2020 = 💩
Hello again and Happy New Year! I don't blog so much anymore but it's become a custom of mine to clutter this webspace with my reflective ramblings during the festive season, so here goes ...
Last year I signed my blogpost off with the words:
"...lord alone knows what else next year will bring, frankly - it could well be something of a whirlwind"
<Note to self: way to go Nostradamus! 🤦♂️>
It ended up being such a thoroughly grim one for so many of us that even "2020" in itself has become a byword for general awfulness and misery. But the good news, if you're reading this, is that you made it through! Congrats 🙌
There were some things I'd hoped to do last year which never happened, including my second trip to IFLA's World Library and Information Congress - which was going to be held in Dublin - where I was due to volunteer with IFLA's social media team. I was hoping to convene once more with some of the Cycling for Libraries gang whilst I was there too; we'd provisionally talked about a short tour during our time in Ireland. Heck, having also turned 40 I had big plans to buy a house for the first time as well ... but somehow all of that never materialised in the general chaos of these COVID-infested times.
There again, it's not all doom and gloom and there was some library stuff I'm really grateful I still got to do, including:
- Speaking at CSGUK's "Inspired ideas from the sharp end" event at the University of Bristol
This was a really enjoyable session, highlighting innovative ideas implemented by academic library staff from around the country. Presentations from this event can be found online here and ranged from a novel approach to book repair at Senate House Library to a Human Library project at the University of the West of England. The session was held at the hugely impressive HH Wills Memorial Building in easily the grandest room I've ever presented in. We even had the chance to tour the building afterwards and meet Great George - the famed bell at the top of the Wills Tower:
- M25 Consortium of Academic Libraries "The Future of Libraries"
The M25 Consortium was due to have its conference on the future of libraries at the Royal College of Nursing's headquarters, where I work, in the summer but for obvious reasons this didn't happen. I did get to contribute to their online poster session though. My poster, titled "Re-envisioning the library assistant role at the Royal College of Nursing: A day in the life" is online here.
- CILIP International Library and Information Group's (ILIG) Focus journal
I was pleased to have kept this going under some trying circumstances. Our May issue was a sombre one, not only because of the COVID situation but also because our CILIP ILIG colleague Shane Godbolt had sadly passed away. We dedicated the issue to her memory and it was touching to see how many people were willing to come forward to lend their tributes. Our December issue finished the year on a more optimistic note, including an update from Beirut where three libraries had been rebuilt following a deadly ammonium nitrate explosion there earlier in the year.
Both issues of Focus on International Library and Information Work can be downloaded via the links below ...
Focus 51(1) - May 2020
Focus 51(2) - December 2020
In the day job, before all the mayhem I managed to make it up to the Royal College of Nursing archives in Edinburgh. It was a good chance to catch up with the team in Scotland and fascinating to explore the range of materials included in the archive store; from lantern slides and minidiscs to protest posters from yesteryear. This was also my first opportunity to visit the store at the National Library of Scotland where other materials from the RCN archive are kept:
Since COVID social distancing restrictions kicked in, I've been impressed at how we've embraced opportunities to use remote working as a chance to innovate. On top of keeping as many services as we can going, we've been delivering new online information literacy workshops which have gone down well with our members. We've done some fun stuff too - Crosswords, Pictionary and Countdown have all featured, along with chances for our users to try something new, for instance poetry, yoga, meditation, arts & crafts and baking. The idea is really to give members - many of whom are frontline healthcare staff - a bit of a breather from the day-to-day in the name of health and wellbeing.
I spent time covering for the RCN's social media team too. I learned a lot from this experience and shared tips with library colleagues. Seeing all the messages and updates from nursing staff coming in via our social media channels also gave me even more of an appreciation for the amazing work they continue to do under extraordinary pressures. As a team, we've been helping to support nurses and other healthcare workers in their fight for better pay and working conditions by promoting the RCN's Fair Pay For Nursing and safe staffing campaigns.
Outside of work, some of the long list of things which have kept me some kind of okay-ish, mainly just by occupying my time, include:
- Running: I got back into daily 4-5 mile runs from the day the initial national lockdown measures started in March. These have inevitably become less frequent since the weather turned but I still find going for a jog a good way to clear my head from the constant news cycle, existential dread and suchlike....
- Staycations: Travelling outside of the UK has been out of the question for me this year, what with one thing and another but (when COVID restrictions have allowed it) I've been exploring closer to home. This includes a trip to Stratford-upon-Avon, biking the New Forest and discovering this magnificent library I stumbled across at Arundel Castle:
- Black Lives Matter: So I try to keep politics out of these blog posts but seeing the reaction to the murder of George Floyd at the hands of police officers in the United States felt like an important moment. It brought the Black Lives Matter movement to the fore both in the USA and in the UK, as well as many other countries around the world. It's hard to say what the long-term impact of this will be but I hope these efforts to reduce the unfair treatment of minorities and to improve social justice can be sustained, and that they will one day bring about real, lasting change.
- Taskmaster: Yup. Taskmaster! I was never a fan of this show before but for whatever reason, despite the opportunity to binge-watching Netflix (... still somehow managing to avoid Tiger King over here) I've ended up consuming all of the episodes, including the Champion of Champions specials, yesterday's "New Year Treat" special and all of the #HomeTasking challenges and podcast episodes too. It's fair to say I'll never look at a watermelon in quite the same way ever again...
... and lastly but definitely not leastly, having friends and colleagues, who - along with my family - have provided invaluable support during these troubled times.
I'm going to sign off this time by saying nothing, nothing at all, about my expectations for 2021. Because frankly who bloody-well knows at this point! I'll just say a "que será será" instead and direct you to this video by Jamie Keesecker of Duke Libraries - definitely one of the year's much-needed high points!:
Jamie Keesecker's superb Library Takeout video via YouTube
(Note: views expressed on this blog post are my own and do not reflect those of my employer or its clients.)