The Peninsula of Sanctuary Libraries project is celebrating a successful year of activity funded by South West Regional Library Service and supported by CILIP-SW. The project was led by a group of library professionals from across Cornwall and Devon inspired by the national Libraries of Sanctuary movement.
“Libraries of Sanctuary is a network of librarians, library staff, community groups and book lovers who are raising awareness of the issues facing people in the asylum system, offering support and participation opportunities, and contributing to a culture of welcome in the wider community.” https://libraries.cityofsanctuary.org/
Kay Ecclestone, then Chair of CILIP-SW and current Vice Chair, was part of the project group from inception, co-leading with SWRLS on the communication workstream and leading on evaluation for the report which was published at the end of last year. CILIP-SW supported the project by hosting the online training events. This project empowered library staff in Devon & Cornwall to improve the welcome for people seeking sanctuary, and other new arrivals, by raising awareness and building confidence through training, an online forum and a shared resource bank. The training was provided by John Vincent of the Network.
The forum and resource bank are an ongoing legacy of this project and are now open to all library staff in the South West. This includes regular news, a bank of community information, recordings of training events, a training kit that libraries can use with their own teams and information about where to source books in foreign languages. It is also a safe space where libraries from all sectors can ask questions, share information, news and successes.
If you would like to join the Forum, please email: peninsulaofsanctuary@gmail.com
Or for more information, please contact me on: kay.ecclestone09@gmail.com
With thanks to SWRLS for providing financial support, to Jane Choules our Project Co-ordinator for keeping us on track, to the volunteers on the steering group, to John Vincent of The Network for providing training, and to everyone who engaged in the activities of the project in whatever way.
The full report is now available on the SWRLS website: https://www.swrls.org.uk/post/peninsula-of-sanctuary-project-report
CILIP South West Member Network 