Lauren Smith

The temptation to jump around with giddy excitement here at Save Doncaster Libraries is being tempered with the reality that this is a battle won…

Below is the Press Release from our Lawyers, Public Interest Lawyers, released yesterday.  This details the fantastic news that our determined campaigner, Carol Buck, has continued in her fight for justice (Did we say 2-Tier…), and has been granted leave to appeal the travesty that saw the campaign lose the initial Judicial Review into the decimation of Doncaster’s Public Library Service.

Legal Challenge to Doncaster Mayor’s Decision to Reduce Library Funding wins Permission to Appeal

In a hearing in London today, the Court of Appeal granted Doncaster resident Carol Buck the right to appeal a High Court judgment of August 2012 in a case seeking to prevent the Mayor of Doncaster from going ahead with swingeing cuts to library services in the area. The decision means that a full appeal hearing will now take place in the Court of Appeal before June this year.

The Claimant will be asking for this hearing to take place as soon as possible, so that the important question of the balance of power between the Mayor and the elected Council in vital areas such as cuts to local libraries can be clarified.

At the hearing, the Court of Appeal agreed that all of the appeal points raised by the Claimant should be considered at a full hearing before a three judge Court of Appeal, including:

- The powers of a democratically elected Council to propose reasonable binding amendments to the Council’s annual financial strategy;
- Whether the budget constitutes a Council ‘strategy’ which the Mayor is required to follow.

If the Claimant is successful in her appeal, the Court of Appeal will have the power to quash the Mayor’s decision thus restoring the previous council-funded library services while the Council and Mayor reconsiders the financial strategy.

The Court of Appeal’s decision today comes amid growing uncertainty over the future of publicly funded services in Doncaster and across the UK as a whole. Where local services are being lost, it is vital that voters know the extent of the powers of their elected representatives so that those same representatives can be held accountable for their decisions.

Speaking today, Carol Buck, said as follows:

“I am very pleased that we have been given permission to appeal by the Court of Appeal. I am only sad that the Mayor has ignored local protests and failed to resource the libraries in the way the Council intended.”

Daniel Carey of Public Interest Lawyers said as follows:

“I am pleased that the Court of Appeal has recognised the importance of the issues in this case and the validity of our legal arguments. The democratic mandate of the Mayor does not extend to trampling the democratic mandate of the full Council when it has specifically provided for the funding of highly valued services such as Doncaster’s libraries.”

For further information, contact: Public Interest Lawyers

Have the closures/move into the voluntary sector libraries affected you?  This blogger has personally been unable to visit a library ever since, due to the few opening hours of her now seldom open and in a hut local branch, and all others being a car drive away and unable to be accessed within non-working hours.  If you have been affected we would LOVE to hear from you.

Media articles:-

Hope in Library Closure Battle *edit* the closed libraries are Carcroft and Denaby, NOT Skellow as stated in the article.  Identical article under Doncaster Free Press banner and on The Epworth Belles website.

Court of Appeal agrees to hear Doncaster Libraries Case.

Glimmer of hope for Denaby’s old library.

Legal Challenge to Doncaster Mayor’s Decision to Reduce Funding wins Permission to Appeal.

Campaigners met last night to try and understand the Judgement of Sir Gary Hickinbottom, the Judge residing over the Judicial Review heard at Leeds Combined Court 24th July with the decision given yesterday at approximately 4pm.  As many Press have stated, we were unsuccessful.

Campaigners Lose Judicial Review into Libraries.

Doncaster Library legal battle lost by Carol Buck.

Carol Buck expresses her disappointment over the closure of some libraries in Doncaster.

The Mayor has gone on record within print and broadcast media stating

“I am of course pleased with the outcome. This was never a decision that was taken lightly but it was necessary in order to make the required savings. Over 300 volunteers have signed up and pledged their time to volunteer in our libraries for free and keep them open for the communities. I am delighted with the success they have become.

“This case should never have been taken to court and I am furious that this has now cost the taxpayers of Doncaster over £30,000. At a time of cutbacks, this is money that could have helped to save jobs.”

and has also stated (BBC Radio Sheffield Drivetime show of 1st August 2012) that he believes the entire case to have been at the behest of the Labour Group within Doncaster Council and that Carol has been used.

Well.  Let us make this ABSOLUTELY CLEAR.  Save Doncaster Libraries is a non-partisan group made up of support from people of all political viewpoints, and those for whom this is the only issue on which they have any strong opinion.  Carol Buck is a very strong, independently-minded woman who also felt strongly and was prepared to put herself on the line to represent the group within Court, to the benefit of thousands of Doncaster Residents.  Carol Buck is no pawn and is NOT being used for political gain by any party.

We also agree that this should not have gone to Court.  As campaigner John  Sheppard said “wouldn’t have gone to Court if he’d abided by the Democratic process”!

Naturally we are very disappointed in the outcome of the Judicial Review.  We have met to discuss in brief what we can do from here.  We are now awaiting the written judgement to ensure we fully understand what has been decided, none of us are legal experts.  In summary the moves that are made from now are dependent upon the advice of our Legal team from Public Interest Lawyers, the decision of Carol (which we will respect whatsoever she decides, she has already gone far and beyond what many people are willing to do) and the feel of popular support within Doncaster.

It seems to us that the Judge was making distinctions between strategic and operational decisions, and between this and plans.  Although the details we do not understand.  In short, the Judge said the Council did not have the right to overturn the Executive decision (although of the amendment in question 2 other elements the Mayor did pass therefore it seems he can pick and choose from budget amendments out forward), if this is the case, WHY do we have the option for the full council to put forward amendments?

What exactly is the Democratic process in Doncaster now?  The Mayor believes this has been a waste of taxpayers money that could have saved jobs.  So why (as we are led to believe)  has he kept the £328,000 that Full Council wanted to put back into the libraries in reserve and, indeed, has used some to place paid staff into Moorends on Fridays, a library for which there are NO volunteers?  It is clear that the 300 volunteers of which the Mayor proudly boasts are not evenly spread, as our recent report (2-tier service, with no winners) shows.  It is clear that the Council has no idea how to manage the library service and is, it seems, running it down.  Book Stock has been slashed, staffing reduced to the few running the many, hours of libraries cut even in libraries still properly staffed, even the Foyer on the Ground floor has been moved upstairs, so there is no welcome or staffing as one enters any more.

A campaign member visited the Library recently and, in the lift, spotted a small notice advertising a Friends of Doncaster Libraries meeting, tonight (5:30pm, 2nd August) in the meeting room of Central Library.  As well advertised and promoted as usual by the Council.  We look forward to hearing reports of this meeting as we are pretty sure we would not be welcome.

