RLUK announced at its AGM on 9 March the election of John Robinson to the role of Vice-Chair, and Robin Green and Nicola Wright to the Board of Directors.
John Robinson is Director of Library and Information Services at SOAS, University of London and has served on the RLUK Board since March 2013. John will automatically succeed to the role of RLUK Chair in March 2017.
Immediately before joining SOAS, John was at King’s College London as JISC Director of Services, responsible for the JISC services portfolio which includes JANET (the national academic network), JISC Collections and a number of support and advisory services. Library and Information Services includes the SOAS Library, Information Systems, ICT, MultiMedia and Print Services, supporting SOAS’ staff, students and external visitors.
Robin Green is Librarian at the University of Warwick. A focus throughout his career has been on collaboration and collaborative services: he was Director of RLUK (in its former guise as CURL) from 2005-2007, member of OCLC’s Global Council from 2007-2013 and Chair of the EMEA Regional Council in 2012. He is currently a member of SCONUL’s Collaboration Strategy Group and an officer of the new Mercian Collaboration of academic libraries in the Midlands.
Nicola Wright is Director of Library Services at the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE). Nicola’s career has focused on leading change in libraries in order to meet the demands of a digital world, with roles at the British Library, the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS) and Imperial College London. Nicola has contributed to a number of national and international initiatives in support of evolving the role of research libraries and she serves as Deputy Chair of the UK Committee for the UNESCO Memory of the World Programme.
Chris Banks (Imperial College London) and Anne Jarvis (Cambridge) stood down from the Board, having come to the end of their terms in office. RLUK is grateful for the considerable contribution both have made in steering RLUK strategy and activities for the benefit of the membership and the research library community at large.
Chair of the Board of Directors, John MacColl said: ‘I am delighted to welcome a new Vice-Chair, and two new members to the Board of Directors. John has already served a full term on the Board and is an experienced Library and IT Director who will bring a fresh perspective to RLUK as its next Chair. Our two new Board members, Robin and Nicola, will strengthen the Board with their energy and experience. RLUK is developing its presence in the governance of strategic sector-wide initiatives across the UK and internationally at the present time. As we move forward with an increased set of member libraries, and new appointments to the Executive Team under David Prosser due to arrive later this year, RLUK needs to be at full strength to serve its membership and deliver an important programme of strategic change.’
