Are you ready?

It’s that time of year again… IAML UK & Ireland’s Annual Study Weekend will be starting this Friday (7th April) in Exeter, and running until Sunday. As usual there’s a range of subjects to suit all music librarian tastes from the impact of music on everyday life to the extreme cataloguers of the Gerald Coke Handel Collection, learn more about RDA, visit a variety of libraries, learn how to brush up your CV skills, and chat to some of the friendliest librarians in the country. Lots more information can be found in the draft programme.

For anyone who is attending the ASW, why not write a few words about what you enjoyed about it? And become the latest star of this blog or the newsletter! For more information contact Margaret. I won’t be at the ASW, so I, along with other non-attendees would love to hear all about it.

Slightly further ahead….the Academic Librarians’ seminar will be held this year in Lecture Room 2 of Birmingham Conservatoire on Wednesday 31 May from 13.30-17.00.

Although the seminar is intended primarily for those working in the academic sector, it is open to everyone and is free to attend.  If you would like to come, please contact Geoff Thomason the Education Officer by 24 May.  Again, any contributions to the blog post-seminar would be much appreciated.

There will be a Public Librarians’ Seminar sometime in 2017 too. More information on this shortly….

“Big” IAML will be holding its annual congress in Riga, Latvia, 18th-22nd June. The conference website can be seen here. If you are interested in applying for a Ledsham bursary please note that the application deadline is 10th April 2017. The Ian Ledsham Bursary is awarded annually to a member of IAML (UK & Irl) in order to assist attendance at IAML international conferences.

Some more information on the bursary – The Ian Ledsham Bursary Fund exists to honour the memory of Ian Ledsham, a long-standing and much respected member of the UK & Ireland Branch of IAML, who died as the result of a road accident in September 2005. It offers financial support to IAML UK & Ireland Branch members who wish to attend IAML’s international conferences. Ian very much appreciated the opportunities provided by attendance at these conferences.

Please note:

  • Applicants must be paid-up personal or institutional members of the IAML UK & Ireland Branch (as defined in the IAML (UK & Irl) Branch Constitution Art. XVI at the point at which the application is made. Preference will be given to applicants who are active within the Branch.
  • People already in receipt of Branch funding for a specific project will normally be ineligible.
  • The award is meant to contribute to the cost of attending the conference, not to cover all expenses. Subsistence costs will not be contributed to. The funding for this year is still being confirmed but we expect it to be in the region of £400.
  • Candidates should be able to demonstrate the potential benefits to themselves and their institution by attending the conference.
  • It would normally be expected that the applicant’s institution will grant leave to attend the conference. Any letters of institutional support would be welcomed as part of the application.
  • Bursary recipients are advised to take out suitable insurance to cover their costs in the event of their non-attendance, as the bursary will normally be paid after attendance.

Successful candidates must write a 1000-word report of attending the conference, to be sent to the Bursaries Administrator. The Executive Committee of IAML (UK & Irl) reserves the right to publish all or part of the report in the Branch Newsletter.

Please contact Megan with any further queries about the bursary at the above email address.

Finally, the latest IAML UK & Irl newsletter will be out shortly after Easter, please let me have your news, views and articles by May 5th. 

Whether you’re off to Exeter, Birmingham, Latvia, or the mystery location of the Public Librarians’ Seminar – happy networking.

Margaret (Blog editor, Cambridge University Library Music Dept.)