Historic Youth and Community Development Collection - launch

As part of National Youth Work Week, on Friday 10th November we celebrated the launch of the new addition to the special collections area -

'Historic Youth and Community Development Collection'  

The collection has been in development over the past two years encompassing selecting the resources, sourcing space in the special collections area, and cataloguing the various material which make up the collection. The resources have been donated through academics (previous and current) in collaboration with key contributors from the National Youth Work Archive and within community development. 

To celebrate the launch of this fantastic special collection, we welcomed contributors and experts within the field of youth work and community development to the intimate launch.


How the event ran:

First up everyone was welcomed by Andrea Walker, PL for Community Development and Youth Work (BA/Apprenticeship) at University of Bolton. Andrea introduced the collection and how the event would run. As a newer member of the steering group, she then introduced Kevin, Bren and Bill as the main steering group.

After Andrea's introduction, there was a talk about the National Youth Work Archive by Kevin Jones (National Youth Agency). Following was a delightful presentation on why the collection and national archive is so vital to be preserved, delivered by University of Bolton's very own Bren Cook. Bren also took us on the journey through how the special collection was first suggested, right through to it's launch.

Sinead English (Academic Librarian Faculty of Health and Wellbeing) then spoke about how the collection had progressed, and thanked Library Assistants Sarah Markham and James Casey for their work in cataloguing the various resources held within it. After a short overview of the collection management plan, Sinead led the attendees to the special collection area. Once in the special collections area, Sinead introduced the Head of School Health and Society, Dr Joanne Smith. Jo gave a small talk about the importance of the collection nationally and for the University, and then invited Sir Bill Taylor to officially open the collection.

After having a look at the collection, there was a final talk from Sir Bill Taylor who spoke about his journey into youth work and of his experiences.

Once there had been a lunch break, Andrea introduced and facilitated an activity to look at how the collection will develop and future plans both short and long term. All attendees participated in the activity, putting forward suggestions and volunteering to participate in the collection development.

The event finished with a huge thank you to everyone who attended, and for all contributions and donations.

The next steps:

• A year on, host a reflection event on how the collection has been used and steps taken to integrate with other contributors to a national archive
• Integrate the collection space with research, and utilise the collection as reference material
• Look into digitisation of parts of the collection, to further accessibility and reach of the resources
• Incorporate more community development into the collection, through donations from relevant experts
• Highlight the connections to Bolton, Greater Manchester and the North West