So we are left not with a 2-tier, but a 3-tier library service.  There are the properly run, council-staffed libraries, then the few volunteer-run entities with many volunteers, and finally the many with few or no volunteers whatsoever.  The equitable access to reading and information materials is gone.  Doncaster now has a postcode lottery of access and provision.  This is not a legacy of which Doncaster should be proud.

BBC News Online, BBC Look North, BBC Radio Sheffield Bigger at Breakfast, Yorkshire Post and many more media outlets have covered the Judicial Review that took place at Leeds Combined Court yesterday, 24th July 2012. Campaign members were present to support Carol and the Public Interest Lawyers in this legal argument.  The Judgement has been reserved until Tuesday or Wednesday of next week.  We can only hope Justice prevails.

Media have been contacting us asking about the realities of the Volunteer libraries.  The public face of these is one of success, although our post detailing the change of hours reveals a worrying trend towards a 2-tier service with no winners.  We cannot answer these questions as the public face of the service is one of positive spin; however at least 4 of the community libraries (including those deemed the most successful) have privately spoken to us with concerns such as those regarding Volunteer committment, training inadequacies, legal ramifications for which no advice is forthcoming despite requests (ditto financial, management and similar).  If there are any volunteers willing to come forward with details, you can be anonymous, please contact Save Doncaster Libraries using the options listed on this page.

We still need to fundraise to support our legal fight – significant amounts or pocket change are welcomed, so please support us in this.  Donations are welcomed in different ways, you could simply pass cash to a member of the campaign who will ensure it gets to our Treasurer John Sheppard. You could log in to your own paypal account and send funds directly to our campaign using the email address johnshep50@talktalk.net or you could contact John directly to request an address to where you could send a cheque (payable to ‘Save Our Libraries’), either by email or telephone on 07951382703.

Bear with us, this post will be a long one.

Long-term, active campaigner Doug tabled the following question to the Mayor, which was answered at a full council meeting on Thursday 12th July, “I would appreciate a breakdown of all the current opening hours of Libraries currently operated by volunteers and the opening hours in the same libraries in February 2012 (say 13^th February).“

The response (on behalf of the Mayor, author unknown) is below, with SDL comments within parentheses.

Details of the exact opening times, as they are now, and as they were in February, are available for public view [Where?  How? Certainly not on the Council's own website, hence the question]. It is clear that some community managed libraries have maintained opening times comparable with the libraries as they were in February. Other libraries are open for fewer hours, often in locations where more time is required to develop a larger volunteer base.

[In other words in areas where the infrastructure on the community is not such that it can support public services being run by volunteers.  Areas with low levels of literacy, educational attainment, IT literacy, Information skills and high levels of unemployment (remember if you volunteer you are making yourself unavailable for work unless it is government sanctioned, and who wants service from someone NOT wanting to be there).]

Opening times are dependent upon and set by the number of volunteers involved in each library – and currently some have more volunteers than others. Either way, the fact that these libraries are being maintained with the opening times as they stand is testament to the significant contribution of local communities and the 330 volunteers currently playing their part in community managed libraries. In many cases opening hours are more conducive to the needs of the local communities.

[In 4 cases the hours have VASTLY increased, in 1 case they have remained static, and in 7 significantly decreased.  Please remember this comparison also excludes the libraries of Denaby and Carcroft which were closed at the beginning of December 2011 and any changes made to other council run libraries (for example the children's library hours have been cut, it no longer opens in a morning).  The hours rely solely on the numbers of volunteers and say nothing of the changes of times when open, whether these have been matched to the community need, the actual service offered (as opposed to physical access to a building) or support from the Council.]

There are some libraries which are opening for fewer hours than before, which are at a point where they are able to begin considering opening for longer, as they now have more volunteers available. These libraries opened for 359 hours per week in February, and 287.25 hours per week as of now, and are only likely, with good intent from the volunteers involved, to increase.

[Semantics and also factually incorrect.  Some implies just a few or not many, in fact over half are opening for much less time than before.  Using the Council's own data, from the physical answer provided to Doug, the original hours were 362 and the new hours are 289.25.  What else are they getting wrong?  This answer is imagined rhetoric with no sound basis in fact and emphasises the Councils intent to retain volunteers - the ideological basis of the destruction of the libraries for over 2 years now]

This is on top of the 558 hours per week for the Council-run Libraries and 55 hours per week achieved by our mobile services. Considered as a whole, the total opening hours for all libraries is 900.25 hours per week.

[Presumably this is also incorrect, based on the error identified above, but without the data we cannot accurately analyse this.  And again, no actual service description is given.  A library is not simply a building or a book-bus.  It is interesting to note that whomever is answering Doug's question is using it as an opportunity for spin and not just factual response.]

In addition to this, there is a full time service delivered to those of our residents who have difficulty visiting a library, and we must not forget the digital library service which is available 24/7 every day of the year.

[It is, but in a borough with over 30% who have no home access to the internet and therefore may have relied on their library to access digital opportunities, an online service is irrelevant.  What does the full-time service to residents mean?  Is this the homebound service? A very valuable service indeed and one which is vital to residents.  Alarm bells ring at the inclusion of this as part of an answer to a question which did not ask this.]

I note Mr. ——, that you live in Cantley, about half a mile from one of our Council-run libraries open 43.5 hours per week, recently increased by 5 hours per week, and which has the potential to be refurbished in the near future.

[2-tier service in action.  It seems one of the lucky 4 libraries to increase in opening hours, and situated in an affluent and high-attaining (on average) area is to have money spent on it that COULD have been used to properly staff and retain other, equally vital, libraries]

I also see you live not far away from Bessacarr, which has a community managed library, open 11 hours a week.

[A reduction from before, physically difficult to access, even find, and assumes those 11 hours being at convenient times.  See detailed table below.]

The Council’s library service will continue to work closely with all community managed libraries and their volunteers, with training and support provide on an on-going basis. I understand that other local authorities around the country are currently reviewing their library services, including opening times and the transfer to community management, and it would be good to reach a point where Doncaster can be considered a front-runner in the way these libraries have developed. I applaud the contribution of volunteers in these libraries. It would be good to now think that if only those people who have committed their energies to campaigning against these necessary and innovative changes could now focus their energy on supporting and contributing to the cause of volunteers, these libraries would be able to achieve even more as a result.

