Sophie Castle, Clinical Librarian ,Medway NHS Foundation Trust, (sophie.castle8@nhs.net)
Where do I even begin? I am feeling enthused, inspired and excited about all I have learnt at the ICML 2026 conference in Glasgow! I am so grateful for the bursary from NHS England that enabled me to attend the conference.
Firstly, it was so refreshing to meet people in-person and have the opportunity to network – many people I had only ever met on Teams calls and it was wonderful to meet them in-person, as well as meet with some inspirational international colleagues who were more than happy to share their knowledge. The conference was a mix of strategic overviews, concepts and strategies to creative and practical ideas – I can’t wait to take some of these ideas back and apply them to my own service! I feel that the 3 days were a personal improvement journey and a chance to learn worldwide ideas for improving my library service.
As much as I would like to talk about every talk or workshop I attended (because they were all so interesting), I will pick out some of the key topics. The Misinformation session not only used innovative ways to teach using Slido (which I will be repeating), but also showed the audience simple steps that can be taken to discuss both misinformation and the use of language with patients – I know that the ‘chunk and check’ method taught to us could be introduced to my own Trust’s medical and clinical staff. In addition to this, the fantastic session on how to incorporate teaching into facilitation skills, gave a variety of simple steps – from adding training promotion to your email out-of-office to making sure that you connect with your audience on a personal level.
Being able to ask questions and find out how other Trusts were engaging their library customers was invaluable, and I was lucky enough to speak to a variety of knowledgeable and creative people. I was delighted when one of the workshops, run by a US speaker, involved poetry and creative ways of engaging with library users. Many speakers thought outside of the box: From prompt cards and counteracting imposter syndrome to questioning how nutrition is represented and how we can introduce AI by presenting both the risks and strengths to our library users.
I’m glad we had some CILIP Scotland context too, as well as the international context of IFLA. The HLG panel were incredible and created an exceptional event. The social events were also appreciated for networking and getting to see both historic and culturally significant places. I took many photos of the inside of the Council Chambers and we were lucky enough to be welcomed by the Provost of Glasgow. The Corinthian Club also gave us a taste of Scottish tradition, and I even got to join in (albeit with some very clumsy footwork) with a Scottish ceilidh dance!
I’m so glad that I will get to view the talks that I could not attend, once the recordings are released to delegates in August. It was so hard to choose between sessions and I was grateful for the conference app, where I could set my agenda in advance. I’m also impressed with all the work that has gone into the conference posters and that will be my final task – rating them all!
Health Libraries Group 