Why Charter?

This was the title of the joint Cilip in London / Career Development Group meeting last night. Angela Jefkins (Candidate Support Officer, London & South East CDG) gave an overview of the chartering process and how the CDG supports this, and then Caroline De Brun spoke on why she thought chartering was beneficial for personal development, based on her own experience going through chartership and then mentoring others. I’ve promised a full write-up to the London Clip, so this is just a brief overview.

Angela covered the basics of chartering, focusing on the criteria (very helpful) and the support that candidates can receive from the Candidate Support Officer (CSO) Network. She really brought this role to life, and broke down the barriers that it’s natural to feel when you know that someone is fulfilling a voluntary role like CSO alongside their own full-time work experience. She and fellow CSO Karen Poole did a lot in the informal drinks session answering people’s individual queries and concerns.

After Angela’s introduction to the process, Caroline focused on the benefits of chartering. She really stressed the opportunities for personal development over and above professional benefits. Ten years on from chartering, she says that she still refers to her chartership diary on a regular basis, and finds it gives her confidence in new situations. The year she spent on the old ‘Route A’ scheme gave her the opportunity to observe her managers handling similar scenarios and to reflect on how she would act in their shoes. This experience of reflection, which is still the heart of the chartership process, has provided her with a good foundation for the rest of her working life.

Caroline said that she encourages everyone who has not done so already to charter. Her aim in speaking to us last night was to convince us that the experience could be beneficial to anyone as a cogent way to:

• improve your skill-base
• gain an insight into the library profession
• show a commitment to your profession and organisation, which can often lead to increased organisational security
• map your experise – useful for future job applications

Although in certain sectors chartership can lead to a higher salary (mainly in public libraries), Caroline said that she would never cite this as a reason to charter. In the past she has worked with candidates who have been “forced” to embark on the scheme and has seen that this makes the process less productive. She and the other chartered librarians in the room all agreed wholeheartedly that chartering is a personal journey, so that although everyone fulfills the same criteria, the experience they gain along the way is totally unique. I’m sure that a few more people will be starting on that journey today after hearing Caroline and Angela speak.

Addendum July 2008

London Clip 15 is online, with the fuller report on page 2:

Anne Welsh. Why Charter? [Report of talks by Caroline De Brun and Angela Jefkins]. London Clip 15:2.