[So many things wrong with this arrogant and patronising paragraph it is hard to know where to begin.  The changes were NOT necessary and are NOT innovative, they are destructive and divisive.  Campaigners may have paying jobs, have family commitments, have caring responsibilities and/or simply refuse to take on what should be a paid post.  Volunteers, whether they like to believe it or not, have taken away peoples livelihoods.  Rhetorical evidence from the non-public face of volunteer groups tells us support from the council is piecemeal, paid staffs are vastly overworked and that questions regarding managerial, accounting, legal and other such library-run matters takes weeks, if ever, to be answered.]

In fact no part of the answer is substantiated with detail and it depends on possibilities and a hope to improve.  Clearly the Council has washed their hands of those libraries.  The facts regarding the physical access to libraries is tabled below.  The first table simply compares the weekly and overall figures and gives the 3 averages the hours have been sorted from lowest to highest.  Averaging is by no means an exact science but this table clearly shows that a more equitable (mean) distribution of hours was achieved when the libraries were Council-run, and that the responders joy at the increase in opening times by some have come at the huge expense of others.  The median proves that there are far more libraries now at the lower end of the accessibility range than previously there were.  Directly below is a direct comparison table using the information provided to Doug.  Red numbers indicate a reduction in hours between February and June, Green numbers an increase and Black no change.

*NB* headings in the above are in the wrong order, this will be amended today.  Thank you for pointing it out.

Comparison Chart for each of the 12 Libraries left to volunteers, not an option for the closed libraries of Denaby and Carcroft.

The data speaks for itself (another SDL campaigner is visiting libraries to discover the truths of the service, report as soon as possible).  Dan Jarvis, MP for Barnsley, has recently stated disgust (Jarvis accuses Government of Library incompetence) at the advantage Local Governments are taking for ripping apart their public services and placing the blame on Central Government; a situation all those with Ministerial or Government Departmental responsibility are endorsing through inaction.  Certainly the cuts are swingeing and much blame is rightly placed there.  But the priorities set are that of Local Authorities.  It is Doncaster’s Mayor who decided to force over 50% of cuts to the Library Service despite an overall budget cut of 9%.  It is the Mayor who has refused a very small increase that would have enabled the 12 libraries, plus Denaby and Carcroft, to at least have one paid staff member.  It is the Mayor who has proven so intractable and deaf to advice and truth that he is being taken to a Judicial Review.  A review we MUST win, or lose forever the majority of what was, only a short decade ago, a top mark 3 star Public Library Service.

The letter reproduced below first appeared here, Doncaster Free Press Letters page on Thursday July 5th.

A waste of our taxpayers’ cash?

I READ with interest ‘Mayor faces judge over library cuts’ on page 2 of the Doncaster Free Press on Thursday June 28, 2012, which is listed for hearing at the Leeds Combined Court Centre on Tuesday, July 24.

Should not the un-named claimant have invoked the council complaints procedure or the ombudsman service, so avoiding Doncaster tax payers liability of the costs of this unreasonable and irrational judicial review proceedings?

Maurice Field, Kings Road, Wheatley

A response has been sent by Save Doncaster Libraries to the Free Press. In the hope that the response will be published it shall not be reproduced here, the Press Release from our Lawyers regarding this matter, reveals the truth of the situation and speaks for itself.

Public Interest Lawyers
Press Release – 22 June 2012
For immediate release

DONCASTER’S ELECTED MAYOR TO FACE LEGAL CHALLENGE OVER
REFUSAL TO IMPLEMENT DONCASTER COUNCIL’S DECISION ON LIBRARIES

His Honour Judge Gosnell has granted permission to a Doncaster resident to bring an application for judicial review challenging the elected Mayor of Doncaster, Peter Davies, for his refusal to implement a decision of Doncaster’s councillors to save the authority’s libraries. The case is to be heard in Leeds Combined Court Centre on 24 July 2012. The claim will answer an important question about the balance of power between elected Mayors and Councillors.

The resident is represented by the solicitors firm Public Interest Lawyers.

On 23 February 2012, the Mayor proposed his budget for the forthcoming year to Doncaster Metropolitan Borough Council’s councillors sitting together as the ‘full Council.’ The head of the Labour group proposed an amendment to that budget which allocated funds to save two closed libraries and prevent 12 other libraries from being left to be run by volunteers. On 5 March 2012, the full Council voted (by 43 votes to 6 with 3 councillors abstaining) to include the proposed amendment in the budget. The law is clear that the setting of the budget is the responsibility of the full Council and not an elected Mayor.

The following day, the Mayor, an English Democrat, announced that he was not going to implement the budget as set by the Full Council and that the 14 libraries would continue, as he wished, to close or be transferred to community volunteers.

The law requires the Mayor to act “wholly in accordance” with the budget as set by the Council. The claim centres on whether the Mayor’s refusal to implement the budget can be said to be wholly in accordance with the budget. In granting permission, His Honour Judge Gosnell observed that the “claim is clearly arguable.”

Phil Shiner, of Public Interest Lawyers, said today:

“The Mayor’s refusal to implement the decision of a 2-thirds majority of all of Doncaster’s councillors is not only disastrous for the future of Doncaster’s libraries, it raises a fundamental question about the elected Mayor system. The claim will provide an important answer about the balance of power between an elected Mayor and all of an authority’s elected councillors.”

UPDATE 19TH JULY 2012.  The Doncaster Free Press have not published our reponse to Mr Fields’ letter, and have had 2 editions in which to do so.  Thus it is reproduced here:-

