NEWS
Passport renewed
SWANSEA University has renewed its Libraries Together Passport Scheme giving the public library community access to the university’s library service. To become an external borrower of Swansea University Libraries, members must fill out a Libraries Together passport form at their public library and have it stamped by a staff member.
They can then take this, along with their valid public library card, to a Swansea Univers ity Library branch.
Associate director Robin Armstrong Viner, head of libraries at Swansea University, said: “Providing these resources to all members of the public, regardless of their background, is vital to developing knowl- edge and skills in South West Wales.”
Digital library’s AI tool
AN ONLINE learning library providing subscribers with unlimited access to more than one million books has launched an AI research tool that uses contextual under- standing to pinpoint content. The library, Perlego, said that the “AI Researcher goes a step further, while uphold- ing academic integrity and mitigating fears publishers have about their content being used for training AI models.”
Matt Davis, Perlego co-founder and chief technology officer, said: “No out-of-the- box tech could easily handle the level of processing and querying across such a scale. We developed a proprietary solution to solve this challenge.”
£7.2m build starts in Dumbarton
WORK has started on the £7.2m redevel- opment of Dumbarton’s oldest building including a library and museum. Glencairn House, on the town’s High Street was vacant for a number of years and will include the construction of a three-storey extension to create extra space to house the library and museum. A standalone children’s library pavilion will be created at the back of the building, opening out onto a library garden centred on the existing tree which will become the garden’s ‘storytelling tree’.
Roly Keating to step down
SIR Roly Keating, chief executive of the British Library, has announced that he will step down from the role in April next year. In a statement issued by the British
Library announcing his departure, Sir Roly said: “The years I have served here have seen great achievements as well as times of challenge, including a global pan- demic and a major cyber attack. Over the next 12 months my priority is to ensure that our recovery programme succeeds in its goal of leaving the Library even stronger and more resilient than it was before – able to serve new communities and new generations of users, and to continue to be a national library that is truly for everyone.” Commenting specifically on the library profession he said: “The last 12 years have seen plenty of change and challenge for library professionals, and the British Library has responded to many of the same trends that affect the wider sector, including a determination to open up to new communities and find innovative ways to engage with our diverse users. It’s also been a period in which I’ve seen a new respect and understanding of the vital role that libraries and librarians have to play as centres of trust and authen- ticity, in a global landscape increasingly affected by ever more sophisticated kinds of disinformation.” During his tenure he has lobbied to make national libraries the custodians of the nation’s digital memories rather than private corporations. Back in 2017 he told Information Professional: “The
single biggest revolution under my watch was the legal shift to becoming the legal deposit library for digital content. That has irrevocably changed what it means to be a national library or a collecting institution.” He has also implemented a reimag- ining of physical space and real world relationships between organisations with the Knowledge Quarter, the Business & IP Centre National Network and the Liv- ing Knowledge Network.
Appointed Chief Executive in 2012, he had previously been a programme-maker and broadcasting executive at the BBC, launching BBC Four and serving as Con- troller of BBC Two and Director of Archive Content.
He said it had always been his hope to serve for 12 years, adding that: “Being at the helm of the British Library has been – and continues to be – the greatest privi- lege of my life.” Dame Carol Black, Chair of the British
Library Board, said: “Roly’s clear-sighted and compassionate leadership has helped the Library to steer a steady course of growth and engagement through often turbulent times. As well as presiding over a massive expansion of our digital collect- ing, he has also overseen a transformation in our public engagement programmes – both online and onsite. Having cele- brated our 50th anniversary just last year, the British Library plays a unique and irre- placeable role in our society, and as Chief Executive Roly has helped future-proof that status.” The British Library Board has begun the process of recruiting a successor.
Ukraine mobile library funding A CROWDFUNDING appeal to buy and
deliver a mobile library to the Ukraine has been launched by Libraries Connected, the membership body for public library leaders. The target is £10,000 to buy a decommissioned, fully serviced mobile library from an English council and deliver it to Ukraine.
On its Crowdfunder webpage (
www.crowd-
funder.co.uk/p/mobile-library-to-ukraine) Libraries Connected said: “When we asked our part- ners in Ukraine how we could help, they said they needed a mobile library. With a mobile library they could continue to pro-
6 INFORMATION PROFESSIONAL
vide a service when their library buildings have been destroyed or damaged. They told us it would bring moral support and a message of solidarity while preserving and promoting Ukrainian culture. And for children, each visit from a mobile library brings new stories, characters and adven- tures - sparking imaginations and possi- bilities at a time of unthinkable suffering.” It said that over 600 public libraries and
2,000 school libraries had been damaged or destroyed by Russian troops and that communities in the worst affected areas are unable to access a library at all.
April-May 2024
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