Ruth Hopkins, school librarian at Sullivan Upper School, was awarded a CILIP Ireland bursary to participate in the recent CILIP YLG conference held in Glasgow.
CILIP Youth Libraries Group Conference 2024 – Reading for Wellbeing
28th-29th September, Doubletree Hotel, Glasgow
I was lucky enough to be awarded a bursary by CILIP Ireland to attend the Youth Libraries Group conference in Glasgow this year, which as well as the price of the 2-day conference ticket offered up to £250 to cover my flights to and from Belfast and my accommodation.
This was my first experience of attending a conference and I was so impressed by the organisation that had gone into its planning and execution, the theme of which was Reading for Wellbeing. This was not just a chance to hear some fantastic authors speaking and meet publishers but also a great opportunity for networking with CILIP colleagues and to connect with fellow youth librarians across the UK from a wide range of library settings.
For those of us arriving on Friday evening, this began immediately as we enjoyed ‘Oi Frog’ and ‘Giraffes Can’t Dance’ cocktails sponsored by Hachette at the conference venue. After registration on Saturday morning, the outgoing chair, Jennifer Horan, welcomed everyone and thanked the sponsors, inviting Duncan Wright of Accessit, the Library Management System designed and staffed my librarians to speak; he set the tone of the weekend by reminding us never to underestimate how important library space is and that librarianship is not just about books but also people.
The opening keynote speech entitled Reading on the Brain was then delivered by internationally acclaimed author and speaker, Nicola Morgan. By looking at brain motivations (the limbic system versus the prefrontal cortex) she stressed the importance of enjoyment as a requirement in reading, children choosing to read for pleasure because they like it, not because it’s good for them, saying ‘reading is like strawberries, not spinach!’ The child who gets pleasure in reading will do it more and by doing it more they will become better at it. If there’s no pleasure, they’ll do it as little as possible and therefore not become so good. Mastery doesn’t just come with practice: we must enjoy it. She gave 4 steps to reading motivation: choose your expectation of benefit, chose the right book (ask a librarian!), create time, and acknowledge the benefit. She concluded that in order to create expert, passionate readers, libraries are needed more than ever in encouraging reading for pleasure and its benefits.
The next event was a panel discussion Boys Will Be Boys in which 4 authors – Margaret McDonald, Brian Conaghan, Alan Bissett and Josh Silver, whose books are hard-hitting and compelling in their content and style, discussed how in this period of toxic masculinity it is so important to talk to young men, listening to what their thoughts about such figures as Andrew Tate, and not simply closing them down. The panel also discussed the need for teen boys to ‘meet themselves’ in what they read as creativity, positive representation, and compassion are vital. Furthermore, in getting reluctant readers interested in reading, poetry as a gateway to reading was highlighted.
Our final panel before lunch Black and Irish saw Matthew Parkinson-Bennett of Little Island Books in conversation with Leon Diop, founder of the Black and Irish organisation who spoke of his background and how he struggled fitting in when growing up in Tallaght, as 50/50, Black/Irish but never feeling whole. His award-winning book, the first to explore black Irish identity features the stories, resilience and inspiration of 50 real black Irish people. His mission to bring as much information to young people and help them recognise the importance of self-esteem and confidence, was very much in keeping with the comments of the authors in the previous panel, and we once again saw the importance of reading for well-being and how books can support young people as they navigate their way in today’s world.
Lunch and exhibition time followed and I soon realised my rookie mistake made in preparation for my first conference: too small a travel bag for all the great material on offer! As if all the in-conference material was not enough there was also a virtual goody-bag made available online with even more supplementary content form publishers and suppliers as well as useful resources to download. A bookshop run by Norfolk Children’s Book centre was present throughout the weekend and did a steady stream of trade as many books were purchased and signed by the speakers.
After lunch saw delegates divided into 4 Breakout Sessions – on Inclusive Storytelling; Mediator Toolkits; Every Cherry publishers and the one I attended entitled Bibliotherapy. Set up by school librarians in Edinburgh, this reading for wellbeing project is a toolkit, ‘Explore, Connect, Respond’, to help the mental health of young people in schools. In this session school librarians George Mackenzie and Tomi Adenekan explained how they used the Bibliotherapy toolkit in different ways. The toolkit contains a list of books to support mental health and wellbeing, as well as links to online advice and support which George used with students, the idea to Escape in a book, Connect to a Story, Relate to the world whereas Tomi started a book club pupils who came together to read / be read to, in this respect actually doing the escape, connecting and relating with a text together and thus connecting with each other. It was interesting to see the two ways of using the toolkit which seemed very accessible to improving mental wellbeing through reading.
At 3pm it was an exciting 60 second challenge for the publishers to talk about their books and share some upcoming titles. Before enjoying afternoon tea-break, sponsored by Anderson press, YA author William Hussey shared his latest novel ‘The Boy I Love’ with us, a LBGTQ historical love story set in the trenches of WW1 in the build up to the Somme. As well as picking up a proof copy (with its already stunning cover), cupcakes complete with tiny iced replicas were devoured too.
