Rachel founded and shaped the reader development movement which released new energy into UK library work, re-motivating many library staff and delivering wider cultural change in organisations. Libraries moved from largely passive provision of books and computers to actively engaging the audience.
Opening the Book works across school, public and college libraries in consultancy, training and library design. We have designed and installed 100+ school libraries in the UK while in Canada we support the Library Learning Commons initiative with new designs and furniture.
Rachel has been a consultant to many library services across the UK, Ireland, Norway, Sweden, Canada and Australia. Opening the Book has run national training programmes, creating change agents with new skills and confidence, which reach every library service in the UK. Online training courses have been taken by 12,000 library staff in three continents, including an outstanding programme to train 1000 staff in partnership with the State Library of Victoria.
Rachel's parents were New Zealanders so she has a special interest in all things NZ – she is looking forward to her first visit to the North Island. See www.openingthebook.com and @RachelVanRiel on Twitter.
Adele is the program coordinator for the Centre for Youth Literature at the State Library Victoria, providing online content as well as programming events to promote literature for, and to, young adults.
Walsh has extensive experience as a passionate youth literature advocate, sitting on the Melbourne Writers Festival schools advisory and the LoveOzYA committee. In 2016, she travelled to the US as a Melbourne City of Literature travel grant recipient to observe public youth literature programming.
She is also the co-host of Unladylike, a podcast on women and writing @snarkywench.
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