Dear Sir,
It is with resigned sadness that I read the letter from Mr Field last week asking why the unnamed claimant whose case has resulted in Save Doncaster Libraries being granted a Judicial Review over Mayor Davies systematic destruction of Doncaster Libraries, a claim which His Honour Judge Gosnell stated “is clearly arguable”, believes this to be a waste of taxpayers money.  Does this mean an electorate should never ensure governance appropriately and correctly, nor fight where the opposite occurs, to save ‘the taxpayers money’?  The Council would not be forced to defend the indefensible had Mayor Davies not closed his ears and mind two years ago.
The Judicial Review is neither unreasonable nor irrational.  It is the inevitable stage to which Save Doncaster Libraries have been driven after all our recommendations, suggestions, call-ins, petitions, protests, provision of alternate solutions (from persons within and without the Council) and evidence provision of the importance of a statutory library service to all those who live, work or are educated in our borough.  It is a natural progression resulting from the Mayor’s refusal to implement a budget amendment granting an extra amount of funding to the Library Service which would have enabled a paid member of council staff to work within ALL of the 14 endangered libraries, including those of Denaby and Carcroft which have been closed since the beginning of December 2011.  The case itself is representative, all residents would be beneficially affected should we win.
We have been warning of this inevitable legal step for months, and pointed to those successful judicial reviews from elsewhere in the Country (Gloucester and Somerset for example).  Save Doncaster Libraries is not happy to have been forced to go this far, indeed it is a step the Mayor could have avoided on many occasions but instead he has chosen to force through cuts of over 50% of the overall Library Service (it is not only local branches that have been attacked, for example back-office services, staffing levels, purchase levels and hours at other libraries have also been cut) despite the overall reduction in our Local Authority budget being 9%.  A Mayor is accountable to his electorate and also to the full council as representatives of the electorate and cannot simply ignore acceptable amendments to push through what can only now be viewed as an ideological attack on the access to information and reading materials for all, especially important in these austere times when for many it is the only possible access.
Save Doncaster Libraries is currently reviewing the impact of the changes made already to the closed and closing branch libraries and the overall picture is not a positive one.  Soon it will be too late to claw back from the destruction reaped by Mayor Davies and that will be his legacy.  Whilst there are actions we can take to prevent this, Save Doncaster Libraries, is proud to lead the way.  Information about the non-partisan campaign can be found at www.savedoncasterlibraries.wordpress.com.
Lynne _______, Save Doncaster Libraries campaigner,

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-south-yorkshire-18564096

http://news.uk.msn.com/mayor-faces-legal-action-on-budget-1

The campaign, with support of the Labour Group here in Doncaster, has been warning the Mayor and his Cabinet that their complete lack of consideration regarding the impact of closures and/or forcing management of libraries onto communities (the vast majority of whom are ill-equipped to cope) of Doncaster would open them up to Legal Action, and this has now come to pass.  This result of this hearing, 24th July 2012 at Leeds Combined Court Centre, will have a much wider impact than simply that of the situation regarding Doncaster’s Libraries, it will highlight the Mayoral System’s complete lack of accountability and underscore the undemocratic nature of the current ruling system here in Doncaster, one which we are now stuck with.

Mayor Davies, and your Cabinet, read through our past blogs and communications.  We tried to tell you.

Well…  65% of the 30.57% of Doncaster people who voted in the May 3rd elections have chosen to continue with the Mayoral System.  Whether this be a re-election of the current incumbent or another person it still means power in the hands of one person and as few as 2 people in a Cabinet.  Our arguments against the system and the disastrous actions of the Mayor in terms of Doncaster’s Libraries are well documented in previous posts…

Sadly it seems our fears are to be proven correct.  We have learnt that of the 25 original volunteers in Rossington Library, only 10 remain, a mere 3 months after re-opening as a ‘Community-run’ Library.  Reasons are unknown but perhaps the vounteers realised the magnitude and responsibilities required of them, and recognised this to be the remit of paid, trained, experienced and qualified Council employees.  We have not been informed of the situations within any other library and can only hope this is not replicated.  Not only are we left with a 2-tier system but our original suspicions, as we warned many, many months ago, are being realised with the stealthy closing and/or reducing of service in those Libraries the Cabinet and Mayor deemed unnecessary.  How they believe Doncaster can now fulfill its statutory requirement regarding provision of a comprehensive and efficient library service to those who live, work and are educated in the widely located boroughs of Doncaster is unfathomable.

We may be quiet, but we have not stopped. There is still time to donate and force the Mayor to reverse this travesty.  Please help us to match the Legal Aid funding granted to our campaign regarding a Judicial Review, which continues making its course.  Donations are welcomed in different ways, you could simply pass cash to a member of the campaign who will ensure it gets to our Treasurer John Sheppard. You could log in to your own paypal account and send funds directly to our campaign using the email address johnshep50@talktalk.net or you could contact John directly to request an address to where you could send a cheque (payable to ‘Save Our Libraries’), either by email or telephone on 07951382703.  Please, Please, PLEASE support us by sharing this information as widely as possible.

Save Doncaster Libraries has been hearing worrying reports of people not receiving their polling cards, and even worse being turned away from polling stations when they arrive to exercise their right to vote, for the most tenuous of reasons.  Who knows how this will affect the results?  We urge anyone who has been treated so shabbily by the Council to contact us (email details are on the right) so we can compile a document to submit.  We cannot allow the Council to disable Doncaster Residents right to have their say in how they are run – and in such an important local election.

Save Doncaster Libraries campaigners have voted.  We have done our bit to try and rid the Council of its current dictatorial leadership model.  We cannot EVER enable one person to have such power as Mr Davies has, and risk the well-being of Doncaster resting on the whims if one such inept person.  Davies has systematically ignored petitions, protests, Overview and Scrutiny Committee call-ins, an amendment placed that would have minimised the damage… and has now forced campaigners along the route of a judicial review.  Has he been made aware, by his equally incompetent Cabinet, of the severe loss in the High Court of Surrey County Councils attempt to destroy their library service in a very similar manner (also reported by BBC News - ‘Surrey Library Volunteer decision ruled unlawful by High Court’)?  Is he so blithely unempathetic and uncaring that in these times of severe hardship and the leading of Doncaster Council employees into poverty through cuts to terms and conditions or redundancy (they could always volunteer to work their old roles, this seems to be the Mayoral and Cabinet thinking, how nice for someone on a Mayoral wage cut only so he could keep his teaching pension that was awarded before the current cuts to that provision are enforced!), that he is willing to spend more Council money in Court defending the indefensible?  It seems he is.

We can only hope that the Voters of Doncaster (those who were able) have shown their contempt for the man and the leadership model at yesterday’s polls.

If one was to only read Doncaster’s local paper ‘The Free Press’, one would believe the population of Doncaster is all for the destruction of the Library Service.  Indeed it seems every week there are grinning volunteers gleefully extolling the new virtues of their ‘just opened’ community library, detailing ‘new initiatives’ and ‘exciting opportunities’ whilst the newly departed and now unemployed staff must look on with a sadness at the wilful ignorance of the myriad efforts they made when in post, and how much more they would have done had they not been handcuffed by a Council that looked in the opposite direction as they took away staff, resources, training and support.  Congratulations Mayor Davies you have achieved the 2-tier service and denigration of communities you so desired.

The volunteer groups are still all asking for supporters.  To read the forementioned local paper one would believe all Libraries have these groups set up.  This is not true, I have learned that my local branch, Wheatley, is to shut on Saturday.  Whether it will re-open who knows.  The Council website is, as usual, woefully out of date but it may be worth a look at its Find your Local Library pages. 