The final panel of the day Funny Fiction featured 4 authors of humorous novels and series– Pamela Butchart, Jen Carney, Nathanael Lessore and Martin Stewart – discussing not just how humour in what we read does much for our wellbeing as it provides a chance to escape the realities of life and simply enjoy being entertained. It is also the accessibility funny books bring young readers as once more the importance of young people seeing themselves in what they read was emphasized and the panel agreed how comedy can successfully enable this.
The first day ended on a relaxing note as we were given the opportunity to mind our own well-being. Following some background on the successful ‘Keep the Heid and Read!’ campaign by the Scottish Library and Information Council, set up to reduce screen time, we put reading for wellbeing into practice and read for 6 minutes. A perfect end to an absorbing and enjoyable day.
Back to my hotel room and there was just enough time to admire one’s haul of goodies from the exhibition before returning to the Doubletree for the Gruffalo drinks reception, sponsored by Macmillan, to celebrate the 25th anniversary of that wonderful book. Dinner followed but not before the wonderful poet Simon Lamb addressed our meal (à la his fellow Ayrshire native, Robert Burns) with his energetic and passionate performance reimagining ‘Tam O’Shanter’ and another called ‘Friday Night Treat’ where chips were the food in question rather than haggis.
After a delicious dinner some awards were presented including the Carnegie Medal (once again!) to Joseph Coelho who, in speaking about what this award meant to him, emphasized the importance of libraries and thanked librarians for everything they do. He said it is they who are key in keeping communities together, helping navigate fake news and how vital they will continue to be in years to come. He concluded by stating that libraries are the glue that keeps us together before reading his poem ‘One Thousand Libraries’. Honorary memberships were presented and other awards went to Barrington Stoke, ‘Publisher of the Year’ and the ‘YLG Librarian of the Year’ was won by Carol Hales, Library Assistant at Hounslow School Library Service.
It was then then turn of the Olympic winner and world javelin champion, Fatima Whitbread, to give the after-dinner speech in which she told us about her upbringing in care, the inspiration in the home that was Auntie Rae and how her experiences have been brought together in her beautiful picture book ‘My Bright Shining Star’ about power of kindness. Her very personal and poignant account of her childhood were peppered with humour and warmth and was in keeping with much of the literature discussed at the conference - improving wellbeing by reading positive hopeful stories and also by developing empathy as she helps understand what life in care is like.
This theme was continued as Day 2 began with an 8am breakfast session with Jake Hope and Fiona Carswell whose Getting it Altogether conversation was focused on promoting diversity and inclusion in library collections. Fiona spoke of books being windows (seeing other people’s perspectives) and mirrors (seeing ourselves reflected). We are all capsules of diversity now, it’s something affecting all of us, all of the time, therefore the need to embed in our practices and to make sure real lives are reflected in the books we promote. Alternatively taking place at this time was a session by Irish designer and illustrator Steve McCarthy on digital art, Irish folklore and his new book with Eoin Colfer, Beanie the Banshee.
Another tea break before the final keynote speaker, award-winning and former Carnegie Medal winner, Sarah Crossan, talked about Writing from the Heart where she shared her thoughts on poetry and the writing process involved in a successful verse novel. Moving on to the essential need for reading to be enjoyed thus tying up neatly with Nicola Morgan’s opening keynote. Once again, we heard about the power of books during difficult times, to ‘metabolize the bad stuff’ as she put it. She spoke of the love associated with books if read to early, the bonding involved, speaking both of her parents and her daughter, before reading the moving poem written recently when her mother died. In keeping with other authors’ comments earlier in the weekend, Sarah also touched on the author’s job to understand the reader, how books find us and finding ourselves in books. She talked about her latest novel, Where the Heart Should Be, a historical verse novel set in the Irish famine and when asked how she went about writing modern themes in a historical setting she replied that while language change the feelings that young people have are the same.
The final panel of the weekend was not one but two Laureates in Conversation – Frank Cottrell Boyce who is just commencing his role as UK Children’s Laureate and Patricia Forde, currently Ireland’s Laureate na nÓg who conversed about their roles. Patricia spoke of the mammoth trip she led this summer along the west coast from Malin to Mizen with a team of Irish authors and illustrators meeting 3,000 children and handing out 2,000 books. As with so many of the authors we heard from this weekend, her focus is also on the joy associated with reading and allowing children the time and space they need to be creative. While both Laureates talked about language and how important it is in finding a space, Frank is also very much concerned with policy, speaking with leaders and organisations with a view to giving the youngest children and better start.
Thus ended a fantastic YLG conference where there was much discussed about instilling in children and young people the pleasure of reading. I found it to be inspirational and the chosen speakers, workshops and exhibitions provided me with a great opportunity to meet and engage with others. It was thought-provoking and motivating not just to listen to authors talk about their work and how reading is so important for wellbeing but to meet such great people, passionate about books and reading, be they fellow librarians or publishers. There was much to think about on the journey home and some brilliant books and ideas to share and certainly it was great for my own wellbeing as being part of something promoting such positivity.
I have been a member of CILIP for a couple of years now and would recommend joining; the opportunities offered and the contacts and resource available are so good, and I definitely see the benefits of sub-group memberships to the areas in which I work, namely the Schools Libraries Group and the Youth Libraries Group. The latter is such a vibrant member organisation, is most welcoming and being part of CILIP creates great opportunities to network with colleagues and those in related professions.
Comments