Connecting librarians: The HECA Library Group Pilot of the Professional Development Framework

Abstract

The Higher Education Colleges Association (HECA) represents the interests of fifteen private higher education institutions in the Republic of Ireland. Its Committees include a Teaching and Learning Committee and a Library Committee (also known as the HECA Library Group). The Library Committee was invited by the National Forum for the Enhancement of Teaching and Learning to pilot the Forum’s Professional Development Framework for all Those Who Teach in Higher Education to test its suitability for librarians. This chapter reports on the six-month pilot of the Framework, using feedback collected from two focus groups conducted in June 2017 at the close of the pilot and in April 2018. A significant finding is that use of the Framework has made private college librarians feel more connected to, and less “siloed’ from, other professionals in the higher education sector. The chapter explores the implications of this feedback for private college librarians, and librarians generally, in terms of their professional identity, professional practice and professional development.