Joanne Springham

Jo has completed work on four Opening the Book courses with personal feedback so far, and is currently tackling a fifth. Her commitment to online learning is exemplary - she's worked hard to overcome the barriers involved in remote working, and has stayed engaged across course after course.

Jo's passion for reading shines through everything she's done on these courses, and it's evident that a strong commitment to keeping her library relevant and exciting for a wide audience of readers drives her work. The quality has been very strong throughout, and it's been a pleasure to work with her.

01 Range across the practice

Whether it's coming up with new ways of talking about reading, fresh ways to display and merchandise the books in her library, or auditing the gaps in the range of the collection, the quality of Jo's work has been consistently strong. She's demonstrated real insight into practical ways to use the range of the collection to appeal to readers - and across every course, she's come up with creative ideas for how to use what she's learned to help everyone find a good read in her library.

02 Generous in the shared learning

Jo's contributions to the wider sharing of ideas between learners on all the courses have been generous and very positive. She treats the cohort space as something worth contributing to - not just somewhere to receive feedback - which lifts the experience for everyone else taking the same training.

03 Advice for new starters

Reflecting on the Merchandising the bookshelves course, Jo's advice is to do it as soon as you can on joining the library service. Her view is that it's a great way to build confidence and understanding in the early days - the kind of foundation that pays off across everything else a customer advisor does on the floor.