#Weeknotes - 23/12/2024

What's been happening?

It was a great delight to see ASCEL appear in Arts Professional last week. The article showcased our Youth Engagement Network and the value of adopting a co-creative approach, with a focus on supporting children and young people from marginalised backgrounds.

For those of you unfamiliar with the work we've been doing, here's a quick summary:

• Libraries do phenomenal work with children and young people, but we know more can be done to support children aged 11+, who typically don't visit their local library so often.
• We also know there are thousands of children and young people across the country from marginalised backgrounds, who may not yet feel comfortable or welcomed in our spaces.
• ASCEL's Youth Engagement Network focuses specifically on opening up opportunities for these children and young people, co-creating activities with them and putting their opinions, ideas and feedback at the heart of what we do.
• It moves away from the more traditional transactional model and into a community-focused approach, involving a more equitable balance of power and a more targeted way of working.
• Also, there's a firm focus on fun! We've never shied away from that word and actively aim to bring joy into what we're doing.

The seven pilot library services laid such important foundations for building this network. Last week, I welcomed the next fourteen library services into the programme, and can't wait to see what we achieve together over the next year.

If you're curious about the work we've been doing, the interim report is publicly available on the ASCEL website, as are the case studies.

What's next?

It's been a quiet Monday so far, as I'm officially the 'last woman standing' in the (virtual) office. My colleagues have sensibly booked their festive breaks! However, it's been a good opportunity for me to map out the training programme for 2025, a task that's been on my to-do list for quite some time, and to review our approach for future ASCEL Member's Meet-Up events online.

I've also been polishing the Skills Report for its release in February next year.

Outside of work

I spent some time with the family this weekend, especially some of the younger members of the clan. It was wonderful to catch up with my 19-year-old niece on Saturday and hear all about her triumphs and tribulations at university, and to have fun with my youngest nieces and nephews on the Sunday, which included pretending to be a variety of sea-creatures (and being fought off by 'pirates') and being ridden around the living room by an excitable seven-year-old. Love it!

I've also just finished reading The Blue Book of Nebo by Manon Steffan Ros. For me, this is one of the stand-out children's books that I've read this year. I heard Manon speak at the ASCEL conference and was fascinated by her insights into writing in Welsh, using her mother as inspiration and celebrating language. The Blue Book of Nebo, about a teenage boy and his mother surviving the end of the world, is starkly beautiful, raw and lyrical. And yes, it made me well up... it doesn't take much to bring a tear to my eye...