Editor’s note

We’re really pleased to share this reflection from Amanda Foster, looking back on her time as Chair of the FIL Committee.

Amanda led FIL through a particularly challenging and transitional period for the interlending community, and her piece captures both the realities of that time and the strength of the community that carried it forward.

We’re very grateful to Amanda for sharing her experiences, and for her continued contribution to FIL.

 

Reflecting on my time as Chair of the FIL Committee

By Amanda Foster, Content Delivery and Copyright Librarian, Northumbria University Library

 

From the issue desk to interlending: my career journey

I began my career at Northumbria University Library in September 2001, having just completed a BA (Hons) in History at Northumbria. My first role was in the Customer Support team — working on the issue desk, stamping books. It was, without question, the best job. I stayed in customer service roles for a decade, becoming a Senior Library Assistant in 2005, and during that time I completed my Masters in Librarianship at Northumbria in 2010.

The move into interlending came about through a restructure in 2012, when I took on the Inter-Library Loans Coordinator role. It was a new direction, but one I quickly came to enjoy. In 2015, my role evolved further into the position I hold today: Content Delivery and Copyright Librarian. This brought together the ILL work with copyright and reading list responsibilities — a broad and varied remit that has kept me engaged and challenged ever since.

Discovering FIL

FIL came into my professional life through the interlending role, and it quickly became an important part of my practice. The community it offered — the knowledge sharing, the networking, the sense that others were grappling with the same challenges — was genuinely valuable, and the conferences were always a highlight of the professional calendar.

Stepping into the Chair role

I had only been on the FIL Committee for a short time when, in 2021, Chris Beevers asked me to take on the Chair role following the sad departure of Claire Hordern from Manchester. It was not the circumstances any of us would have chosen, and I was conscious of the weight of stepping into a role left vacant so suddenly. I was, however, genuinely honoured to be asked.

Chairing during and after COVID: a strange and challenging time

Taking on the Chair role in 2021 meant stepping into one of the most turbulent periods in living memory for the library sector. The 2020 FIL conference had been cancelled — understandably, given the circumstances — but it was a real blow, not least because it had been due to be held in Newcastle. To have that taken away, on home turf, was particularly disappointing.

To compensate, we put together a one-day interlending event in November 2020, and that spirit of finding creative solutions in difficult circumstances was something I saw right across the community during that period. People pulled together in ways that were genuinely impressive. The online events were challenging for all of us — we all had to get used to a very different way of working — and we certainly missed the networking that had always been such a vital part of the in-person conferences. The pre-COVID two-day events, held in lovely venues and hotels, with the conference dinner as a perennial highlight, felt very far away.

That said, I believe the shift to virtual working has changed us permanently and in some important ways for the better. The way we work daily, and the way we interact as a community, has changed immeasurably. I think the virtual dimension will, in the main, continue — and that is not entirely a bad thing.

Pivotal moments: decisions that mattered

One of the standout moments of my time as Chair was the decision to drop the FIL membership fee. It sounds like a simple administrative change, but it was anything but — we spent a long time debating it and consulting with members before reaching a decision. The impact has been significant: it has genuinely reduced the administrative burden on the committee and removed a barrier to engagement. I am proud that we saw it through.

Another memorable moment came when I was contacted by Kate Parson in connection with the call for speakers for Interlend 2023. Kate reached out to tell us about the EU project EODOPEN — a fascinating initiative exploring cross-border access to library materials, involving over 80 European libraries through the Ebooks on Demand (EOD) consortium. It was a wonderful reminder of the reach and relevance of the work FIL does, and of the connections that are possible when we look beyond our own institutions and national boundaries.

Committee and collaboration: the people who made it

I have genuinely loved my time on the FIL Committee, and so much of that comes down to the people. Working with Chris Beevers and Helen Hall in the early days was a real pleasure. More recently, it has been wonderful to get to know Jo Cox from the British Library more closely, and it is brilliant that Jo remains on the committee as a permanent member.

I must also give a huge mention to Joanne Docherty, who has done a fantastic job managing the accounts — an area I don’t think any of us felt particularly confident stepping into. The addition of Sarah Hornby as Secretary has also been a hugely positive development for the committee.

The committee also allowed me to engage with some genuinely exciting technical developments. The rise of WHELF+ has been significant, and the discussions around ISO lending — and the testing we carried out with fellow committee members — were a highlight of that more technical side of the work.

Conferences and events: the joy of bringing people together

Over the course of my time on the committee, I have been involved in arranging many conferences and sessions, both online and in person. It was wonderful to see a partial return to in-person events last year, and particularly special to co-host an event between Newcastle and Northumbria with Sarah. For some of us, it was the first time we had seen each other face-to-face in many years. I cannot overstate how lovely that was — a real reminder of what we had all been missing.

Looking back, looking forward

FIL matters because the interlending community matters. The knowledge sharing, the cross-sector connections, and the practical support for people doing demanding and often under-recognised work are all worth preserving and nurturing. I hope that the forum continues to find ways to bring people together, whether in person or online, and to remain a genuinely useful and welcoming space for everyone who works in this area.

I am also looking forward to continuing to contribute. On 22 April, I joined Sarah Hornby and other colleagues for a NAG ‘Coffee and Chat’ session on interlibrary loans and the CONARLS scheme — another opportunity to share knowledge and keep those important conversations going across the community.

It has been a privilege to serve as Chair of the FIL Committee. Thank you to everyone who made it such a rewarding experience. I have every confidence that Kip will do a fantastic job in the role — I wish him all the very best, and I am genuinely excited to see what comes next for FIL under his leadership.