Organisational Development

Organisational Development Strategy Group

This group leads for the community on matters relating to the library workforce, including recruiting and developing the skills necessary to deliver the breadth of support that institutions are seeking and improving equality, diversity and inclusion in the library sector.

This group is exploring:

  • Developing our current workforce to support institutions’ drive towards digital transformation.

  • Generating the radical shift needed to deliver a diverse workforce that is truly representative of our society.

  • New approaches to recruitment, retention and professional development to meet the HE recruitment challenge by coming together through networking, mentoring and peer support to enabling sharing practice and experience.

For those interested in exploring leading libraries, further resources can be found on our Knowledge Hub.  For information on the support that SCONUL provides for those keen to develop their career in libraries, please see our CPD Hub.

Current Projects

CPD Review:
Members of the group are working with the Board on a review of SCONUL’s own CPD offer following a consultation with members on their CPD needs, particularly in light of budget pressures and sector changes. 

Organisational development knowledge base:
Members often share organisational development resources including job descriptions, team and organisational structures and this project is developing  an organisational development knowledge base to facilitate sharing this information, including JDs, internal staff structures; and functional / service maps. It will also identify and survey emerging or good practice including with an EDI focus. The project will be running a beta pilot in the early part of 2026.

Succession planning:
The succession planning group focus covers: navigating change, skills gaps, EDI in senior leadership, mentoring, and cross‑professional learning. Market research is the first step for the group to clarify needs before approaching other professional bodies about low‑cost, cross‑sector development offers. 

University of St Andrews

Group membership

  • Emma Walton, Loughborough University (Co-chair)
  • David Clover, Middlesex University (Co-chair)
  • Coral Black, Leeds Beckett University
  • Antony Brewerton, University of Oxford
  • Christopher Cipkin, Royal Holloway University of London
  • Helen Curtis, Oxford Brookes University
  • Regina Everitt, University of East London
  • Alice Harvey, University of the Arts London

 
  • Ann Hindson, LSE
  • Jenny Jones, Cardiff Metropolitan University
  • Jo Lambert, SCONUL
  • Davina Omar, University of West London
  • Sarah Rayner, University of Manchester
  • Ann Rossiter, SCONUL
  • Emma Wisher, University of St Andrews
Our Working Groups