We can only hope the valiant volunteers manage to keep the buildings open as long as it takes for the Council to realise the devastating destruction forced through by the Mayor and his Cabinet, and reverse the decision.  There will always be a place for volunteers and ‘Friends of’ groups in a Library service.  Libraries have always been community resources.  But they should not be left to the communities to manage, fund, resource, account for and be legally responsible for.  Save Doncaster Libraries does not condemn the volunteer groups, we are sad that they are forced into being by an uncaring and dismissive Doncaster Leadership.

If the Mayor can ignore petitions, protests, advice, professional guidance, reports, plans, legal decisions from like services elsewhere and the wishes of the population, and railroad through plans in such a way, to the library service, what else is he willing to do?  Save Doncaster Libraries is fighting not only to save this vital service, but to ensure the Mayor obeys statutory obligations, legal consultation requirements and listens to the people.  To this end we are committing to a Judicial Review process, but, WE NEED YOUR HELP!  We must match legal aid funding.  Please give anything you can.  Donations are welcomed in different ways, you could simply pass cash to a member of the campaign who will ensure it gets to our Treasurer John Sheppard. You could log in to your own paypal account and send funds directly to our campaign using the email address johnshep50@talktalk.net or you could contact John directly to request an address to where you could send a cheque (payable to ‘Save Our Libraries’), either by email or telephone on 07951382703.

And remember, at the local elections on May 3rd YOU can tell the Mayor and his Cabinet exactly what you think of him, by voting out this dictatorial and undemocratic system of governance.

If there was any lingering doubt regarding the Mayor’s contempt for Doncaster’s Public Library Service and his determination to destroy it, these articles surely rid that once and for all. 

Mayor defends decision to veto £380,000 libraries investment

Mayor of Doncaster refuses to reopen libraries

Mr Davies clearly has no understanding of the concept of volunteer – this is a role that supports and enhances a service, not one that should take on all the responsibilities and pressures that belong to a paid service.  £380,000 would have ensured a paid member of staff in situ in ALL 14 threatened branches, supporting the volunteers and providing a professional service to users.  The paid member of staff would be able to go the extra mile that volunteers, with the best will, would be unable to do so, and would be an invaluable link to the library service as a whole.  This small amount of money would have enabled the communities of Denaby and Carcroft to have back their libraries, and for the other 12 threatened libraries to remain open and viable.  As it stands Doncaster will lose far more than it gains and the Mayor will simply gloat that those communities, who are not of an infrastructure to support volunteer-maintained libraries, just did not want them.

Save Doncaster Libraries continues to fight on.  For 2 years now we have attempted to make the man see sense.  We are now having to take legal action.  Help us to match the Legal Aid funding granted to our campaign regarding a Judicial Review, which continues making its course.  Donations are welcomed in different ways, you could simply pass cash to a member of the campaign who will ensure it gets to our Treasurer John Sheppard. You could log in to your own paypal account and send funds directly to our campaign using the email address johnshep50@talktalk.net or you could contact John directly to request an address to where you could send a cheque (payable to ‘Save Our Libraries’), either by email or telephone on 07951382703.

Some of this post will apply to different sectors, but the majority will probably focus on public libraries because that’s where my experience of the issue of volunteering lies.

My stance on volunteering in any sector is roughly this:

+ Volunteering can be of benefit to you if you can’t (for whatever reason) get a paid job for the experience. Short placements in different sectors and departments can give you a really valuable insight into different aspects of work you might want to do in the future. Longer placements can help you demonstrate that you’re dedicated to something and help you develop skills over a longer period.

- Volunteering has the potential to be massively detrimental to the library and information profession if organisations use it to save money on paid, qualified and trained staff.

+ Volunteering can help make services better, through added bonus enthusiastic people around who want to help make things better.

- Volunteering can make things a million times worse if volunteers aren’t trained properly. If they give the wrong information or provide a poor service, it reflects on the service provider  and has the potential to result in a decline in standards and users etc.

+ Volunteering can help services improve by providing a source of community engagement – people who use the service from a ‘lay’ perspective and have insight into community need can influence how the service is run. This can be a - too though, if some voices are heard more loudly than others.

- Volunteering to do a job that is technical/requires training and skills is essentially saying that either you don’t think it really does require those skills and therefore undermines the idea of professional standards, or that you’re willing to develop the required skills and will do whatever it takes to enhance your CV without payment, which ultimately shoots everyone in the foot because fewer and fewer paid posts will be available if there’s an army of desperate volunteers, so what’s the point in volunteering to enhance your CV in the first place?

CILIP’s take on volunteering is this:

“CILIP acknowledges the contribution that volunteers make to libraries, enriching the services they provide and helping to sustain their viability.

In order to optimise the value of that contribution it should form part of a professionally managed public library service that has at its core sufficient paid staff to ensure the direction, development and quality of the service provided.

Volunteers are not ‘free’ and need proper management, training and development. In many cases a volunteers’ co-ordinator should be appointed to ensure appropriate management and recognition of the value of volunteers”.

The ALA says something similar:

“Volunteers can be a valuable resource for a library. But like any resource, good management is key. As shown by the Independent Sector survey, volunteer time has value. Some quick tips gleaned from the resources provided below:

• clarify status with regard to such things as compensation for work-related injuries, insurance coverage when operating a library vehicle and related benefits
• establish procedures for reimbursing any work related expenses
• be sure not to supplant or displace established staff positions
• develop a recognition program
• have regular training for their work”

So, in theory, I’m not against volunteering, because it isn’t necessarily harmful. However, the political use of volunteers to dismantle services that the current government doesn’t believe that the services are valuable or should be publicly funded in the first place, when thousands of people are being made redundant (or taken off disability allowances etc.) and need paid employment to survive, makes me spit. Councils’ desperate use of volunteers to prop up services now that the government is taking a ton of money away from them makes me weep, especially when library users are made to feel like it’s the only option they have to keep their libraries open. The need for a clear, national set of standards about the use of volunteers in public libraries (and what we should expect from the public library service in general) is desperate.

My recommendation, if you’re considering volunteering in order to get experience, would be to check out the background situation first. Has there been a massive budget cut? Are people being made redundant? Is the role to keep the service going, or is it just to supplement an already successful service? Is there a clear volunteering strategy? Does the institution/organisation have a proper set of guidelines, training and support for volunteers? Do you think it’ll be detrimental to the profession in the long-term? I guess you can only try the best you can to volunteer in good conscience. This page on Public Libraries News is a very comprehensive source of information and analysis of the key issues.

