It's that time of year again - deciding whether or not to take out membership of CILIP (Chartered Institute of Library and Informational Professionals) and be able to call myself a Chartered Librarian. I'd really like to and I feel it's important for our status, both in schools and within CILIP itself. But it is darned expensive just after Christmas and I've never really felt that I got anything for the money, other than a cosy glow. (My students love that my postnominals used to spell ALABAMA but MCLIP mucks that up!). It does seem that many school librarians are forsaking CILIP for similar reasons. CILIP have raised their awareness of school librarianship issues lately but is it enough? Or do we need to join en masse in order to push our agendas from within? It's a thorny issue and I'm swaying on both sides of the hedge, to my discomfort. With my professional head on I'd say go for membership, get more involved, and try and make change happen. But that's a lot of work and past experiences haven't been particularly positive.
I guess the jury's still out. But I'll be giving it some serious thought and seeing what colleagues in other schools have to say.