Public appointment: Members reappointed to the National Library of Scotland Board

The Cabinet Secretary for Constitution, External Affairs and Culture, Angus Robertson MSP, today announced the reappointment of Members, Alison Kidd, Kirsty Lingstadt and Robert Kilpatrick to the Board of the National Library of Scotland.

Members

Alison Kidd works as an independent remuneration consultant, advising her clients on pay strategy. She has extensive human resources experience, holding senior positions in various financial services organisations. Throughout her career, Alison has led people integrations and cultural transformations. She has significant experience in regulated roles and extensive stakeholder management experience at Board level.

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, AI skills and preservation. Previously she has worked at senior level at the University of Edinburgh as well as at Historic Environment Scotland and local government.

Robert Kilpatrick is an experienced estates professional and qualified building services engineer. He has almost 30 years of experience within the higher education sector, with more than 20 of those being at senior management level. He has extensive experience of managing facilities management services, capital projects, estates compliance and carbon reduction initiatives and manging the large budgets associated with these. While working at University of Glasgow, he led a major fabric improvement and infrastructure project within the main library. Robert is currently the Assistant Director of Estates Development & Operations at University of Strathclyde.

Appointments

The reappointments are for 4 years and will run from 7 March 2026 to 6 March 2030.

The appointments are regulated by the Ethical Standards Commissioner.

Remuneration

Appointments to the National Library of Scotland are not remunerated. 

The time commitment is up to 12 days per year.

Other ministerial appointments

Alison Kidd, Kirsty Lingstadt and Robert Kilpatrick 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, Kirsty Lingstadt and Robert Kilpatrick 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 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.