This section of the website provides links and information on where to go to find CPD opportunities to help you develop the skills you need for your role and for your career development.
Whether you are looking to improve a specific skills, opportunities to learn more about your profession or whether you are seeking to become professionally registered, the organisations below are great starting places.
What are Learning Opportunities and why are they important?
Continuing Professional Development (CPD) is the process whereby you, as a new librarian, undertake specific learning and skills that apply to the career path you have elected to take. It is through this that the theoretical knowledge you have gained via your time doing your first degree or other qualification, is allied to more practical knowledge about the things you will do as a librarian. CPD can take many forms, but can generally be divided into two categories:
- Formal learning – Specific, formalised work that is assessed as part of a professional qualification.
- Informal learning – Picking up knowledge and skills in less structured environments such as networking events, conferences etc.
Whether formal or informal, undertaking CPD is an opportunity for you to identify any gaps in your knowledge or skills, do something to attain the skills that you need, and reflect on this afterwards, with a view to potentially passing those skills on.
Source: Continuous Professional Development
Skills You Need
What can we do?
Libraries want to ensure that they have the best people, and so will encourage their teams to undertake learning opportunities that come up. While it may be that attending some things are too expensive, many learning events, especially ones that are held virtually, will often be free of charge. Additionally, professional organisations, including HLG, offer bursaries to help pay the costs of attending conferences and events.
Joining a professional network allows you to learn from colleagues at other libraries and, by serving on committees, develop new skills beyond your regular day-to-day duties.
Useful Organisations
Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals (CILIP) – CILIP is the UK’s library and information association and therefore a useful place to check for learning opportunities. They provide face to face training, webinars and e-learning as well as being the place to go to become professionally registered.
- Events Calendar – Browse all upcoming learning events from CILIP including skills training, webinars, conferences and other events
- E-Learning Hub – Many of CILIP’s webinars and courses are now made available via their e-learning hub. It is worth having a search here to see if you can access existing material on the area(s) you are interested in.
- Professional Registration – For information on getting started with Certification, Chartership, Fellowship or Revalidation
- Training Events and Online Courses – often in partnership with external training providers. Training sessions are specifically designed for those working across the information, knowledge and library professions.
NHS England – NHS England is a body tasked with ensuring that the NHS workforce has the right skills to support the delivery of quality healthcare to patients.
- Knowledge for Healthcare – This site is also useful for finding training and examples of good practice on futher areas such as current awareness, resource discovery, knowledge management and information for patients and the public.
- The Learning Zone – The Learning Zone signposts healthcare librarians and knowledge specialists to key online resources to support their professional and personal development. The Learning Zone includes sections on a range of different topic areas that will provide you with not only an introduction, but also a list of useful resources where you can find out more.
Health Libraries Group – HLG is of course a CILIP special interest group. We are committed to providing a programme of CPD and learning opportunities for our members. Details of our events are also on the CILIP webpages and calendar. If you are a member you will receive a monthly newsletter or sign up to HLG Members discussion list for latest news and opportunities. You can also follow us on X at @ciliphlg.
As part of HLG’s continuing professional development offer, we have created a shadowing network that facilitates people interested in learning about different health and social care sectors, workplaces, or job roles to visit and shadow fellow professionals.
International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions – IFLA’s New Professionals Special Interest Group (NPSIG) is an open global network for library and information science new professionals.
- https://www.ifla.org/units/new-professionals/
- https://npsig.wordpress.com/
- https://www.ifla.org/events
National Searching Guidance – This guidance is intended for Knowledge and Library Services (KLS) staff tasked with searching the evidence on behalf of NHS staff.
Future NHS – A collaboration platform that empowers everyone working in health and social care to safely connect, share and learn across boundaries.
Where can I learn more?
Training and learning opportunities are widely advertised on library discussion lists. If you haven’t already sign up to one (or more) of these to be alerted of upcoming training events.
Sign up to JISCmail – https://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/advancedsearch.html
Recommended groups to sign up to include:
Who can I contact?
If you have a question about learning opportunities or if you would like to add a resource to this page please contact HLG’s CPD Leads Paul Cannon (paul.cannon@glasgow.ac.uk) and Hong-Anh Nguyen (ha.nguyen@kingsfund.org.uk)
If you have a specific need not listed above contact your regional network lead or HLG for further help.
Page last reviewed: 25 June 2025
Next review due: 25 June 2027
Health Libraries Group 