IN DEPTH ‘‘
Carryl Allardice OBE, Head of Information and Knowledge Management at the Foreign, Common- wealth and Development Office.
Now, more than ever, it is essential we communicate the collective achievements and value of CILIP with clarity and conviction...
Carryl Allardice: Meet CILIP’s new President for 2026
In January Carryl Allardice will become CILIP President for 2026, taking over from Sue Lacey Bryant. Here she introduces herself, looks back on her year as Vice President and talks to us about her Presidential themes and ambitions for the year ahead as President.
I am excited to be taking up the position of CILIP President in 2025 as we prepare to celebrate CILIP’s 150th anniver- sary year in 2027 and host the International Federation of Library Association (IFLA) World Library and Information Congress (WLIC) in London in 2027.
During the past year as Vice President of CILIP I have much enjoyed being part of the Presidential Team with Sue Lacey Bryant whose Presidential theme was Leadership in Action. It was a delight to discover we share similar views and a long-standing passion for librarianship since the days of The Library Associa- tion.
In February I was invited to attend the Unlocking eBooks Par- liamentary Roundtable where I found the discussion about the challenges that librarians face with renting eBooks illuminating. It’s an initiative I hope to get more involved with in 2026. In March I was honoured to represent CILIP in delivering a keynote address at the Hungarian Library Association’s 90th Jubilee Celebrations. Judit Gerencsér, President of the Hungarian Library Association and Deputy Director General of the National Széchényi Library, kindly arranged for Zelia Pereira, Vice President of the European Bureau of Library Information and Documen- tation (EBLIDA) and I to have a tour of the Metropolitan Ervin Szabó Library – which is one of the most beautiful libraries in the world, and was on my bucket list of libraries to visit! In April I was a guest of EBLIDA at their annual conference held at the National Library of Latvia in Riga. The conference theme was about power and resilience and the digital shift in libraries to AI. I particularly appreciated the opportunity to renew library acquaintances and connect with colleagues from across Europe. I also learnt about the People’s Bookshelf in the atrium of the National Library which has books donated by citi-
16 INFORMATION PROFESSIONAL DIGITAL
Sue Lacey Bryant and Carryl Allardice.
zens that hold special importance for them, and that when Rishi Sunak was Prime Minister and visited Latvia he donated a copy of All Creatures Great and Small by James Herriot. In May and June I supported Louis Coiffait-Gunn, CEO of CILIP, at several consultation sessions about the new CILIP strategy for 2026-2030, including one I arranged for the Government Knowl- edge and Information Management (GKIM) Profession. In July I attended the CILIP Annual conference where it was my privilege to join Sue Lacey Bryant in welcoming attendees to the Presi- dential dinner and to listen to her Presidential speech about the North Star as a guiding light – because ethical principles help us navigate the opportunities and challenges that we face. I also attended Civil Service Live in London in July and visited the GKIM Profession’s exhibition stand where there was a lot of interest following several well-attended panel sessions about how to check the reliability of information, understanding mis/ disinformation, the limitations of using GenAI and tips for pro- ducing good quality authoritative information. In July I gave a speech at a British Library reception for
Winter 2025
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