Top accolades for two Aber alumni

Dr John Scally

Dr John Scally, recently appointed Chief Executive and National Librarian of the National Library of Scotland, and Cardiff University’s Peter Keelan, who was honoured Welsh Librarian of the Year recently, both studied postgraduate courses at the Department of Information Studies at Aberystwyth University.

Dr Scally holds a BA (Hons) in English and Modern History from the University of Strathclyde, a PhD in History from the University of Cambridge and a Diploma in Information and Library Studies from Aberystwyth University. He takes up his new post in September.

He is currently Director of Library and University Collections at the University of Edinburgh and takes over from fellow Aberystwyth alum, Martyn Wade, who retired at the end of March. Martyn holds a Masters in Librarianship from Aberystwyth.

Dr Scally said, “It is a great honour and privilege to have been appointed as the new CEO and National Librarian of the National Library at this important period in its long and illustrious history. It is my ambition to make the National Library a multimedia hub for learning, research and inspiration.”

Last month, Peter Keelan was named as the Welsh Librarian of the Year at the Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals (CILIP) Wales annual conference.

He won both the Academic Library category and the overall Welsh Librarian of the Year Award.

Peter, who studied an MSc in Archive Administration at Aberystwyth, is Head of Special Collections and Archives (SCOLAR) at Cardiff University. The Collection includes 14,000 rare and early printed books and pamphlets dating from the 15th to the 20th century.

The Welsh Librarian of the Year Award is presented to the librarian or information professional who makes a significant difference to either the communities which they serve or to the profession in Wales.

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