The personal is political is a slogan out of second wave feminism. Fifty years later the idea that there are many deeply personal issues that are politicised by those who wish to impose themselves into other people’s lives, and conversely, many deeply personal issues that historically people in power have claimed to /not/ be political, is still just as relevant as it ever was.

It’s relevant in libraries as well. Who can access the library is deeply personal for those who, perhaps, wish to have a safe place to study (e.g. students who can’t study at home), rest (e.g. homeless people), or educate (e.g. parents with children). Public libraries are public, but public spaces don’t mean that everyone is accepted, everyone is allowed to be in a place, or that everyone /feels/accepted. 

In this talk I will look at the idea that libraries are neutral; and if that even means anything. I will examine how decisions (including around collections, opening hours, and even furniture and the names of rooms), including the absence of decisions, can influence who feels welcome at your library and who doesn’t. As there is no perfect solution, I won’t tell you what decisions you should or shouldn’t make; instead I ask you to consider the possible consequences.

And remember, /everything/ is political.

In this presentation, we will explore the powerful impact that community engagement strategies have on libraries and how they can lead to mutual benefits for both the library and its surrounding community. Can community engagement help us reach our potential and does community engagement assist in collecting the stories to support the value of libraries?

This presentation aims to inspire all library professionals to harness the power of community engagement to redefine their role and maximize their impact. By actively involving the community in library initiatives, library professionals can empower their libraries to become vibrant hubs of learning, innovation, and social connection. 

Resilience is a relational concept and process. It cannot be a replacement for inclusive and equitable change. For emerging library professionals, expectations around resilience can present unique challenges, frustrations, and hopes. Often these expectations are not equally felt and to understand professional and career resilience we need to look beyond our own experiences and ask where change can be made. The need for resilience offers an opportunity to do things differently as a profession.

Local and global challenges, such as the pandemic and climate change, see libraries furthering the concept of resilience, building sustainable and adaptable services that focus on communities. Individualised understandings of resilience, however, risk obscuring the need for meaningful change. Understanding resilience as relational provides opportunities to acknowledge equity and diversity as fundamental for transformative change. It sees differences embraced and the building of mutual empathy and trust across library services, careers, and leadership.

This session challenges our understanding of resilience in libraries and questions what resilience might obscure. Drawing on research from library, queer, and disability justice spaces, it reflects on approaches to doing things differently as a profession that can drive change with care and connection.