9:00 - 10:00

Registration and coffee

10.00 - 10.10  

Introduction and welcome to the conference
Andrew Barker, Library Director, Lancaster University and Libby Homer,  Director of Student and Library Services, Anglia Ruskin University

10.10 - 11:00

Keynote speech: Leadership through challenging times
Dr Jummy Okoya, Dean of Office for Institutional Equity and Associate Professor of Leadership and EDI, University of East London

Our keynote address at the conference is from Dr Jummy Okoya, the Dean of the Office of Institutional Equity at the University of East London. She is an HR expert and EDI academic with more than two decades’ experience. She leads on delivering UEL’s EDI strategy as a cross cutting priority and brings a wealth of experience of delivering strategic EDI projects. She is very passionate about gender equity and is a national leading figure in advocating for more Black female professors and creating a pipeline of Black female PhD student into academia.

She is an Associate Fellow at Oxford University Said Business School, and was listed among top 10 Diversity Allies for the education sector in the UK in 2022 and top 50 inspirational Black women in the UK in 2019.

11:00 - 11:20 

Coffee break

11:20 - 12:00 

Panel discussion with Q&A: Cybersecurity and the resilient library: lessons from the front line
Liz Jolly, Chief Librarian, The British Library, Ciaran Talbot, Associate Director: AI and Ideas Adoption, University of Manchester, Ismini Vasileiou, Associate Professor in Information Systems and Associate Head of School, De Montfort University

Join Liz, Ciaran and Ismini to hear lessons from those with direct experience of managing cybersecurity incidents. This panel discussion will allow delegates to explore what steps you can take to help ensure that that your library is resilient in the face of cyber threats and that business continuity can be maintained as far as possible.

12:00 - 12:45 

Parallel sessions

1. Building a confident and creative workforce: exploring the library’s CPD requirements
   This session marks the launch of a SCONUL project exploring the community’s needs for CPD support. The project will explore the challenges for libraries in growing the creative and confident workforce needed to support broadening remits and manage growing technological diversity in the face of shrinking budgets. The outputs will inform SCONUL’s advocacy and policy work and the development of our own services in collaboration with our national and regional consortia partners.
   
   
2. The UK Print Book Collection
   The UK PBC is being launched as a national distributed collection of print books.  By setting a threshold of seven print copies to be retained across participating libraries the UK PBC will enable libraries to manage down their print collections whilst retaining access to print books for current and future users.  Join this session to find out how we can work together as libraries to deliver efficiencies for our own institutions whilst preserving access to content across the UK.
   
   
3. The Future of the SCONUL statistics
   As the Statistics Review moves into it’s final phase, have your say on the future of the reporting tool and analytics platform and the revised question set. This is a real opportunity to help shape this key SCONUL service and help us to future proof it in the coming years.

Participants should choose one session on the morning of the event

12:45 - 13:30

Lunch and fringe

13:30 -  14:20

Panel discussion with Q&A: Creating cultures and structures of resilience
Sue Ackermann, Director, University of Nottingham Libraries at University of Nottingham, Regina Everitt, Assistant COO (Service Excellence) and Director of Library, Archives, and Learning Services at University of East London, Helen Rimmer, consultant at The Kind Brave Leader, and the author of The Kind Librarian

Join a panel of sector leaders exploring constructive and creative responses to the financial, resource and remit challenges facing the sector, including effective use of evidence and argument, and approaches to supporting staff through the difficult process of change.

14:20 - 14:50

Presentation and Q&A: Next generation open access
Anna Vernon, Head of portfolio, content licensing at Jisc

14:50 - 15:10

Coffee break

15:10 - 15:50

Panel discussion: Inspiring a sustainability revolution in academic libraries
Rowan Williamson Associate Director Library Services and Support at University of the Arts London, Deborah Phelpstead, Head of Sustainability, Birmingham City University

Chair: Chris Awre, University Librarian and Associate Director (Collections, Learning & Research) at the University of Hull

Libraries have an important part to play in delivering on their institution’s climate mission, notably through driving behavioural change among staff and users.  This session will explore this aspect of meeting the sustainability challenge – how can we achieve the change we need to see? It will provide delegates with an opportunity to share your ideas and plans and consider the next steps for your own library.

15:50 - 16:00

Concluding remarks

16:00 

Close