After 12 years as Chief Executive, Sir Roly Keating has announced that he will step down from the role in April next year.
Sir Roly said: “When I took on this role in 2012 it was always my hope to serve for 12 years and I will reach that milestone in September this year. Being at the helm of the British Library has been – and continues to be – the greatest privilege of my life. The Library is an extraordinary institution, and it is impossible not to feel a daily sense of wonder at the collective dedication, knowledge and passion of its staff, and the sheer scale, depth and quality of its collections. The years I have served here have seen great achievements as well as times of challenge, including a global pandemic 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.”
Under Sir Roly’s leadership, the Library has undergone a transformation in its public impact and its visibility across the UK and internationally. With a focus on openness, creativity and innovation, his tenure has seen the establishment of major new partnerships including the Knowledge Quarter around its London HQ, the Business & IP Centre National Network and the Living Knowledge Network of public and national libraries across the UK.
Digital initiatives have included Save Our Sounds – to rescue and digitise the UK’s audio heritage – and Living with Machines, a groundbreaking research programme in partnership with the Alan Turing Institute. He has also initiated a programme of major capital developments, including the renewal of the Library’s campus in Boston Spa, Yorkshire.
Most recently, he has led the launch of a new strategy, Knowledge Matters, and the Library’s response to a significant cyber attack which took place in October last year.
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Roly Keating was appointed Chief Executive of the British Library in 2012, succeeding Dame Lynne Brindley. Prior to that, he had a long and successful career at the BBC, as a programme-maker and broadcasting executive, where he launched BBC Four and served as Controller of BBC Two and Director of Archive Content.
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The British Library Board has begun the process of recruiting Sir Roly’s successor.
Gary Price (gprice@gmail.com) is a librarian, writer, consultant, and frequent conference speaker based in the Washington D.C. metro area.
He earned his MLIS degree from Wayne State University in Detroit.
Price has won several awards including the SLA Innovations in Technology Award and Alumnus of the Year from the Wayne St. University Library and Information Science Program. From 2006-2009 he was Director of Online Information Services at Ask.com.
