I joined CILIP at the beginning of my MA course for a few reasons, these being: our tutors recommended it, I thought it would help me meet people, I thought it would help me learn stuff and it is cheap to join when you're a student. If I'm completely honest, the last one probably sold it to me. I thought that joining as a student would give me an idea what CILIP is all about whilst not being too expensive, so that post-MA, when I was employed, I would be able to make an informed decision about whether or not to join.
I then decided to put myself forward as a CILIP Student Representative. I am not usually one to volunteer for such things, but various personal circumstances had made me realise that life is too short to worry and so I decided to put my new-found devil-may-care (ish) attitude to good use. I attended a pub quiz, got added to the email list and attended the AGM in Liverpool - all of which were useful, and I met some lovely people. But I don't think I made the most of the opportunity and I'm not 100% sure why - possibly essay deadlines, possibly because I wasn't totally sure what I was supposed to be doing, possibly because I was mostly listening and trying to learn as much as I could and felt rather overwhelmed. I am glad I did it, but I probably didn't know enough about library-world to contribute as much as I would have liked.
I regularly check CILIP's website for job vacancies and other news - both of these things are incredibly useful. It's also really useful being able to access the Update archives - I actually referenced a few articles from back issues in my essays. I imagine I will remain a member into my professional career.
Out of the other professional organisations, LISNPN seems especially relevant to my current situation and has also popped up in a few of the other tasks. I have therefore registered and will be getting involved!
Face-to-Face Networks
As part of this task, I decided to organise a meet-up in Manchester. Again, not necessarily something that comes naturally to me, but I decided that getting out of my comfort zone is probably a good idea now and again. I wouldn't describe myself as shy, but I'm fairly sure no one feels 100% confident about meeting a bunch of strangers, so I did feel apprehensive! We met at Port Street Beer house, which sells an incredibly overwhelming amount of ale. (I am the type of librarian who prefers ale to gin).
5 people came along: a trainee archivist, an academic librarian, a health library manager (who is also a part-time student on my course), an all-round library-type and soon-to-be-student on my course & a librarian at my old 6th form college! It was informal and it was interesting to meet people from a variety of library/information backgrounds. Many thanks to those who came along!
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