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British Library Announces New CEO, Effective January 2025

British Library Announces New CEO, Effective January 2025

October 2024

NISO Member News

London, UK | October 24, 2024

More Details Here

Released October 24, 2024

Rebecca Lawrence has been appointed as the new Chief Executive of the British Library and will take up the role from 2 January 2025. She succeeds Sir Roly Keating, who has led the Library since 2012.

Rebecca has had a long and successful career in leadership roles across the public service and university sector. From 2019 to 2023 she was Chief Executive of the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS), where she led the organisation through the pandemic, implementing large scale innovation to improve performance and support digital transformation.

Prior to leading the CPS, she was a founder and first CEO of the Mayor’s Office for Policing and Crime (MOPAC), serving as Director of Strategy and Resourcing from 2013 to 2016, and Chief Executive from 2016 to 2019. In these roles she became a recognised national leader of police technology and digital security innovation.

She forged her career in Whitehall as a senior civil servant at HM Treasury before moving to the Home Office and policing to lead on counter-terrorism strategy, resourcing and transformation.

In her non-executive roles she is chair of Governors at Middlesex University and a Commissioner at the National Preparedness Commission (NPC) where she will share her experience of how organisations and communities can stay resilient and learn from fellow Commissioners for the benefit of the British Library.

Additional details from the announcement of her appointment may be found here