Chrissie's Muses

It was a very innocuous comment by Sue Whiteside of South Cheshire College during the course of a meeting that went something like “we should think about doing some Staff Development across the group” (don’t quote me whether it was those exact words as we didn’t write them down!) that led to the Cheshire Colleges Library and Learning Resources Staff Development Day. 

The Librarians and Learning Resource Centre Managers across Cheshire have been meeting as a group to share ideas and good practice since it was restarted in 2003, and so many initiatives have been undertaken by this successful group.  We’ve completed a benchmarking exercise (which really needs repeating); followed the lead from the Merseyside Circle of College Librarians and started a peer evaluation scheme; created a work placement scheme for staff employed within the libraries and LRCs across all the member colleges; and are just embarking on investigating the possibility of creating a shared Information Skills framework/strategy. 

In was in the December meeting of 2008 that we discussed the possibility of a Cheshire Colleges Library and Learning Resources Staff Development Day which would be held just before summer for all staff employed in college Libraries and Learning Resource Centres across the county of Cheshire (and slightly beyond).  The idea was for as many Library and LRC staff across the county to get together at Reaseheath College in Nantwich for a day’s staff development focussed on fulfilling current training needs.  We knew that if we held it during each college’s staff development week there was a possibility that all the college libraries and Learning Resource Centres across Cheshire could close to enable all their staff to attend.  As a group we knew that this could be a fantastic staff development and networking opportunity, but were unsure whether it was too ambitious. 

Details about the proposed event were circulated as soon as possible after the December meeting and all group members were asked to request permission from their college management for all their staff to attend this day.   The feedback from all colleges was overwhelmingly positive.

“I love this idea.  I shall make every effort to get our College involved” 

From there the momentum grew.  The planning team of Karen Myatt from Reaseheath College, Sue Whiteside from South Cheshire College, Dermot Ryan from West Cheshire College and I started recruiting presenters for the day and discussing the logistics.  We asked Fiona Emberton from Embervision to be our “keynote” and to provide the inspiration for the day.  Alastair McNaught was asked to present about the work JISC TechDis have been undertaking for libraries and Learning Resource Centres, Intellident were asked to present on their RFID system that has recently been installed at Reaseheath College and Anna Vernon and eBrary were asked to present and demonstrate the JISC eBooks for FE. 

Once the speakers were in place the event gathered momentum.  To encourage as much networking as possible, attendees would be placed into groups in which they would attend the afternoon workshops. These would be of mixed colleges and job roles and would provide opportunities for staff members from each college to meet their counterparts.  The presenters that had agreed to attend would lead the afternoon workshops along with an additional workshop led by members of the JISC RSC NW team (thanks Colin Gallacher, Anita Holt and Andrew Quarmby). The morning would consist of presentations from the invited speakers.

The event was held on the 3rd July 2009 at Reaseheath College in Nantwich.  85 people attended from the 10 member FE and Sixth Form colleges and we were pleased to also have 3 guests attend from other colleges in the local area.  The day was a massive success and the feedback was excellent.  All the presenters were inspirational and the number of posters that went in the recycle bin soon after was an excellent indicator of the impact of the event (Thanks Fiona!).

“I just wanted to thank you for organising such a wonderful day last Friday.  I found all the Speakers and sessions very interesting and came away with lots of ideas.  It was just the refreshing & energising change I needed.”

“I wanted to email and say thank you so much for the Staff Development Day last week – all of my staff (including myself!) thoroughly enjoyed the day and came back full of inspiration and enthusiasm. Your hard work was all worthwhile!”

The only problem now is that the group all know that we have to do it again next year!

Thank you to everyone that made the event happen:  The Cheshire College Librarians Group, Karen Myatt and the Library Team at Reaseheath College, Sue Whiteside – South Cheshire College, Dermot Ryan – West Cheshire College, Fiona Emberton – Embervision, Alastair McNaught – JISC TechDis, Anna Vernon – JISC Collections, Chris Jones – eBrary, Omar Ali – Intellident, Colin Gallacher – JISC RSC Northwest, Anita Holt – JISC RSC Northwest, Andrew Quarmby – JISC RSC Northwest, Helen Metcalfe – JISC RSC Northwest, Helen Smith – JISC RSC Northwest and anyone else I’ve forgotten.

The member colleges of the Cheshire Librarians Group are:

• Macclesfield College
• Mid Cheshire College
• Priestley College
• Reaseheath College
• Riverside College Halton
• Sir John Deane’s College
• South Cheshire College
• Trafford College
• Warrington Collegiate
• West Cheshire College

Feel free to email me or comment on this post if you would like further information.

Cheshire Colleges Library and Learning Resources Staff Development Flyer