Keynote Speakers

New Professionals Panel

Naomi Cassidy

Naomi Cassidy currently works as a Subject Support Librarian for the College of Health, Science and Society at the University of the West of England. Naomi graduated in November 2022 after completing a graduate traineeship program: she has a background in healthcare, with professional experience in both academic and health care libraries. Her professional interests include accessibility, inclusive hiring practice and supporting diversity in the student body. She is currently involved in her university’s “decolonising the library” working group.

Tom Peach

Tom Peach (he/him) is currently Academic Services Manager at York St John University, having been the Arts and Linguistics librarian for several years prior which came via a training position. Tom’s work focuses on teaching and learning, equity and developing accessibility practice, and currently mentors and assesses teaching and learning Fellowship applicationsfor Advance HE. He is currently working on developing sought-after trainee roles, as well as widening the access to teaching and learning development opportunities for library workers.

Naomi Smith

Naomi Smith is a Critical Librarian who was formally recognised in 2019 by IFLA and the Goethe Institute as an #EmergingInternationalVoice for her work in digital innovation. Drawing from her MA degree in Race and Resistance from the University of Leeds, she applies Critical Race Theory, Foucouldian discourse, Black Digital humanities and other critical theories to digital and pedagogical librarianship. Her most recent work in this area was on digital inequality with Research Libraries U.K. (RLUK) and is being prepared for publication. Since graduating from the LIS MA course at UCL in September 2022, she works at University of West London as a subject librarian, where she applies her critical praxis to teaching Law, Policing and Criminology. She teaches Global Black Studies, Youth Studies and Youth Justice.

Kristabelle Williams

Kristabelle Williams is the Learning Resource Centre Manager at Addey and Stanhope School in London and was awarded UK School Library Association's School Librarian of the Year 2021 for her “unremitting and consistent focus on ensuring the best futures for her students, making reading, research and library use the norm”. For her MA in Library and Information Studies from UCL she researched how school librarians are supporting the delivery of the Extended Project Qualification, and has delivered talks to library workers and educators on a wide range of issues including using technology to improve literacy; extra-curricular provision in school libraries; negotiating with management; and censorship and childrens’ rights. Leading and collaborating on Reading for Pleasure, Literacy and Information Literacy are her key areas of work, with a focus on young people's equality of access to books and information. 

Abstract

Information literacy instruction plays a key role within most areas of librarianship today. However, institutional and professional differences in the perceived value of information literacy, self/perceptions of the teaching role of the librarian, and access to training, technology and resources can present barriers to involvement in information literacy instruction (Crary, 2019; Johnson & Tawfik, 2022). In addition, information literacy teaching can perpetuate existing educational inequalities such as racism, ableism and other forms of cultural oppression (Leung & López-Mcknight, 2020; Peach and Tuke 2021; Fold, 2019). This panel asks four new professionals to reflect on both constraints and enablers to advancement within information literacy instruction, including their own educational and professional journey and the learners they work with. In doing so, we hope to start a conversation about how the profession can start to address current and historic inequities as well as to celebrate successes in the field.  
  
In advance of the live panel, the panel will provide a pre-recorded video to introduce themselves, their work, and their relationship to and experiences of information literacy teaching and education, and equity. Attendees will be invited in advance of the conference to submit discussion questions around barriers to or success in teaching , developing information literacy and critical cultural issues around Equity and inclusion. These questions will guide the direction of the live discussion panel.

Maria King

Biography

Maria King currently works as the Subject Librarian for the School of Health and Social Care at Edinburgh Napier University.

Maria also leads on inclusion work within the library around accessibility, particularly on improving teaching practices for accessibility, overall library support for neurodivergent students, and web accessibility. Maria has delivered workshops on these topics for both library, wider professional services, and academic staff at both at her current and previous institutions, and has presented at both the LILAC and International Network of Inclusive Practices (INIP) conferences. Maria is neurodivergent herself and brings this live experience to her work in this area.

Abstract

Accessibility – what does it mean for libraries and education?

When you hear the word accessibility what initially comes to mind? What aboutaccessibility in relation to libraries and education? How about how neurodivergent users in particular are impacted by accessibility, and their accessibility needs?
 
Accessibility is a broad area that in relation to education and libraries can cover access to and use of spaces, service design, access to and use of resources, digital accessibility and technologies, document design, and accessible approaches to teaching. 
 
Neurodivergent is a term that can be defined to mean people whose neurotype differs from those considered to be neurotypical, with all neurotypes sitting under the umbrella term of neurodiversity (Verywell Mind). Neurodivergent is an umbrella term itself that can be used when referring to, but not limited to, autism, ADHD, dyslexia, dyspraxia, dyscalculia, Tourette’s, OCD and more. 
 
This keynote speech will touch on some of the key accessibility issues impacting educational settings and libraries, with a particular focus on accessibility in the context of neurodivergency. It aims to encourage attendees to more consciously assess and explore your own personal accessibility practices and those of your workplace, in order to improve accessibility practices.

 Regina Everitt

Biography

Regina Everitt is Assistant Chief Operating Officer (ACOO) & Director of Library, Archives and Learning Services at the University of East London. She began her professional career as a technical author/trainer working with computer companies that developed software for the manufacturing, pharmaceutical and financial sectors in the US and UK.  After managing a small library at a university in West Africa as a volunteer with the United States Peace Corps, she transitioned into the HE sector developing and managing libraries, social learning spaces, and other learning resources. At University of East London, she is institution lead on excellence in customer service delivery. 

Concerned about the low representation of Black, Asian and other marginalised ethnic staff members in leadership positions in academic libraries, she co-project managed SCONUL research to document BAME staff experiences in LIS with a view to working with the sector to develop more diverse talent.  She now leads a SCONUL committee to support member institutions in implementing the recommendations from the report.  She is also a member of the British Library Council, a past member of the Steering Group of the M25 Consortium of Libraries as well as a member of a CILIP trailblazer group that is developing a standard for a Level 6/7 apprenticeship.  She co-edited a book called Narrative Expansions:  Interpreting Decolonisation in Academic Libraries which considers how academic libraries are navigating this contentious topic.

Abstract

Pivot ponderings:  Musings about one library's role in supporting tech-enhanced learning 

Like many teams in UK education institutions, University of East London (UEL did a rapid pivot to fully online delivery at the start of lockdown in March 2020. The institution had been on a gentle journey toward active blended learning prior to the start of the pandemic with some services like Library, Archives, and Learning Services (LALS) well placed to accelerate the pivot online. As restrictions were lifted, physical buildings re-opened, and staff and students returned to campus, the institution progressed from online delivery to dual delivery to technology-enhanced, active learning (TEAL). Did staff and students even know what this all meant and that a transition was taking place?   

Then in October 2022, the Office for Students (OfS) released its regulation on blended learning outlining its expectations about how institutions should deliver learning and teaching in hybrid modes. This talk attempts to unpack these terms and considers the practical application from the perspective of the UEL library leader.   

Reflecting on the services delivered by the team since the start of the pandemic, the speaker considers what went well, lessons learned, and areas for development.  Key areas of critical reflection are about how well the diverse UEL student and staff populations were served considering digital literacy and accessibility, equity and inclusion, and the changing profile of UEL due to the increase in international students.  Finally, the speaker considers the role of library services in working alongside the wider institution to meet the conditions of the OfS regulation on blended learning.