About Empower: The Library Skills Collective
Empower: The Library Skills Collective is a training and development platform created specifically for library staff. We support library professionals at all levels—from public libraries to academic institutions—with practical, inclusive, and future-ready learning.
Whether you're on the front desk, managing collections, leading a team, or just getting started, Empower gives you access to high-quality professional development—without needing a conference budget, a management title, or permission to travel.We believe that library skills are life skills. And that the people who make libraries possible deserve ongoing support, not just one-off training.
Our Mission
To make meaningful, accessible professional development the norm in libraries and information services—not the exception.
We provide online workshops, skills training, coaching, and community support that centres people, not platforms. Everything we offer is rooted in kindness, inclusivity, and real-world relevance.
Who Empower Is For
Empower is for:
Library assistants and frontline staff
Systems and digital services teams
Subject librarians and professional support roles
Managers, directors, and emerging leaders
Anyone working in academic, public, school, health or special libraries
We work with individuals and organisations across the world who are ready to invest in people, not just collections or systems.
Why Empower Exists
We created Empower because we saw the same patterns everywhere in libraries:
One person gets to go to a conference. Everyone else is told to wait.
“Cascade” training rarely reaches the people who need it.
Most CPD is built for managers—not for whole teams.
Tight budgets mean training is often the first thing cut.
Burnout is rising—and support is patchy or out of reach.
We say we want to be inclusive, but don’t provide routes for progression due to a lack of accessible training.
We are deskilling our teams by not developing everyone
Most CPD isn’t designed with library workers in mind—and too often, support is geared toward other sectors or management-only roles. Empower exists to change that. We’re here to ensure everyone has the chance to grow, develop, and lead with confidence—wherever they are in their library career.
Who’s Behind Empower?
I'm Helen and I’ve worked in libraries for over 20 years—as a librarian, a leader, and now as a coach and founder of Empower: The Library Skills Collective.
I started Empower because I’ve seen too many brilliant library staff burn out, get overlooked, or be told to wait their turn for development that never comes. I’ve lived that frustration—juggling budgets, trying to stretch training across teams, and watching people lose confidence in systems that were supposed to support them.
I believe we can do better.
Empower exists to make professional development accessible, kind, and inclusive—for everyone in libraries, not just the few. Because people build libraries. And people deserve to grow.
Our Values
Kindness – as a leadership strength, not a soft skill
Access – everyone deserves a chance to learn and grow
Collaboration – change happens when we work together
Courage – to lead differently and stand up for what matters
Equity – development shouldn’t depend on job title, location, or budget
Let’s Build Better Together
Whether you're an individual looking for support, or an organisation ready to invest in your library team, we’d love to work with you.
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