Libraries and Archives empowerED! Conference 2024

EmpowerED!

Welcome and Introduction

The very first Libraries and Archives EDI conference, empowerED!, organised by Bi-Borough Libraries and Archives was held on 15th November 2024 in the Kensington Conference and Events Centre, London. 

I started my morning in my usual way when I am heading somewhere I’ve never been before by trusting Google maps to take me close to my destination then hoping I might find others heading the same way that I can follow. My luck held and as I got closer, I spotted someone ahead of me I suspected was a fellow librarian and was able to sneakily follow them to a reception desk where the very friendly and helpful staff directed us to the conference registration.

Each delegate was able to pick their lanyard colour from the traffic light system to indicate how open to chatting to strangers you were: red for not at all, amber for somewhat open to chats, and green for open to chatting to everyone. You could change your colour at any time throughout the day. I really enjoyed having the signals of who was and wasn’t open to chatting but appreciated one person’s comment that for the colour blind, another indication that was not reliant on colour would have made it even more accessible.

I loaded myself up on coffee and settled in to listen. The introduction to the event included a video from Shereen Daniels, author of The Anti-Racist Organisation. This was a fantastic way to start the morning with Shereen suggesting that to create fairer, inclusive and equitable services for our communities, we should all start by asking ourselves critical questions:

• • • Do the changes we want to make affect us?
    • Are the changes we want to make about us?
    • Will the changes we want to make help the people who are affected feel safer?
    • Will they feel positive about the changes?

I kept this in mind throughout the conference and aim to ask myself these questions going forward.

Panel Discussion: Engaging young people through games

The first panel of the day brought together people who regularly use games to engage young people. 

TwinCon aims to create a safe space for people to get together and play games where all are welcome. This was based on their experiences of wanting to join existing groups where the dynamic did not feel welcoming to them.

Mordiphus Entertainment create games and in particular, prefer games that encourage players to work together to achieve a common goal and that reward good behaviour as much if not more than winning.

Orc’s Nest is a shop in London that sells games but they have also created gaming clubs for young people to come along and role-play.

Mythic Minds is a community interest company that recognised that the natural therapeutic, educational and healing qualities of role-playing games could be used to support young people (and adults) who are neurodivergent, vulnerable, or part of minority groups, as well as individuals with mental health needs or those who have experienced trauma. They set up tabletop role-playing clubs for young people.

The librarian from Queen’s Park Primary School is a lifelong gamer and wanted to bring her passion for it to her students and so has created gaming groups in her library.

The panel highlighted the benefits of games, role-playing and the impact this has for people of all ages to combat loneliness, stress, trauma and more. The group offered lots of tips and advice for anyone wanting to set up their own club. One concern from the audience was the cost of the games themselves and the staff time to set up and run a club, particularly for those of us who are not gamers. The panel’s main advice was to reach out and ask for help, from the games manufacturers, shops that sell the games, the schools within the library community, and companies such as Mythic Minds and TwinCon. But what impressed me most was how willing many of them were to offer their own services to anyone who asked for it.

Workshops

We had the choice of three workshops to attend before lunch and I chose Queering Space – where do you cry in an open plan office? It was a hard choice as they all sounded fantastically interesting but I just couldn’t resist finding out where I could cry in an open plan office. The answer is behind the office succulent. 

Lighting, colour, seating, layout and decor all play a part in how a space affects us and our ability to concentrate and work. We all agreed that hot desking is awful and that choice, whether you like to stand, collaborate or work from home, is a great way to help people work their best in any environment.

EDITalks

The six flash talks provided a snapshot of some really lovely initiatives taking place around the sector.

Black and Blue aims to promote relatable local role models such as Paul Canoville for year 6 students and give them spaces to discuss mental health issues and discourage drug misuse.

We Can’t be Everything for Everyone, but We Can Try creates monthly reading lists on a variety of topics and tracks the usage stats to better engage with local communities.

The Human Library has so far collected stories from over 40 people in a variety of ways from their local community. 

Lost Victorian Voices aims to identify possible LGBTQIA+ people from the local archives and research their lives. Workshops teach volunteers basic archival skills to help them contribute to the project, including a Prison Project where workshops in local prisons have taught prisoners basic archival skills to contribute to this project and to research other topics. The overall plan is to create a graphic novel, theatre production, touring exhibition, website with podcasts, and an updated catalogue.

Period Product Provision aims to address period poverty by ensuring that period products are available for those in need across Westminster.

Historical Discussion Group puts on regular talks on a variety of topics both online and in person for anyone interested in attending.

It is always inspiring to hear about the variety of amazing projects and initiatives that libraries and archives from all sectors around the country deliver. I was delighted to see so many librarians approaching the presenter of the Period Product Provision talk to ask for more information and advice on how to introduce it in their communities.

Panel Discussion: Anti-racism

This panel discussion covered a huge topic for anyone interested in EDI, libraries, and community work.

The Museum Association has created a programme for museum leaders to deep dive into their collections and look at where structures uphold racist principles and remove them. 

CILIP Cymru Wales is looking at their policies and aims to develop a training programme for all public libraries to meet the target of being anti-racist by 2030.

The London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine have been looking at their collections and policies to ask why they are the way they are and work towards making them more inclusive and anti-racist. For example, although most of their collections come from the white men who explored and studied hygiene and tropical medicine around the world, does that mean that there are no other stories they can tell?

These are not easy conversations to have but are very important. Like Shereen mentioned in her opening talk, we should be asking ourselves critical questions. We are going to make mistakes and that is okay. Anti-racism by its very nature will meet resistance but we can take a breath, look for support, and keep going.

Conclusion

I am so delighted I got to attend the first ever EDI Conference and hope it becomes an annual event for all librarians, archivists, libraries and archives. I learned so much and had so many opportunities to talk to people and ask questions that are hard but vital.

PTFS Europe are proud to sponsor the Libraries and Archives empowerED! EDI Conference 2024. We thank the organisers, Bi-Borough Libraries and Archives (Westminster and Kensington and Chelsea), for conceiving of and organising this important and insightful event. We look forward to future engagement in this area.