FE inclusion

  • England
  • From my experience very few FE librarians are members of CILIP. Their roles are also more isolating as they are often tied to the desk/physical service due to low staffing numbers and other committments within the organisation. There are little to no resources for FE librarians available remotely and while "transferrable" resources are available, they often aren't transferrable enough to justify the cost of paid for cpd with an already tight budget.

  • Survey FE college library and LRC staff to assess their needs and to provide more support, CPD and networking opportunities with their unique budget and visiting constraints in mind.

  • Understand that FE is not the same as school libraries and not the same as HE libraries. The SLA has lots of resources for school librarians (at a much more affordable rate) and HE libraries have the resources to fund CPD and networking for their staff. FE librarians are left as piggy in the middle, with resources for either not completely fitting the bill. Create more opportunities to support FE library staff, provide training and give more detail about the sector than the 3 paragraphs or so currently online.