Professional Organisations - Thing 13

When I started looking at this, I didn't realise that there were so many organisations for library and information professionals. I mean we are well catered for right across the world. Rudai 23 have links in their post on Thing 13 if you need to backtrack and look at a complete list.

The tasks for Thing 13 are:

• Take a look at your country's Library Association website and see what it has to offer
• Write a blog post on your thoughts on becoming a member of a professional organisation

As I live in Northern Ireland, I have the best of both worlds. I can become a member of both CILIP and the Library Association of Ireland.

As it stands, I am a member of CILIP. I have been a member of both it, and it's predecessor, The Library Association, since I started my library qualification in 1999. At times I have wavered; I'll admit it - I have wondered why I am a member. For this reason it was interesting to go onto the CILIP website and see what they say are the benefits of becoming a member:

• professional development
• grants and bursaries
• advocacy and campaigns
• deals and discounts
• information and support
• VLE (virtual learning environment)
• professional magazine, e-journals and e-bulletins
• networking and community

This looks like a lot and if you are a new professional or just starting out, then I'd recommend joining. 

Nope.

In fact scratch that. I'd recommend joining no matter what point you are at in your career. The big attraction for many is the professional development aspect. I gained my MCLIP post-nominals in 2007, and although I don't flash them about, I am proud of them. It was a big achievement for me, and there was a lot of work involved. Since then, the professional development mechanism has undergone a huge overhaul, and it should now be significantly easier to develop professionally following the CILIP plan. CILIP also has the professional knowledge and skills base (PKSB) which allows you to identify gaps in your knowledge and identify the opportunities to rectify this. I am now currently revalidating and I plan to complete this/submit this before the end of the year. During my time as a member of CILIP, I have attended courses, read and made use of the magazine and e-bulletins and have joined committees at a local level. I also belong to two special interest groups as part of the CILIP membership. Despite all this, I still questioned my need to be part of the professional organisation every time the renewal came round. It wasn't a serious question but it was still there nonetheless.

Then I realised. A light bulb moment. You can't expect your professional organisation to do everything. You need to engage with it. Like many things, you will only get out what you put in. A certain amount of effort on your part is required. So I have made a small promise to myself. I am prepared to do more. I am prepared to get involved and listen more - only at a local level, on the local CILIP committee to begin with. It might seem like baby steps but who knows where it might lead, and with any luck, the amount of value I place on my CILIP membership will be more that the membership rate I'm charged.

I also was a member of the Library Association of Ireland. And I hang my head in shame that I cancelled my membership. I didn't feel that I got anything out of it. That being said, I still get information emailed to me so I'm not sure what's going on with that. Again the same thing applies. You need to be prepared to engage with the organisation. Rudai 23 is just one example of that. It's a great course run at a local level, but it engages with people far beyond that. I'm contemplating joining the LAI again. If I get this much engagement from not being a member, imagine how much I can get by being a member.