Elections by Congregation: Curators of the University Libraries - MT 2022

Oxford’s libraries play a central part in the University’s work – they provide crucial resources for learning, teaching, ground-breaking research and engagement with wider audiences. I would like to play a continued role in their future by joining their Curators and contributing to the future safekeeping of a national and global treasure.

My qualifications for this position come from years of work in cultural institutions, including academic libraries and indeed the Bodleian Libraries themselves. I trained, qualified and chartered as a librarian, managing special collections for the University of Reading as well as digital engagement and infrastructure for the Bodleian Libraries. I have worked closely with academic users as well as members of the public, on projects ranging from collections management to strategic decision making around systems and public engagement, and I appreciate the balance our libraries strike in providing truly excellent services for users of all levels.

In my current role as Head of Campaigns and Digital Communications, I continue to work across the collegiate University to understand and communicate around University priorities. I regularly engage with research and teaching colleagues to understand their strategic needs, and have worked with GLAM on a number of key initiatives. I continue to advise cultural institutions in my roles as a Trustee for Modern Art Oxford and a member of the Museums Computer Group Committee.

It would an honour to serve on this committee, supporting the valuable work of Oxford’s libraries.

I am applying for the position of Curator of the University Libraries because I combine research interests and experience in archives, genetic criticism and the materiality of the text with a passion for lifelong learning and community engagement. As an Associate Professor in English Literature at the Department for Continuing Education, who has attended and chaired committees on outreach and access, I feel strongly that our world-beating library resources – and our physical library spaces – should be easily accessible to our students, whether full-time or part-time, undergraduate or postgraduate, or on any of our accredited courses. Our libraries should also appeal to potential students. As Dean of Kellogg College since Michaelmas 2020, during the Covid pandemic and in this period of transition, I have worked hard to ensure that students do not feel isolated; and their access to library resources plays an important part in this. My own research projects draw on manuscripts and other textual ephemera, so I also understand the importance of protecting and preserving our library heritage while ensuring that students (and members of the public, where feasible) have access to the wide range, and huge numbers, of resources that the University Libraries contain. A large part of my work centres on public engagement, and so I am comfortable with balancing the needs of our students and researchers with the interests of the wider community – in Oxford, and beyond. Our libraries have a central role to play in this – through exhibitions, tours, workshops and other community engagement activities.