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View of Durham City from the train station

Stretching the envelope: how to

make ourselves indispensable!

Presented by Jon Purcell

University Librarian and Director of Heritage Services

Durham University

Why this topic

• 2020 a very important year professionally and personally

• Current involvement in strategic planning for the next 6 years

• Deep reflection on the role of libraries, their value and their

future – and the people working in them

• Conscious of CPD and of libraries taking on new roles and

fresh challenges

• The theme of this conference ‘to boldly go where you have

never gone before’

• So! Let’s discuss

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A little of the Durham Context

Library and Heritage Services responsibilities include

• 5 University Libraries (but not 11 College Libraries!)

• 3 Museum Collections

• 4 Designated Collections of National/International importance

• Learning, Access and Community Engagement Team

And recently

• Copyright

• Open Access Publishing

• Research Data Management

• Durham World Heritage Site

• Cultural Engagement inc University Art Collections

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Why have Libraries expanded

their role beyond ‘Core’ Are we ‘the home of lost causes’?

• The cynical view – unexploded grenade syndrome!

• The institutional view – Librarians are good managers

• The professional view – ‘Give us the tools and we

can finish the job’ – professional competence

• The stakeholder view – a supportive, neutral,

engaged front facing student/academic service

• The personal view – indispensability: redefining ‘core

activities’, our skills base, our ‘value’ and our future

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RAE: An acronym to remember

R = Relevance

A = Alignment

E = Engagement

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Relevance?

• Involved in core delivery of academic services

• Recognition as an academic service / professional support service

• Direct involvement in the student experience -teaching

• Active partner in research support

• Contributor to institutional reputation

• Provider of core services to stakeholders (however defined)

• Institutional expertise in e resources, virtual learning environments,

learning spaces, information/digital literacy, employability skills

development

• Value addedness of what library and information professionals do

• Content management

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Alignment

Ensuring

• Complete alignment with institutional/strategic planning

• Especially with developments in teaching and learning - Pedagogy

• Service development (RBL) (SBL) (FIFO)

• Alignment with student and staff needs/wants

• Leading from the front (institution aligning with the Library) OA / RDM

• Strategic positioning (Risk)

• Making choices

• Strategic partnerships (Computing, DARO, Research Office, Estates)

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Engagement

“ A University is just a group of buildings gathered around a Library”

(Shelby Foote)

• On or off the institutional radar – does it matter ? Question?

• Partnership roles – FE/HE, JISC, SCONUL, COLRIC,

• Involvement in projects (internal and external)

• Shared Services

• Academic/subject liaison (The Library ‘evangelical stormtroopers’)

• Internal / External validation – QAA, ‘Critical Friends’

• Academic writing

• Externality – CILIP, Conferences, SCONUL

• Benchmarking

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Making Choices

STOP STARTING AND

START STOPPING

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Futureproofing: some techniques

• SWOT Analyses - plot your way forward

• Benchmarking – rank against competitor/exemplar libraries

• Institutional Visits – beg, steal and borrow ideas, innovations

• Scenario Planning – year zero to infinity approach

• Use your collective Knowledge, Experience and Skills – be unafraid

• Take (bounded) risks – you have to go to some very unknown places

• Ongoing need for service development – there is no going back!

• Use external facilitation (COLRIC), Institutional Review, critical mates

• CPD/ASR – professional awareness and updating – ‘Library Schools’

• Professional involvement – engagement with the profession

• Process Review – Lean and other techniques to drive change

∂ 2014 2018 2025 2020

Stop

Continue/Start

More likely to happen

Less likely to happen

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Some concluding thoughts

The best way to

predict the future is

to invent it (Alan Curtis Kay)

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And more

• We have to prove that we are indispensable, it doesn’t just happen!

• Nobody else could do what we do

• Or be trusted to do what we do

• Doing the same (the status quo) is not an option

• The need for agility, responsiveness, creativity and innovation

• Libraries have changed out of all recognition: the process will continue

• Are we leaders and change agents or content to be followers

• Skills Analysis – what are we lacking and need to rectify yesterday!

• It’s a great time to be a Librarian in

academic libraries

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Thank You

Questions?

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View of Durham City from the train station