LIR Annual Seminar 2025: Communities of Practice

This guest post is written by Jenny O'Neill on behalf of the LIR Community.

Daniela Bultoc speaking at the LIR annual seminar. Picture credit: HEAnet User Group for Libraries, 2025. 

Four Questions to Ask When Forming a Community of Practice

In April 2025, the LIR HEAnet User Group for Libraries held its annual seminar at the HEAnet offices in Dublin. This year’s theme focused on community engagement within the library sector, particularly through communities of practice and social media networks.

One of the keynote speakers was Dr. Daniela Bultoc, who delivered an insightful talk on Communities of Practice in Higher Education. Daniela outlined three key goals for her presentation:

1. To define what we mean by communities of practice
2. To understand their benefits in higher education
3. To identify opportunities for incorporating them into our work

What Are Communities of Practice?

The concept of communities of practice has its roots in the apprenticeship model, where learners would meet and learn from one another. This approach is supported by social learning theory, which suggests that around 70% of what we know is learned through others, through doing, and through experimentation.

In the complex organisational structures of universities, many professionals find themselves working in isolation or as the sole expert in a particular area within their department. Yet, others across the institution may be working on similar challenges. Communities of practice offer a way to break down these silos, enabling us to connect, share, and learn from each other.


Membership and Sustainability

There are several models for community membership. Members may self-select or be nominated based on their expertise. However, it is passion and commitment that truly sustain a community. Crucially, line management support—linked to appraisals, career development, or talent development—is essential.

Daniela made an important point: a community of practice will last only as long as there is interest, passion, and energy. When that fades, it’s perfectly okay for the community to come to a natural end. Flexibility is key to the lifecycle of a community.


Why Libraries?

In libraries, communities of practice can be transformative. They support professional development, encourage innovation, and ultimately enhance library services and student support.


Benefits of Communities of Practice

Daniela’s evaluations revealed compelling benefits:

• 80% of members said they were generating innovative ideas and solving problems
• 77% were sharing resources, information, and experience
• 72% felt a stronger sense of belonging and connection

Other benefits included:

• Improved awareness of where and who to go to for information
• Better communication across departments
• A collective vision of excellence
• Service alignment
• A stronger sense of professional identity

Ready to Get Started? Ask Yourself These Four Questions

1. Purpose: Why Do We Exist?

Communities of practice aim to produce, extend, and exchange knowledge, connecting people with shared interests. They represent a grassroots model of change. Clarify your shared goals, skills, and expertise, and define what you want to achieve together. A clear and motivating purpose is essential.

2. Members: Who Belongs?

Once goals are clear, it becomes easier for individuals to decide if they belong. Typically, there’s a core group of active members who both learn and share. There may also be wider members with an interest but less expertise, and key stakeholders who contribute occasionally.

Daniela recommends a co-leadership model. Communities can be:

• Self-organised/informal – member-driven and less visible
• Supported/formal – intentional, strategic, and more visible
• The “third space” – autonomous but with strategic support via a Champion

Strategic sponsorship helps align the community’s purpose with organisational goals.

3. Activities: What Are We Going to Do?

Define your collaborative projects and events. Create opportunities for meaningful interaction and focus on solving shared challenges. And celebrate successes!

Activities might include:

• Relationship building
• Knowledge sharing
• Collaborative problem-solving
• Learning-focused initiatives
• Strategic alignment efforts

4. Process: How Are We Going to Do It?

Establish your meeting rhythm, communication channels, and processes. Start meetings with light, engaging interactions and prioritise psychological safety. Focus on quick wins to maintain momentum and energy.


Useful resources:

• Co-creating your communities of practice - Toolkit: https://www.gla.ac.uk/media/Media_829077_smxx.pdf
• Devis-Rozental, C., & Clarke, S.R. (Eds.). (2024). Building Communities of Practice in Higher Education: Co-creating, Collaborating and Enriching Working Cultures (1st ed.). Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003330554

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“Brewing up a storm” – Outreach to develop your professional profile

This blog post by Catherine Ahearne from Maynooth University was highly commended in the CONUL Training and Development Library Assistant Blog Awards 2023.

What professional growth means to me is, it is an active process and that involves more self reflection that I had realised. As someone who had lived by the phrase “self-praise is no praise,”  looking back at my career and truly examining it, is difficult. Aware of the library experience gap  in my C.V., my career path has not been a linear nor smooth one. I have worked in Law, Public,  Tax and Academic libraries, but have also done several years in an administrative role for one  the big 4 four accountancy firms. I worried that this would put me at a disadvantage when  compared with my library peers. But when I looked closely, I could see the transferable skills  that I bring to my library role. This also allowed for me to notice and focus on my weaker areas,  treating the process as a needs assessment if you will.  

I have spent the most recent part of my career looking at my professional development so that I  can progress and succeed in my position to the best of my ability. I have obtained the Associate  of the Library Association (ALAI), participated in conferences as a poster presenter even  speaker. But what I have had to acknowledge is that I qualified more than a decade ago and  through my various roles I have seen how much the profession has changed in that time. A  professional profile for librarians is now a crucial element of professional development. But  how do we create this? Networking is one way of building relationships with others in our field  allow us to share ideas and experiences. Outreach is a tool that not only benefits your  institution but also you on a professional level.  

Picture of the Russell Library taken by Catherine Ahearne  

The outreach experience that I am going to share is writing for RTÉ Brainstorm. An email was  sent to the Special Collections & Archive team based on our MU Library Treasures blog  exposure, that the editor of RTÉ Brainstorm Jim Carroll was available to talk to any of the team  who might interested in writing for RTE Brainstorm and can help define a story with them. 10- minute one-to-one feedback sessions were organised. The feedback sessions enabled staff to share an area of work with the editor. And receive suggestions on generating an angle for the story.  

Map taken from John Hall’s, Tour through Ireland: particularly the interior & least known parts (London,  1813)  

I went to the pitch a little unsure if I would be able to provide something that would be of  interest to Brainstorm. My pitch was about the opinion and attitudes of the Irish as expressed  through the travel guides of the 18th and 19th century. The Pitch was successful, and I was given  a word count and deadline. I began to write; I had some trusted colleagues review some of my  early drafts. Up to this point anything that I had written had been for a specific audience, “the  library world,” so before submission I asked the communications officer to review, and she  made some extremely helpful suggestions that would allow the blog to have an appeal to a  wider audience than just those interested in Special Collections. The 15th of March saw my blog  go live, “People drinking whiskey, porter and punch” Travellers to Ireland and their thoughts on  the Irish”.   

  

 

Illustration “An outside jaunting car in storm” by Daniel Maclise is from John Barrow, A Tour round  Ireland through the sea-coast counties in the autumn of 1835 (London, 1836). The title page is from the  same publication.  

This exercise in outreach not only highlighted my profile within my own institution, but also  gave me positive feedback, and an opportunity to engage with academics about the blogs  success. Another benefit of completing the blog was that it allowed me an opportunity to  promote my colleagues that also write for our own blog “The Maynooth Library Treasures” and  the celebrate the rich collections of the Russell Library. In recent weeks, the article has been  promoted again by MU Spotlight on research. My advice for anyone interested in developing  their professional profile is to take the opportunities you are offered; you need to be seen to be  heard. You can use these to gain experience, increase your confidence and as a form of  continuing professional development. 

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