Obituaries C


Chris Batt


hris Batt’s career in libraries was a long and distin- guished one. On leaving school his first post was with Lambeth Libraries before attending the North London Polytechnic to obtain his Diploma in Library and Information Studies.


Following a period as an Area Librarian for Brighton Libraries, he was appointed Deputy Borough Librarian for Croydon Librar- ies, progressing to Borough Libraries and Museums Officer and subsequently Director of Leisure Services, a post he held until January 1999.


Chris was a key member of the team that developed both the innovative Croydon clocktower, opened in 1993, and the arts and museums facilities opening two years later. Under his Directorship, Croydon was awarded two Charter Marks and gained an international reputation for its innovative use of IT through ground-breaking European projects including PubliCA and Pulman. Chris also chaired the EARL Management Board (Electronic Access to Resources in Libraries) and was engaged with the development of JANET (the Joint Academic NETwork). He was also IT advisor to the Society of Chief Librarians and a member of the Library Association Information Technology Group. Further afield, Chris was also active in IFLA. In 1998 Chris was awarded an OBE for his services to libraries and that same year was created an Honorary Fellow of the Library Association, the citation for which described him as “a librarian who as a speaker is articulate, entertaining, informative and stimulating, who as a writer has style and flair… who as a person is approachable, calm and practical… and good fun”. This Honorary Fellowship was in addition to achieving a Fellowship in his own right. In August 1999, Chris was appointed by the Government to lead


Johanna Green D


r Johanna Green has died age 39, just five years after being diagnosed with stage four bowel cancer. The much-loved University of Glasgow Information Stud- ies senior lecturer and expert in book history and digital humanities, disliked when people suggested she was “battling” cancer or indeed “brave”. She wasn’t in a fight with her disease: in fact, a year on from her initial diag- nosis she said life “was amazing” and credited her adopted city of Glasgow for helping her recover, as well as the world class care she received from the NHS doctors and nurses throughout the city. She was determined to make a differ-


ence, and more importantly get back to teaching her students. On the first anniversary of being diagnosed with bowel cancer she acted as guest of honour at the Shine Night Walk in Glasgow to raise money to help Cancer Research UK. Johanna started the 2019 event but was not strong enough to do the full walk, so nine of her University of Glasgow colleagues did the walk for her and raised over £4,000.


Johanna used the Cancer Research UK event to highlight her story in the media and to encourage everyone, particularly younger people like herself, to check for signs of the disease.


52 INFORMATION PROFESSIONAL


But Johanna was so much more than her cancer diagnosis. She was an exceptional teacher, innovator, scholar, and friend. She loved teaching and working on the manuscripts held in the Library’s Archives & Special Collections. In 2020, she returned to teaching after surgery and extensive chemotherapy, which colleagues said was “a testament to her unwavering passion for her students and her field of expertise”. She received a rapturous standing ovation in December 2021 when she was presented with a Teaching Excellence Award in recognition of her outstanding contributions to teaching and support. The award highlighted “her delivery of virtual teaching sessions which were viewed by students as the ‘gold standard’ for online learning”. The standing ovation highlighted how much she was loved by colleagues and students alike. Since news of her death, there has been an outpouring of tributes from those who knew her not just in Glasgow, but across Scotland, around the UK and internationally. Born in Sunderland, Tyne and Wear on 21 July 1983, Johanna was the only child of Wynn and Dave. She moved to Glasgow to study at the University where she would later teach. In 2016, she was appointed as a lecturer in Information Studies working closely with colleagues in the University Library’s Archives and Special Collections. She was later promoted to the role of Senior Lecturer.


Colleagues said Johanna’s classes were characterised by October-November 2023


the People’s Network Project, a £170m project to connect all 4,300 public libraries to the Information Superhighway by the end of 2002, giving universal public access to the rich information and learning resources being created in Cyberspace. It was a project completed on time and in budget, an achievement that is relatively unheard of for Government sponsored IT projects. He became Chief Executive of the Museums, Libraries and Archives Council (MLA) in 2003, the then development agency for the sector, a post he held until his retirement in 2007. Retirement in 2007 was far from a signal to step back. Instead, Chris formed Chris Batt Consulting which led research projects on audience analysis and modelling in digital content. In 2015 he was awarded a PhD for his dissertation Collecting Institutions in the Network Society. Away from work, Chris had many interests: in the 1990s he learned to fly a light aircraft, using Biggin Hill as his base. Photography was a consuming interest and throughout his extensive travels he captured many evocative images. Music was also a fundamental element of Chris’s life with Bach and Vaughan Williams particular favourites. as a boy he had learned to play both piano and organ. He became a Trustee of the Vaughan Williams Society in Jan- uary 2018 and put his lifetime’s knowledge and understanding of the constructive use of IT to good use building a resources website for them to provide an entry point for those interested in the life and works of the composer. In conclusion, Chris was one of the first to appreciate the potential of new technology for libraries and his pioneering activities and achievements provided inspiration for a generation of librarians.


Susi Woodhouse


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36  |  Page 37  |  Page 38  |  Page 39  |  Page 40  |  Page 41  |  Page 42  |  Page 43  |  Page 44  |  Page 45  |  Page 46  |  Page 47  |  Page 48  |  Page 49  |  Page 50  |  Page 51  |  Page 52  |  Page 53  |  Page 54  |  Page 55  |  Page 56  |  Page 57  |  Page 58  |  Page 59  |  Page 60