My conscience wouldn’t allow me to volunteer in a library-related post at all, but I’m fortunate to have been able to get paid jobs to develop my skills and experience so it’s not been a situation I’ve had to weigh up and to an extent I think it’s a personal issue as well as a professional one. My volunteering efforts go towards initiatives like Green Streets, which as well as being a brilliant cause (and the source most of the contents of my wardrobe and kitchen cupboards…) has contributed to skills like time management, working in a team, managing volunteers, organising chaos into something a bit less chaotic (or at least categorised into the right piles!), and working with vulnerable people. There are lots of roles within organisations like this, so as well as the warm happy glow from knowing you’re definitely contributing to a good cause, there are some real opportunities to develop, both career-wise and otherwise. The skills you develop might not be library-related in the technical sense, but there are lots of skills that you need no matter what service you’re working in, and the more technical aspects are things you should receive training (and payment) for if you’re expected to do them.

This one’s a bit of a funny one for me because I’ve just been/am about to experience major change – going from working full-time in a university admin department and campaigning locally and nationally in my spare time, to studying for a PhD full-time and being the Vice President and then President of CILIP. The application processes are out of the way – I applied for a PhD place and funding months and months ago (I wrote about the process if anyone wants some insight!) and went through the manifesto-writing and application process for the VP&P role a couple of months ago (which you can read about here!), but there’s still a lot to be had from this Thing because I think an end-of-year reassessment can only be a good thing.

Part 1: Identifying your strengths; capitalising on your interests

Thing 21 recommends “[Making] sure that you keep up-to-date with yourself, and if you are unhappy in your current situation, acknowledge what has changed and take action.” I know I’m capable of doing this (as do people who’ve got a more personal insight into my life at the moment), and it’s a strength I have that I didn’t know about. I guess you never do until you’re in a situation where you need it.

As far as making a list of my own activities and interests goes…here goes! I don’t think any will be too surprising, but I think the value each of them weighs might be slightly different to what I might have expected.

Stuff I Like! 1920s-30s literature, Georgian poetry, Green stuff, activism, adventures, advocacy, beachcombing, bits of the Marvel Universe, cooking, cycling, democratic engagement, digital literacy, exploring, finding information, forests, helping people find stuff out, learning, looking after cats, magic realism, most things Whedon, music, online comics, papercutting, politics, public libraries (shock!), reading, rescuing Penguin paperbacks from charity shops, researching, screen printing, social media, social policy, standing up for things that matter, talking with people who share similar interests/goals (and different ones!), tea-drinking practices, the connections between literacy and freedoms, the relationships between nature and society, thrifting, transliteracy, travelling, typography, walking, wild birds, zombie films/tv shows.

The main thing I’ve noticed by doing this is realise what I’ve let slip and haven’t done nearly half enough of over the last year or so. Things that make me happy and keep me sane I’ve neglected a bit because of being so busy with other things. And there are things I’m interested in but haven’t done yet. I can pursue these interests and activities in my personal life to keep me on an even keel and help me lead my work life healthily, I think.

There are lots of interests in there that do play a significant role in my personal and work life, and some that I was interested in so I’ve made it my job to go and find out about. I’m really excited about it. The skills I need to do these things are skills like public speaking, constructing arguments about why things are important, using evidence to justify this, being able to articulate…stuff, writing articles for different audiences, being able to put people (journalists and the public) in touch with the information they want/need, planning, time management, the usual.

Part 2: Applying for a job

I don’t plan to be on applying for a job in the near future, but I do need to build up an accessible record of activities, experiences and skills because it’s increasingly important to keep track of this kind of thing. I do have lists of interviews, presentations and publications, which I update fairly regularly. I’ve recently set up an Academia account and have started to play about with Google Scholar Citations (though I’m finding it quite tricky) in preparation for PhD writing. I try to keep my CV up to date when I know I’m likely to need to send it to places – this isn’t just for jobs, but for bursaries and applications for other things, and if you’re considering Chartership – so it is very handy to be able to quickly send it off without too much effort updating it. I’ve been thinking about writing a CV for public consumption, like what Katie Fraser has, for example, but I’ve not thought through the pros/cons of this and what it might be useful for. I could put it on my LinkedIn profile too, but as I’ve mentioned before, I’m still not sure how LinkedIn could be of use to me.

Part 3: Interviews

I found the advice for this part of the Thing pretty spot on. I’ve recently been on the other side of the interview table and had the unfortunate experience of interviewing some truly dreadful applicants. Here’s some advice that I hope nobody needs to pay attention to!

• Dress smart. It depends on the job you’re going for as to how smart, but seriously, if you turn up in trainers, dirty casual trousers and your shirt’s not buttoned up and tucked in, you’re not giving the impression that you actually give a stuff about the job you’ve applied for.
• Make eye contact. Not in a creepy way, but it really doesn’t look good if you stare at the desk/your shoes/out the window or have your head buried behind your hands. (Yep, had all of those!)
• Be enthusiastic. Not overbearingly so if you can help it, but I had a lot more fun interviewing the really chirpy person than the person who was pretty much sighing his way through every response, and again, it gives the impression that you actually care.
• Don’t apologise for what you consider to be a lack of experience. Big up what you do know and what you have done. There’s a reason you’ve got as far as the interview process, and if you really weren’t experienced enough for the role, you’d have been dismissed as unsuitable already.
• Let the interviewer finish the question before you start answering it! This should be a no-brainer, but wow, that was off-putting. It might be because of nerves, but it gave me the impression that he didn’t have enough respect/interest in me, the role and the questions to even bother listening. At one point the colleague I was on the panel with almost stopped the interview and asked the guy to calm down, because he was answering the questions so wrongly, whereas if he’d have just let me finish I would have given him some indication as to how I wanted him to answer the question.
• Don’t bring your own drink into the interview. Or at least don’t slurp it!
• Don’t be afraid of (a little bit of) silence. Take the time to think of an answer if you don’t know where you’re going to go with a response.
• Think of a couple of questions to ask at the end of the interview, ones that are better than “how much is the pay?” and “when can I start?” This site makes some good points, even though it’s clearly not directly relevant to the LIS profession. Really though it’s about demonstrating that you’re engaged and proactive.

This is a great post about interviewing for a job in an academic library (in the US) by Jenica Rogers, which, like the rest of her blog, is absolutely spot on.

