Public appointment: members appointed to the National Library of Scotland

The Minister for Culture, Europe and International Development and Minister with Special Responsibility for Refugees From Ukraine, Neil Gray, announced today the appointments of Alison Kidd, Robert Kilpatrick and Kirsty Lingstadt as members of the National Library of Scotland.

Members

Alison Kidd has spent her career in HR, holding senior positions in various financial services organisations. Throughout her career, Alison has led HR integrations and cultural transformations. She has significant experience in regulated roles and extensive stakeholder management experience and a particular interest in people strategy, especially the future world of work post COVID-19.

Robert Kilpatrick is a seasoned Estates professional and qualified Building Services Engineer with twenty-five years’ experience within the Higher Education Sector, with seventeen of those being at senior management level. During this time, he headed up large Estates Operations and Maintenance teams and was responsible for the delivery of hard and soft FM services, Estates compliance and carbon reduction. He has extensive experience as Project Director/Manager for large capital projects including complex infrastructure district energy heating networks and IT networks and data centres. Whilst working at University of Glasgow he led a major fabric improvement ant infrastructure project within the main Library. He currently heads up the Estates Operations team at University of Strathclyde at a time when the University is delivering its Vision 2025 Strategy,

Kirsty Lingstadt is Director of Library, Archives and Learning Services at the University of York. Her focus is on digital for learning, teaching and research with a specific focus on online collections; digital making, scholarship and preservation. She has over twenty-five years’ experience in the library and cultural heritage sector working with diverse ranges of collections. Previously she was Deputy Director and Head of Digital Library at the University of Edinburgh and has worked at senior level at Historic Environment Scotland (HES) and within the public sector. She is Co-Chair of the Digital Scholarship Network, RLUK and of the LIBER Digital Scholarship and Collections Working Group.

Appointments

The appointments will be for four years and will run from 7 March 2022 to 6 March 2026.

The appointments are regulated by the Ethical Standards Commissioner.

Remuneration

The appointments are part-time with a time commitment of twelve days per year.

Appointments to the National library of Scotland are not remunerated.

Other ministerial appointments

Alison Kidd, Robert Kilpatrick and Kirsty Lingstadt do not hold any other public appointments.

Political activity

All appointments are made on merit and political activity plays no part in the selection process. However, in accordance with the original Nolan recommendations, there is a requirement for appointees’ political activity within the last five years (if there is any to be declared) to be made public. 

Alison Kidd, Robert Kilpatrick and Kirsty Lingstadt have had no political activity within the last five years.

Background

The National Library of Scotland is the guardian of the printed and recorded memory of Scotland, held on behalf of the nation. It fulfils a statutory role as one of the nation’s most significant cultural and research organisations and operates within the context of the Scottish Government’s national outcomes and strategic objectives, including public service reform. The National Library is a major European research library and one of the world’s leading centres for the study of Scotland and the Scots. It is the largest library in Scotland with over 34 million items and is one of the six Legal Deposit Libraries entitled to claim a copy of every printed and electronic work published in the UK and Ireland under the terms of the Legal Deposit Libraries Act 2013. The Library’s collections include rare books, manuscripts, maps, photographs, music, moving image and official publications.