panorama) before heading home.
My main takeaway was how impressed I was, once again, with some of the amazing projects happening in Nordic countries to encourage discussion and educate communities in libraries. When we visited Copenhagen's main public library in May, for instance, the Talk Town festival of Gender, Equality and Feminism was in town. The library also features a "Speakers' Corner", inviting (non-party political) conversation. A new central library due to open in Helsinki in 2018 is being built which champions participation from Finnish citizens in informing the design.
Central Helsinki - taken during the funeral of former Finnish President Mauno Koivisto in May 2017
The first half of 2017 also saw the launch of the RCN's #scrapthecap campaign, with the aim of persuading the Government to remove the restrictive 1% pay cap affecting nurses and other public sector workers.
I collected together 'selfie boards', contributed by RCN members, staff and celebrities to add to the #scrapthecap wall in our library:
Many of my colleagues and I also attended Scrap the Cap protests and encouraged people to lobby their local MPs.
Later in the year we'd discover that the pressure we'd put on the Government had some effect and the pay cap was lifted. Whilst it felt rewarding to have contributed, even in a small way, to this success, the reality is there's much still to be agreed. It remains unclear as to what the of lifting the cap actually means for public sector pay in practice. We're unlikely to know the true outcome until well into 2018 at the earliest.
Other highlights earlier this year at the RCN included some brilliant talks and events, including inspiring stories from mental health advocates like Liz Atkin and Jacqui Dyer. Ooh and one day we had dogs in the library!...
Siberian Husky Tess from Bethlam Occupational Therapy Department at our Pets as Therapy (PAT) event in March
Part two to follow after more couging-fits, honey-based medicine and awful Xmas TV-watching...
References
Helsinki City Library (2017) Keskustakirjasto Centrumbibilioteket Central Library 2018: Project. Available online: http://keskustakirjasto.fi/en/ [Accessed 30/12/2017]
TalkTown (2017) Welcome: TalkTown. Available online: http://en.talktown.dk [Accessed 30/12/2017]
Zanoni, S (2017) The cap has been scrapped but our work is not done. Available online: https://www.rcn.org.uk/news-and-events/blogs/the-cap-has-been-scrapped-but-what-next [Accessed 30/12/2017]
(Disclaimer: all opinions expressed on this blog are my own and do not necessarily reflect those of my employer.)