I did this Thing for Thing 10 (oops), and, as I mentioned at the time, it’s a pretty standard route. So all I can do for this one is try to give some (not very sage) advice to people at earlier stages in their career than me…

• Be confident about what you know but don’t pretend to know when you don’t.
• Don’t be afraid to ask questions. People won’t think you’re stupid (or if they do they won’t tell you…!) and it’s better to find things out for definite than wonder if you know or not.
• Make the most of as many opportunities as you can. Be open to the possibility of opportunities and be able to spot them.
• Keep track of the things you’re doing – conferences you attend etc.
• Keep an up to date CV.
• Make the most of professional networks.
• If you don’t ask, you won’t get. Apply for stuff! Ask if you can get involved.
• Don’t not apply for stuff because of fear of failure.
• Stop fearing failure. It won’t get you anywhere.
• Join a Union.
• Join CILIP and/or another professional body.
• When at all possible, don’t do it if you don’t love it.

It’s reflection time…

I’ve had a re-read of my blog posts so far and it seems to be that the Things I put the most effort into are the wordy ones, the ones that require reflection and a certain kind of work, rather than the technical ones that require practice and fiddling. I think this is partly to do with the fact that my paid (un-library-related) job doesn’t require me to use the tools that some of the Things have covered, whereas my voluntary (library-related) work is helped by having a think about the wider themes and issues-based things. It’s helpful to be able to take a step back and work out a sense of perspective and try to see where things fit in with what.

It’s also to do with which is my stronger point – which ties into why I do the work I do – but realising this has also helped to give me a kick up the bum with trying out and adopting useful resources and tools. I’m more aware of them now and am far more likely to use them when it’s a relevant time to (reference management software when I start my PhD, for example). I do now make use of Google Calendar, although with three working calendars/diaries on the go I do need to make more of an effort to just pick one and stick with it, or make it really clear to myself which one I use for which area of my life (work, PhD, Voices for the Library/CILIP-related, personal etc). This will probably be a lot easier come January when things are far less blurred and I’m not in weird cross-over land.

Here’s a late-night plan in weak-analogy-form – I’m going to use December to have a good look at the hats I have, work out when to wear them, how to wear ‘em with style and grace, and think about what I need to wear them with so I’m appropriately prepared for all seasons.

I spent a long time dithering over these Things because I didn’t want to not do them, and wanted to do them properly, and then never did them at all which I feel is getting in the way of me doing any other ones. So, I’m going to be really naughty and not do them. I think I can kind of justify it because:

• I’ve had a play around with Prezi a few times and do like it, but I think I’d always be using it in a very deliberate way rather than as a tool that would help me better communicate my message.
• Slideshare I use whenever I have a presentation to give, both to share the presentation and as an emergency backup in case my USB stick doesn’t work or something!
• The other things aren’t ones that would be useful in my line of work right now, and if I need to learn about them I will definitely use the guides from CPD23 as a starting point.

I’m very sorry CPD23, please forgive me!

This Thing’s been postponed, but um, I don’t like doing things out of sequence…so in order to fill this temporary gap, here’s an emergency blog kitten!

Seeing as I wrote the post for this Thing, I reckon my work’s mostly done It’d be really helpful to have some feedback about it and for as many people as possible to really put some effort into it please!

Some posts about it that I’ve really enjoyed reading so far and would thoroughly recommend are those by:

• Laura (Palely Loitering)
• Annie (The Hobbit Hole)
• Ed (The Cat’s Eye)
• Michelle (LibMichelle)
• JoLibrariAnne

It’s a relief to see that some people have really got the point of what I was saying in the Thing and I do hope that positive things come out of it. If I have anything to add to what I’ve already said it’s the following points:

• It doesn’t take much to do your bit;
• Doing your bit could be one or several of a whole bunch of things;
• You’d better believe that all sectors of the profession are under threat, before it’s too late to do anything about it;
• You’d better believe it’s your professional duty to do something about it.

This is Part Three of Three. In Part One of this Thing I focused on attending, Part Two was about speaking and Part Three is organising.

I don’t have a lot of experience of organising events. I’ve done some behind the scenes work with planning and co-ordinating seminars, some internal advertising and facilitating (mic-running, handing out delegate bags, that kind of thing). When I worked for SINTO I did a bit of work helping to organise training days for library staff working in different sectors, such as disaster management (in case of flooding and fire), and legal resources for academic and public librarians. I ought to take the opportunity to plug a couple of events that SINTO are running in November and December that tie in with Thing 16‘s advocacy topic; Gaining support and influence: an introduction to advocacy for libraries and Measuring and communicating impact: advanced advocacy.

Some general thoughts I’ve picked up along the way are:

• There needs to be a clear idea about who the event is geared towards and what they ought to be able to get out of attending;
• The marketing of the event needs to be put in the places that those people are likely to see it;
• It needs to be affordable for the people you want to attend;
• There needs to be lots of prior notice about when the event is and any opportunities there might be for bursaries etc.

They’re all pretty obvious I guess!

On my Conference Wishlist are:

• Library Camp (attending)
• Edge 2012 (attending)
• Public Library Association Conference 2012 in Philadelphia (oh please, oh pleeeease)
• IFLA World Library and Information Congress 2012 in Helsinki (fingers crossed)
• ALA Annual Conference (some day!)

In Part One of this Thing I focused on attending. In Part Two I’m focusing on speaking.

I’ve been given the opportunity to speak at a few events (listed at the bottom here) – as you can see, there’s a real combination of public speaking at protests and campaign events like Read-Ins, panel discussions for the Office for National Statistics and Voice of the Listener and Viewer, AGMs, and guest lectures and workshops at universities. I’m by no means an expert and have a lot of learning to do, but I enjoy sharing what I’m doing, and can genuinely say it’s because I care about what I’m doing and think it’s something valuable. Hopefully others can learn from my experiences, use what I say as a starting point and do something themselves to contribute to protecting and promoting the library and information profession.

When I start my PhD I hope to present at conferences and discuss my research, because again, I’ll be researching something I genuinely care about and think has an important role to play in the future of public libraries and the democratic system. I’ve already written a paper proposal for the January 2012 BOBCATSSS conference in Amsterdam (deadline is 1st October so there’s still time for others to submit!) and hope the panel find my proposal interesting and relevant enough to accept it! I’ve also applied to speak at things like the CILIP Career Development Group New Professionals Conference (what a gobful!) and although my application was unsuccessful, I was happy that Voices for the Library were given the opportunity to share our activism experience and skills in a workshop at the event, which I think was ultimately a more effective format for the content. If the knowledge you have to share is interesting and relevant enough, I think there are often opportunities for you to get it out there another way. Which leads me to the metaphor of the door:

Ned wrote a great post about presenting opportunities at library events and how to get them, so I won’t repeat what he said, but will echo one of his key points: If you get your name out there by responding to calls for papers, even if you’re not successful, people will be aware that you’re keen to present and have something to talk about. They may then recommend you to someone else or keep you in mind for another time.

