INTERVIEW ‘‘
Rob Green is Editor of Information Professional.
We find increasingly that students at the university who’ve had experience of libraries growing up are extremely well equipped to utilise the power of a great research library... – Richard Ovenden
Bodley’s Librarian Richard Ovenden on advocacy, alliances and skills for the future
Richard Ovenden is Bodley’s Librarian – only the 25th person to hold the position in 400 years. He is a passionate advocate for libraries as tools for a functioning democracy and a founding partner of the UK’s new Libraries Alliance.
A BROAD alliance of organisations that represent libraries and library staff does not sound particularly revolutionary. Libraries share common values, serve similar needs and offer vital support at every stage of people’s lives – so the idea that they should advocate together seems obvious. Yet it was only this year, as part of the 175th anniver- sary of the Libraries Act, that a UK wide alliance was launched.
Richard Ovenden, Head of the Bodleian Libraries at the University of Oxford, explains: “The thread that binds us all together? There’s one very sim- ple answer to that – and that is we’re all libraries. Whether we’re school libraries, prison libraries or national libraries like the British Library and the National Library of Scotland, or great research libraries like the Bodleian, we’re all libraries. We all have that same mission to serve our communities with knowledge.
“That mission varies from institution to institution and from sector to sector. Some more at the pres- ervation and acquisition end, some with more of a focus at delivery and service and most of us with some combination of that within that spectrum. But we all share that common goal, and we all share increasingly similar challenges.”
The Libraries Alliance features nine key partners so far – Bodleian Libraries, University of Cambridge, CILIP, Independent Libraries Association, Libraries
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Connected, Libraries Alliance, Libraries Rising, The National Library of Scotland, Research Libraries UK, and the School Library Association, with others considering joining. Each bring their own experi- ence and expertise to the alliance, representing a huge array of services and providers.
The alliance website says: “We have come together as leaders representing libraries which support the needs of citizens across society and the nations of the UK. They include public libraries, universities and colleges, schools, hospitals and prisons, national institutions and community libraries. Our staff are professionals working with audiences as diverse as Nobel Laureates and infants learning to read. “175 years after the use of public funds to pro- vide library services was first enshrined in law, we are looking to the future. While we celebrate the achievements of the library movement and the continuing relevance of its values and its contribu- tion to accessible knowledge and learning, cultural creativity and scientific innovation, we recognise that we need to re-equip our institutions, workforce and users with new skills and capabilities to meet these challenges.”
The theme chosen by the alliance is Libraries through life for the future, demonstrating how services impact on people at different stages through their life – from childhood, through education, into working life and beyond.
Richard points to the fact that students at the Uni- February-March 2026
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