Skills for a Globalised World Project
What is the Skills for a Globalised World Project?
Skills for a Globalised World: Relevant Skills for Public Library Staff is a project based in the Department of Applied Social Sciences at London Metropolitan University. The Project is funded by the Linking London Lifelong Learning Network and focuses on developing new curriculum that meets the need for the development of new skills within the public library workforce.
The public library as an institution needs renewal so that it can find a new role in a rapidly changing world. An important requirement in the emergence of a new role is the need to train library staff and managers with the skills, knowledge and expertise to meet new challenges. Old skills cannot entirely meet new needs and a balance is required between “traditional” and “new” skills. The aim of the learning opportunities under development is to provide participants with some of the key skills/understanding needed to take library services forward in keeping with public services reforms.
The experiences of the Quality Leaders Project – Youth, detailed elsewhere on this site, suggest that a combination of work-based learning supported by an academic approach will lead to a level of skills development unlikely with a solely work-based or college-based approach and it is this combined approach that will inform the Project’s curriculum development.
Consultation on the Project will take place at the joint CILIP Diversity Group/Career Development Group Conference being run in conjunction with London Metropolitan University on 6 July 2009.
Available so far are:
- A more detailed description of the Project
- A chart showing the operational and strategic skills needed to create a new skills balance for public libraries
- A brief survey which can be downloaded in Word, to be returned to the Project coordinators.
The final report of the project has now been published.
Contact details
The Skills for a Globalised World Project is based in the Department of Applied Social Sciences at London Metropolitan University. A final report on the Project will be produced in September 2009. The report authors are Shiraz Durrani and Elizabeth Smallwood. Their contact details are given below and they will be happy to answer any questions you may have.
Postal address:
Department of Applied Social Sciences, London Metropolitan University, Ladbroke House, 62-66 Highbury Grove, London N5 2AD.
Email: s.durrani@londonmet.ac.uk, e.smallwood@londonmet.ac.uk.