M25 SpeedMeet

Welcome to M25 SpeedMeet. Every month we meet someone working in an M25 member institution and ask them to tell us a little bit about themselves.

One of the three strategic themes of the M25 Strategic Plan is connecting and collaborating through our network. Our aim is to provide a regional network whose members offer multiple perspectives that can inform decision making, and facilitate opportunities for networking and joint working on shared issues. What better way to do this than to meet?

In past months, we’ve met the Senior Librarian at the British Museum, Library Assistants at the School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine and The National Gallery, a Research Support Librarian at the Royal Veterinary College and the Director of Library and Learning Services at the University of Surrey.

We’re keen to meet even more members so if you’d like to feature in the M25 SpeedMeet, please contact m25libadmin@london.ac.uk.

January 2025: Delilah Wallbank

Who are you, where are you based and what do you do?

I’m Delilah Wallbank, a weekend library assistant at Avery Hill Library, University of Greenwich.

What do you most enjoy about your job?

What I like about working in a library is how much of it is related to solving problems: whether those problems are brought by students or they are related to how best to organize resources and store collections. Being expected and encouraged to think about my work and how it could be improved as well as getting the chance to help others is why I want to keep working in library roles.

What motivates you in your work?

Student appreciation, especially those moments when I can quickly fix an issue someone is having. A lot of my work is on the library welcome desk, and students approach me with a variety of different problems from Wi-Fi struggles to academic support.

As I work at the weekends when the library is quieter, I have the opportunity to spend more time with each individual student than is possible during the week. Every time I sit down with a student and go through their issue methodically, working through the problem until it is solved, I am reminded of how important it is to have face-to-face support in libraries.

Many of the students I work with have returned to university as mature students or have come to study in the UK from abroad; having someone who they can talk to rather than simply being directed to a computer screen is greatly appreciated.

How has/can the M25 Consortium support you in your career?

The first M25 event I attended was the Winter Fab Lab visit and networking event. This event was a fantastic opportunity to meet other people working in libraries in a range of different positions, from other library assistants up to directors. I got the chance to discuss current issues in the sector and to understand the hiring process better. I feel like I now have a better idea of what my next steps should be to continue my library career.

What would it surprise people to know about you?

I have written a chapter in an edited book that will be published by UCL Press some time in 2025. The book celebrates the 100th anniversary of the Woodcraft Folk, a national youth charity, which I have been a member of and volunteer for since 2007.

I wrote the chapter based on my own research and experiences as a participant and committee member of the 16- to 21-year-old section, the District Fellows. My chapter looks at what we can learn from the way young people organize themselves when they are given the agency to do so without adult supervision.

Complete the sentence: If I wasn’t working in a library I would be

If I wasn’t working in a library I would be working in an archive because it’s an aspect of library work I am interested in but which is not currently part of my job. In fact at the moment I am volunteering at two archives in London to gain more experience relating to cataloguing, digitization, preservation, and research.

Delilah Wallbank, Weekend Services Assistant
Information & Library Services Directorate, Libraries & Academic Enhancement, University of Greenwich

Read more SpeedMeet interviews here:

Chris Foreman, Associate Director of Library Services at University of the Arts, London

Tom Pratt, Associate Director (User Experience and Engagement)
Library, Archives and Learning Services, University of East London

Vicky Robertson, Deputy Librarian, UCL School of Pharmacy Library

Laura Scullion, Administrator (Events & Programmes), M25 Consortium of Academic Libraries

Dave Puplett, Associate Director, Libraries and Academic Enhancement, University of Greenwich

Fiona Ainsworth, Head of Library and Archives at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew

Dianne Shepherd, The British Museum, Senior Librarian

Jill Howard, M25 Consortium of Academic Libraries, Operations Manager

Cliff Van Dort, National Archives, Kew, Head of Library

Camilla Churchill, British Medical Association, Library and Archive Lead

Chloe Carson-Ashurst, The National Gallery, Library Assistant