This year the Scottish Library and Information Council awarded eight bursaries to attend the CILIPS Annual Conference 2025. The two-day conference was held in early June at the Dundee Apex Hotel. The event is the largest conference for library and information professionals in Scotland and this year’s theme was Connecting and Preserving Communities.
Our annual bursary scheme gives professionals from throughout the library sector the chance to learn about new developments, share knowledge and network. Here our bursary winners talk about their CILIPS Conference experience and how others can benefit from their learning.
Jonathan Kaney
Jonathan Kaney attended the 2025 CILIPS Conference as part of the Stirling Libraries Central Branch team. Attending in person gave Jonathan the opportunity to meet people face-to-face, learn about developments in his field and gain valuable contacts.
He said: “I had a fantastic time and met so many people I had known only online, people I had never met before, and heard so many inspiring and interesting talks. It was a hugely valuable experience for me personally and professionally.
“A big part of my role is case studies and research, and so I was also really interested to hear about the current events going on in the sector and hear from all different speakers. I gained a tremendous amount from the talks for my own current projects, particularly in Wikimedia Commons, AI, community walking and reading for wellbeing talks. I’ve made some really valuable contacts for current and future projects.”
Jennifer Higgins
Jennifer Higgins found the conference theme of ‘Connecting and Preserving Communities’ particularly relevant to her role in local heritage, which focuses on co-production methods for achieving meaningful interactions between libraries and its communities.
During the two-day event the OnFife librarian attended presentations by SLIC Chief Executive Alison Nolan, Dr Elizabeth Williams from the University of Edinburgh and Professor Paul Gooding from the University of Glasgow amongst others.
She said: “The theme of this year’s CILIPS conference was bang on point. I genuinely wanted library colleagues’ advice on how they are communicating with, and empowering individuals and groups to preserve their identity and how that important work supports people’s opportunities and wellbeing.”
Jess Morris
The SLIC CILIPS Bursary gave Jess Morris the opportunity to attend her first conference. The Library Assistant started working in a library last year and is now studying for a masters in librarianship.
She said: “I was nervous to attend without knowing any of the other delegates, however librarians are incredibly friendly and at no point did I feel out of place or lonely. People were very keen to say hello and have a conversation, and I have come away feeling like our sector is the best. I was especially appreciative of the ‘Newbies Networking’ event run by CILIPS on Zoom before the conference, and for the ‘Newbies’ badges we were given on arrival which helped to identify others who might be in a similar boat.”
Linda Muir
The 2025 CILIPS Conference was the ideal place for School Librarian Linda Muir to learn more about current library trends after a recent career move from the museum sector.
She said: “As I am relatively new to the library field I saw this as a fantastic opportunity to engage more with the sector and learn about other roles and current trends within the space. It also came at an interesting time in my career as my contract with school libraries is coming to an end. Knowing that I will likely move into another area of libraries, it was a significant opportunity to explore different services and talk with other professionals about their areas of expertise.”
She added: ”Over the course of the two days I thoroughly enjoyed engaging with the discussions and listening to presentations. It made me reflect on just how much I am already doing and also how much more I can contribute.”
Anais Cayzac
For Anais Cayzac the CILIPS 2025 Conference was an incredibly valuable experience, giving her the chance to learn about fresh ideas, practical tools and renew motivation. As a School Librarian Anais found Professor Steven Buchanan’s session on Child Information Poverty particularly inspiring.
She said: “This topic is especially close to my heart, as I work in a very deprived area of Glasgow. Every day, I see the impact of information poverty on pupils, and I try to respond by offering a non-judgemental space that nurtures curiosity, community, friendship, creativity, and access to reliable information and reading materials. His talk was a strong reminder of how urgent and essential our work is.”
Other sessions Anais attended included HMP Libraries: Inside Scotland’s Prisons, More Than a Podcast: Discovering Community Connections in Libraries, The GenAISiS Project, and From Down Under to the Outer Hebrides.
Emma Robertson
Since attending the CILIPS Conference School Librarian Emma Roberston has already started implementing some of the things she learned at the event including zine making. As a first-time attendee, she enjoyed the variety the conference offered.
She said: “The knowledge I gained was invaluable and I feel that I can return to my role empowered by what I now know. I feel the conference was really well organised and everyone was so lovely even though it was still full on for a first timer. I really enjoyed learning more from those who had tried and tested events and activities and will definitely be taking a lot of them back to use with my own school. I can now return to work and share my knowledge not only with my fellow school librarians but a lot of relevant information with our public library service.”
Martin Love
For Falkirk librarian Martin Love, the CILIPS Conference was the ideal place to have conversations about projects and developments happening in his own library service.
He said: “I was interested to hear other people’s experience and perspectives on Artificial Intelligence (AI). As part of the library digital services team, it was a chance to hear some real perspectives about the subject from people who were not trying to sell the technology to me. The session about generative AI in schools brought up points that many children are already using AI at some level and do not tend to question the results. As AI becomes more prevalent, we will have to be there to help guide people to safe usage of these tools.”
Daine Meekison
Library Assistant Daine Meekison felt rejuvenated and empowered after attending the CILIPS 2025 through the SLIC bursary scheme. As both a student and library assistant for two library services, the event gave him much to think about.
He said: “The CILIPS 2025 conference benefitted me, both personally and professionally, by informing my university studies and by giving me many ideas to take back to my public library roles; not only from the messages received from the keynote speakers and the parallel sessions, but also from the various exhibitors.”
He added: “Ultimately, for me, the CILIPS 2025 conference helped me to achieve the self-development goal of learning learn more about key sectoral developments that might serve to inform, and to augment, my studies.”