Once you’ve spoken at a couple of things and not completely screwed up, word seems to get out that you might be suitable for other events. All of the speaking gigs I’ve done so far have been as a result of someone asking me if I’d do it, rather than the other way round. I guess that’s saved me the effort of applying, but it does mean I have to work out exactly what they want and what their event is about, and how my ‘area’ fits into that. The plus side of that, though, is that it’s helped me build interdisciplinary links that I probably wouldn’t have done otherwise, through people I’ve met at events and chatting to them afterwards about the relevance of the library and information profession to the different sectors we can be found it, and to wider society. It’s amazing what opportunities can crop up from talking to people – loads of people are interested in libraries, it turns out! For example, although I had to turn down the opportunity in the end because I just didn’t have the time to do all the background research for it, I was asked if I’d present a paper about the politics of library stock management for a Politics and International Studies conference on insurgency, development, and world order in the 21st century!

Presentation

I’ve recently adopted a standard kind of format for the presentations I give where slides are required. I try to avoid words where at all possible and just use images on slides as a memory aid for me, something to stick in the audience’s mind and keep them entertained! When I do use words I roughly stick by the advice in this post, though rules are there to be broken etc. I didn’t know there was a way to embed fonts in Powerpoint so I’ll most definitely be using that from now on! Previously I’ve converted Powerpoints into pdf and then uploaded them to Slideshare to try and get round the potential problem, or just stuck to a font I know is fairly universal. Boring fonts no more!

Attending

I can only second what Katie wrote about the whys of attending events. Deepening your knowledge of a specific area, becoming aware of areas and issues you never knew existed, meeting people who care about the things you’re interested in and know more about the things you want to know more about – it’s all really valuable if you genuinely want to do more in the area that the event is covering. However…I’d strongly recommend against attending something just because you feel like you ought to and not because you care. For a start, you’re not going to get anything out of it, so it’s a waste of your own time and/or money. Second, if an event’s booked up you’re taking the space of someone who might actually get something out of attending. Third, you’re totally going to bum everyone out if you can’t be enthusiastic about your time there. I say this because I’m aware that some people think that attending conferences and events is supposedly really important but they don’t quite get why, so go along anyway. In a slight contradiction of what I’ve just said – that’s ok, as long as you go with a sense of curiosity and an open mind, talk to people, learn stuff – and actually do something with what you’ve learned and the conversations you’ve had. I say this as the attendee of a fair amount of conferences and the recipient of a fair number of bursaries – I try to deserve the opportunities I’m given and really don’t like it when I know someone’s applied for and been granted funding to go to something, and done bugger all with that opportunity that others (me!) would give their right arm for. I’m fully aware that this sounds resentful and mean, but seriously, it ain’t on, you know? Yes, getting a conference bursary means you can put it on your cv and that you can probably write a good begging letter – but that’s not the point of the events or the spirit in which the awards are…awarded.

Money-wise…

It goes without saying that attending conferences can be a costly business. I’m pretty much perpetually skint. But I’ve never let that stop me! As I say, I’m fortunate enough to have been given free places at a fair few events. Actually…I’m not sure I’ve ever paid to go to anything. Jammy. Here are some handy hints I’ve picked up along the way:

• Look for any bursaries available that are advertised by the conference organisers. For example, BIALL offer bursaries to library school students for the BIALL Annual Conference.
• If you can’t find a way of getting funding directly from the conference organisers, you might be able to get funding indirectly. Have a look on the CILIP website and see if there are any funding opportunities from special interest groups. For example, the Health Libraries Group offered bursaries for Umbrella 2011. Regional groups might have something on offer, too.
• If you’ve exhausted these options, it’s not necessarily game over. If there’s no mention of bursary opportunities, you could ask the organiser if they’d consider starting one. I did this for the Edge conference and bagsied myself a free place that way. Nothing’s ever truly free, of course – but the cost of writing a blog post summarising the event, or submitting an article to a professional magazine isn’t expensive – and then the event has benefited you twofold, with something else to put on your cv or mention in job applications.
• Failing that, beg a sponsor! Write them an email explaining why you want to go, why you’re so interested and what they’ll get out of sponsoring you to go. It’s good publicity for them when you write one of those aforementioned summaries or articles and thank them for their kindness. Or perhaps you could spend some time working on their stall – it gives you a different insight into things, you meet different people and they get the benefit of the occasional loo break and some time to see the events themselves or have a meeting with potential clients etc.
• Or, ask the organisers if you can help out. I did this for the New Professionals Conference last year with some other MA students, which helped the organisers and gave us the opportunity to attend something valuable that we otherwise might not have been able to.
• If at first you don’t succeed… there are a couple of international conferences that I’m absolutely desperate to go to, and have applied for a couple of times. I’m not giving in! I know of a few people who’ve been successful on their second or third attempt – and if you’re committed enough to apply year after year, surely that’s a sign that you deserve the place, eh?
• Find the free events! They do exist and even though they don’t come with a hefty price-tag, they can be just as valuable. Things like Members’ Days and AGMs are worth attending, for more reasons than just the interesting content, too.

Making the most

Again, what Katie said. Talk to people! I’ve never found it difficult to talk to strangers so I was at an advantage when I started attending conferences, and now it’s rare that there’s absolutely nobody I know at an event that I go to so it’s not an issue…we’re an incestuous bunch, us library and info peeps.

I’d definitely recommend writing about your experiences, either on a personal blog or asking if a professional magazine/journal would like a submission. I have to admit, I do find reading huge long blog posts about events quite dull, but understand they can be a valuable exercise for the person who’s attended, and some people do like to read about things in great detail. My approach tends to be thematic – as Katie recommended, taking in the big picture of the sessions attended and the theme of the overall event, and applying it. You won’t remember every little detail of the event afterwards, but if you’ve thought about and applied the themes, more will stick with you, which is ultimately what it’s about. You need to be able to say “yes, this is why going to this thing was valuable to me”. Similarly with contributing to discussions and asking speakers questions – actively engaging with the event rather than being a passive recipient helps you get a lot more out of it and makes it far more enjoyable for those contributing to and organising it.