August 18, 2025

1985 – 2025 – 40 Years of NAG – Spotlight on the Chairs – Past & Present

Interviewed by Sally Allen – Executive Committee Member

Name: Alison Harland

Job Title: Children’s Service Development Manager for Idea Stores, Tower Hamlets Libraries

NAG Exec: 2014 – 2020 & 2023-present

NAG Chair: 2017-2020

Welcome Alison to our special series of interviews with Committee Chairs to celebrate 40 years of NAG.  Thank you for allowing to delve into your working life in public libraries and share your experiences, especially as we celebrate 40 years of NAG.

Your impressive library journey started 21 years ago and prior to that you spent 10 years in the food industry. Beginning your library career at Leeds City Council, you progressed from Librarian to Area Development Librarian, then worked for nine years as the Reader and Culture Development Manager at Leeds Libraries. This involved managing the procurement of physical and digital stock and working closely with suppliers and collection HQ. You managed cultural programming in the Central Library and 35 branch libraries and were also responsible for adult reader development across the service.

During your time in Leeds, you delivered many partnership projects including Collections in Verse (an ACE funded British Library, Poet in the City and Public library project), Leeds Lit Fest and the Eulogy Project (partnering with the Jamaica Society, Leeds).

In 2023, you moved to Tower Hamlet Libraries in London, where you continue to champion library innovation and engagement in your role as Children’s Service Development Manager.

You were also the Chair of NAG for 6 years and it is great to have you back on the Exec Committee with a new hat on.

And there is even more … you are a member of ASCEL – the Association of Senior Children’s and Education Librarians and regularly attend the London meetings.

That is quite a career change – from a food technologist to Librarian! Did you aspire to be a librarian from an early age or were you looking for a career change?

I come from a family of public servants, so it was a great surprise to everyone when I studied food science and worked for nearly 10 years in the food industry. I was made redundant in 2002 which then prompted a rethink to my career. It was all very fortuitous; I watched them build a new library where I lived whilst I was at home looking after my new baby.  I applied for a job, and my library career started there. My family have always been huge library users, and we were regular users of Garforth Library in Leeds when I was a young child, whereby coincidence I first worked as a librarian after my promotion from library assistant.

I love working in libraries, they are such an important resource and sanctuary to so many people. I am proud that my work over the years has introduced many people to them and hopefully has inspired many new readers and library users. I am much better suited to the library environment than the food industry – it turns out I wasn’t the black sheep after all!

How did you first become involved in NAG and what were your earliest memories?

When I was promoted to my first senior role, I was Senior librarian for Stock and Reader Development. I was very aware that I didn’t have a formal library qualification so I wanted to build my knowledge and sought out training that would help me do that. I attended my first NAG conference around that time, when it was still a two-day conference held in York. I had a great time meeting other library colleagues and listening to the talks. The conference was great for both increasing my knowledge and building a network. I attended again the following year, having the same great experience and when the call went out for new committee members I was keen to get involved.

During your time as Chair of NAG, you played a pivotal role in enhancing its relevance to public libraries. Your efforts not only led to a growth in membership but also increased representation of public and academic libraries on the Committee. Do tell is more about how you achieved this…..

Well that’s quite the compliment, thank you. I joined NAG at the time where many public libraries were feeling the pinch and funding, staffing and physical libraries were all disappearing at an alarming rate. It was clear to me that we needed to change the model of NAG if it was to survive as a resource for public libraries. Public library attendance at conference had dropped as authorities struggled to get funds released for training opportunities, and a two-day conference was out of reach for many public librarians. So the Public Library Forum was born – a chance for libraries to get together over the course of a day, as cheaply as possible. We held the first at Leeds Central Library and it was free to attend so the attendees had to only find the cost of getting there. The day was really successful and focussed on advocating for NAG membership and getting public librarians to tell us what they wanted from NAG . I think from that event alone we gained at least two new public library committee members. I also advocate for NAG whenever I am at any professional occasions.  Hopefully my enthusiasm and personal advocacy has also encouraged new committee members.

Another one of your notable achievements as Chair of NAG was the introduction of the public library grant— an initiative that continues to thrive each year. The grant is designed to empower libraries to bid for funds to develop or grow existing projects without the burden of lengthy application processes. Each year we see a range of amazing submissions, if only we could award them all! You must be so proud of this and await in excitement for the 2026 applications!

I am very proud of this one! I was aware as a librarian that the funding opportunities for libraries was limited, especially for more traditional reading and literacy-based projects. NAG introduced this small pot that would allow libraries to try something out, with very little extra paperwork involved. We just ask that they tell others about what they have done in NAG publications and events. NAG have funded some great projects since the award was introduced.  The recipients have also provided some interesting and informative talks at public library forums. It has been lovely to rejoin the committee and see the fabulous applications that we had for the grant this year, with my old professional home Leeds Libraries being awarded the grant this year for a great project that you can learn more about on the NAG website.  

Do you recall any standout initiatives from NAG that have help to shape your work and libraries?

I was very pleased to introduce the Collections Development Policy template that NAG has available to its members. This came out as a real need at the first public library forum with many librarians admitting that their policies needed a refresh. However, many library services had lost the knowledge and experience needed to do that through library cuts. I hope that the template has proved useful to many services since its introduction.

Do tell us more about your current role as Children’s Library Development Manager….

I moved to London in September 2023 to a new home and a new job in Tower Hamlets. It has been really refreshing for me to come to Tower Hamlets and be responsible for one area of the service. I am responsible for the children’s library offer from 0-19 across seven sites. There was already a lot of brilliant work happening here, but I am very proud that I have built on that and presently I am delivering my second summer of free cultural events and activities for families in our libraries. That work has also included working across council departments to incorporate a library reading challenge into the Summer of Fun campaign in Tower Hamlets.  I am also doing some work at present to engage teenagers and was proud to be picked for the second phase of ASCEL’s Youth Engagement Network.

I love working in Tower Hamlets, it is so diverse and busy. There are lots of differences from Leeds, but also somehow library customers are very similar wherever they are. I feel really at home here.

When you are not at work, what do you do for relaxation? The re-location to London must keep you busy with exploring new areas, activities and new acquaintances …..

There is so much to explore in my new location. I have a wish list of places that I want to go on my Notes app on my phone, and am ticking them off as I do them, as well as adding more when I hear about them. I live in Walthamstow, and I have both a cinema and theatre in walking distance of my house. I love watching live performance so I try to go as often as I can. I also started an ‘Alis World Food Tour’ note on my phone and I make a note every time I experience a new cuisine.

Thank you so much, Alison, for sharing your experiences with us as the NAG Chair and your work in public libraries. It really is great to have you back on the Executive Committee.

We’ve been enjoying hearing everyone’s NAG Memories for our 40th anniversary; if you have stories please do share them with us here.