The CILIP rebranding nonsense is seeming to rumble on forever. With Library budgets slashed, librarians culled, spiraling PFI liabilities due to low growth and high inflation and the small rural and branch libraries being handed over to volunteers so they can sack the low paid library managers and assistants you would think CILIP would be issuing a call to arms and speaking out in defence of libraries. Nope. Instead they are going through a "consultation" exercise that reminds me of how councils do consultation, I.E badly. The options given were so pathetic I suspect the decision had long been decided behind closed doors and the consultation is just paying lip service to give the appearance of process and buy in for members. The way it has been handled is very damaging to the brand "librarian" the best brand they have but seemingly the very word is holding back the true professionals. I decided to come up with a few name suggestions since I tried this on twitter and bumbled it up:
CILIP BANG!
NEW CILIP
LALALA (Librarians Against Libraries and Librarians Association)
SOILED (Society Of Information Libraians & Educational Development)
ARSE (Association of Reading Support Entrepreneurs)
FECK (Federation of Enterprise Changemaking Kindlers)
Just a few ideas to help. You may think that what CILIP do with their time and their members hard earned money is none of my business. You are wrong, CILIP is selling out the branch and rural libraries to the morons that believe volunteers running libraries is a way of saving money and providing a sustainable library service. The leadership in the library profession has failed to promote libraries to the people who hold the purse strings and instead have spent their time navel gazing and jumping on every blue sky band wagon that passes by. They are as much responsible for the mess we find libraries in as the councillors and politicians slashing the libraries budgets in my opinion.
I hope CILIP gets some leadership that actually looks to try and fight for libraries otherwise I hope they split out the public libraries part and those people can go their own way, my own view is public libraries would be better off if CILIP didn't exist.
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