Nick Poole, Chief Executive, CILIP will leave CILIP at the end of March 2024. But before he goes, he has written a personal essay looking at the challenges and opportunities that lie ahead for the information professions. The following is an abridged version of that essay, which you can read in full in the next issue of Information Professional, out on 9 February.

“So let us wage a global struggle against illiteracy, poverty and terrorism. Let us pick up our books and pens. They are our most powerful weapons."

This powerful call-to-arms for reading and literacy was issued by Malala Yousafzai in her Nobel aAcceptance sSpeech in December 2014. In all her courage and conviction, she was confronting the reality of a brutal Taliban regime that used violence to deny millions of women and girls the basic right to an education.

It has often been said that we know ourselves best, not in times of peace and prosperity, but in times of conflict and chaos.

As we look ahead to 2024, we have to be clear that our world is experiencing just such a period of conflict. In times such as these, it would be a failure in our professional ethics to retreat behind the passivity of the documentarist. Our role is not to record the changes in our societies but to seek to influence them for the better through the active promotion of literacy, learning and access to knowledge. It is not for nothing that CILIP’s own ‘impact statement’ reads: “We change lives by improving education, literacy and prosperity for all.”

Resisting mis- and dis-information

As a political tool, populism has always sought to take advantage of people’s fears. Throughout history, it has found fertile ground in nations where education is either devalued or its purpose is to teach people to feel wronged and afraid rather than empowered to think critically.

The only lasting antidote to populism is critical literacy. We have a professional duty to help the public arm themselves against mis- and dis-information and to see informed scepticism as the root of strong democracies.

The experience of the past few years has demonstrated that librarians and information professionals alone cannot turn the tide on a lack of critical literacy in the general population We must work hand-in-hand with teachers, policymakers regulators and even parents to re-establish the principle that a true universal education must equip children and young people with the complex digital and information literacies needed to thrive in the modern world.

Local libraries as the root of strong democracies

Let us be under no illusions – the principle of universal access to a free, quality library service supported by professional library staff is under sustained assault in the UK. As lLocal aAuthorities begin to push back on central Government cuts by challenging the legal definition of ‘minimum service requirements’, we will likely see further challenges to the idea of libraries as a universal entitlement in the months ahead.

As a profession, our responsibility is not to ‘see both sides’ of the debate about volunteerism and cuts to library services. We have a duty to call it what it is – a fraud that has been perpetrated on the tax-paying public…

The essay goes on to look at some of the other pressing concerns that are facing society and calls for strong responses from the profession, starting with iInfluencing legislation where Nick points to the attack on human rights legislation and the increases in surveillance powers and reach.

He looks at emerging opportunities coming from advances in technology, as well as highlighting the potential challenges that could arise alongside those opportunities. He says: “The role of librarians, information and knowledge professionals is not to be passive in the face of technology. It is our role both proactively to facilitate the good of an open wWeb, AI and automation while ensuring that we minimise the harms.”

An ideas economy, powered by knowledge and an information literate workforce could help to drive a sustainable and equitable economic future for the UK. Marking a shift from the production and export of “things” to an economy driven by innovation. Once again, there is a role for the information professions to deliver the skills and training needed to ensure there is a space for ideas to thrive.

Environmental concerns continue to weigh on communities everywhere in the world – the potential to feel powerless to make change can be overwhelming. Again, there is a place for the profession to empower “future generations amass the data, the evidence and the eloquence to demand better of their governments and industry”.

“So where do we go from here?” asks Nick in his concluding remarks. “How should our professional community respond to the challenges that confront our societies both in the UK and around the world? I think there are four responses that should guide us in the months ahead:

“First and foremost, we must be absolutely clear in our values, expressed in the form of our professional ethics. Our role in supporting society, communities and individuals must always be guided by our values, which themselves derive from a fundamental commitment to hHuman rRights and civil liberties.

“Secondly, we must build a new capability to think creatively and productively about the future – we must learn to strategise.

“Third, we must go forward into 2024 with a strong sense of solidarity and common purpose. CILIP stands for the idea that we are one professional community, united by our values and competencies. As librarians, information and knowledge professionals become increasingly embedded into the businesses and communities they serve, there is a real risk of professional dissociation and fragmentation. If we are truly to drive positive change, we must harness the network effect across our professional community.

“And finally, it is my strong belief that we should come together as a community to embrace the positive global ambition set out in the UN’s 2030 Sustainable Development Goals (SDG). The goals have served as a rallying-call to communities and industries around the world to come together an innovate for a better, fairer, more just and inclusive world.”

He adds: “The world is changing, and information, knowledge and data sit right at the heart of many of these changes. How well we support the populations we serve through this time of disruptive change will come to define the relevance and perceived value of our services for decades to come.

“Our users, our communities and our societies need us. Will we rise to the challenge?”

Read the unabridged version of this article January/February 2024 issue of Information Professional.