I am very pleased to welcome you to this inaugural Quarterly Update from RLUK. These new updates are an opportunity for you to hear about all the fantastic work taking place across RLUK directly from the RLUK Executive. By doing so we hope this will give you a better sense of the people, ideas, and enthusiasm that drive our activities and projects forward.
This is an exciting time for RLUK as we are at the outset of our new strategy that will shape our priorities to 2030. The strategy coalesces around three themes of strengthening our community, enhancing skills, and cultivating partnerships; supporting RLUK Members as stewards of knowledge; and enabling excellence through collaboration, innovation, and shared services. We look forward to sharing our progress with you in future updates.
The themes from the strategy have, in part, helped to shape the RLUK27 Conference, which will be held in Belfast in March next year, and will explore the evolving ‘life’ of the research library and how this helps to sustain the foundations of a healthier, more humane society.
Our conference alternates between virtual and in-person events each year so our physical conferences are extra special and we are really looking forward to seeing everyone that joins us, especially in the fabulous setting of the Titanic Belfast Museum. The call for papers for the conference is currently open and we are excited to learn about all the rich and wonderful work that is taking place across the sector.
In early July I co-led a Cyber-Resilience Workshop at LIBER with Nancy Graham (LSE) for European colleagues and was well received. We were joined by Ian Gifford (Manchester), Kirsty Lingstadt (Newcastle) and Jane Harvell (Sussex).The workshop’s breakout sessions and wider discussions will inform revisions to the Cyber-Resilience toolkit to be released later this year.
I also joined a panel session at an AI Colloquium organised by the National Library of Scotland with colleagues from Edinburgh and Glasgow. We had a chance to explore Ethics and Library futures in a session chaired by Elena Trowsdale (Oxford), UKRI Policy Intern at the National Library of Scotland who has been exploring AI use with the NLS’ Enquiries Teams.
In late August I will co-convene the AI Tools and Technologies strand of the Digital Humanities at Oxford Summer School bringing together a range of talks on how artificial intelligence, and in particular GenAI is transforming the role and impact of research libraries and digital scholarship. This is the third year that RLUK has partnered with the summer school and I am very much looking forward to hearing from our speakers. Registration for the summer is still open.
As part of the longstanding collaboration between RLUK and The National Archives, we recently launched the eighth round of the Professional Fellowship Scheme. It has been a real pleasure to co-run the scheme on behalf of RLUK with colleagues at The National Archives over the years and to see it continue to grow and evolve.
This year marks an exciting milestone. While the scheme has developed in small ways since it began, this is the first time we have expanded eligibility beyond colleagues at RLUK member institutions and The National Archives. We are delighted to now welcome applications from colleagues across the wider UK archives sector. Supporting professional and skills development across the library and archive sectors has always been at the heart of the Professional Fellowship scheme, and this focus strongly reflects the ambitions of RLUK’s new strategy.
The scheme is open to colleagues from all professional backgrounds and at every career stage, with no requirement for previous research or academic experience. Over the years, it has been inspiring to see Fellows explore topics they genuinely care about and develop the confidence, skills, and networks to take their ideas further. Seeing that growth, both professionally and personally, has been one of the most rewarding aspects of being involved with the scheme.
I would strongly encourage you to take a look at the scheme’s webpage and consider applying or sharing with someone who might benefit. You can also read about the experiences and projects of previous Fellows on the RLUK website, which offer a great insight into the breadth of the scheme and the impact it has had on participants.
Alongside this, I recently had the opportunity to present at Digital Humanities Today: Critical Inquiry with and about the Digital, an international conference hosted by the Department of Digital Humanities at King’s College London. Following the conference, I also wrote a blog post reflecting on some of the themes explored in my presentation, drawing on recent RLUK research and community discussions. The post Looking ahead, I am also pleased that work on RLUK’s recently launched project exploring the role of special and heritage collections in civic engagement is now well underway. I have recently begun analysing the job descriptions collected during the first phase of the project and am now moving on to the survey responses, while also preparing for the next stage, which will involve case studies and interviews with colleagues across the sector in the autumn. I am particularly looking forward to sharing some of the project’s early findings at the 2026 RBSCG Conference, A Sense of Place: Collections and Communities in Context, in September, and to continuing these conversations as the project develops.
Upcoming events
- Making space for innovation in research libraries 🗓️ 21 September
This event brings together speakers from research libraries and beyond who will share insights into how space planning and management can enable innovation, from creating flexible learning environments and collaborative research spaces to supporting digital scholarship and community engagement. By sharing experiences and lessons learned, this session aims to foster discussion around practical strategies for managing library space effectively while continuing to support innovation in a challenging economic climate.
- Civic engagement through inclusive practice 🗓️ 23 September
This event will explore how research libraries can strengthen civic engagement through inclusive practice in its broadest sense. Professionals from across the sector will share current initiatives and examples of best practice, inspiring attendees with practical approaches to foster civic participation, promote social inclusion, and strengthen a sense of belonging within their organisations and communities.
- RLUK27 Conference call for papers – 🚢 Belfast, 10-12 March 2027
Research libraries are dynamic, living infrastructures of knowledge, exchange, and collective progress. A library’s life is expressed through continual evolution – in the way that they sense, respond, and evolve to the complexities of the communities and institutions that they serve.
RLUK27 will explore how this ‘life’ is shaped in the research library and how this helps to sustain the foundations of a healthier, more humane society. The RLUK Conference is and international event that is open to all, you do not have to be an RLUK member to participate.
