Advisory group members

Ayub started his career as a Saturday Library Assistant, became Principal Project Officer for the new Library of Birmingham, and now leads universal, front-facing services in Warwickshire. He wrote a book on designing libraries in 2008 and has recently co-authored a revised edition. He also co-wrote the library buildings guidelines in the Metric Handbook.

Ayub was awarded an MBE for his services to libraries in 2013. He is President of Libraries Connected and a past-President of CILIP. Until recently he was a member of the Library Buildings Committee of the International Federation of Library Associations (IFLA), and has worked with the British Council on library projects in several countries.

Karen is a library building consultant who recently retired from academic librarianship. She is a past Chair of the IFLA Library Buildings and Equipment Standing Committee, and a former Secretary of the European LIBER Architecture Group.

She is also a Trustee of the Architectural Heritage Fund, the Irish Architectural Archive, and two Historic Buildings Trusts. The author of more than 50 publications, Karen has served on judging panels for architectural awards in the UK, Australia, Europe and China. She is a CILIP Fellow and an honorary member of the Royal Society of Ulster Architects. She received an IFLA Award for her work in library design and was awarded an OBE in 2007.

Leo Appleton has held management and leadership positions in several university libraries, as well as in Further Education colleges and NHS Hospital trusts. Since 2008 he has worked in university library management and joined the Information School at the University of Sheffield in 2020 where he is a Senior Teacher, Director of Education and Deputy Programme Co-ordinator for MA Librarianship.

Meanwhile Leo has continued his own studies and was awarded a PhD in Library and Information Science from Edinburgh Napier University in 2020. He is also a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals (CILIP).

Alan started his career at Birmingham University Library before moving to the College of Librarianship Wales in Aberystwyth, where he became librarian after the merger with Aberystwyth University. He was subsequently campus librarian of the Thomas Parry Library, which combined two subject collections in an enlarged building.

That process spurred his interest in the design of libraries and to his co-founding Designing Libraries with Mike Dewe and Andrew Isherwood. He was the Designing Libraries Co-ordinator until the project was taken on by the late David Lindley and has continued as a member of its Advisory Group.

Diana Edmonds MBE is an experienced librarian who has operated at a senior level in both the private and public sectors. A former National Director for Libraries for GLL, a charitable social enterprise, Diana now works as a consultant, specialising in the design of library buildings and in the transformation and development of library services.

Diana has a passion for beautiful - and practical - library buildings. She has designed the interiors for many special libraries and public libraries - and has also been involved in developing national libraries. Diana is a trustee of Libraries Connected and represents the organisation on Designing Libraries.

Ed Fay is Director of Library Services and University Librarian at the University of Bristol, responsible for Library strategy, University learning environments, and the Centre for Cultural Collections. He has a decade of experience in higher education leadership and has developed a consciously human-centred approach to community and service development.

He has been variously responsible for open research, hybrid learning, and digital scholarship and has a particular interest in progressing the civic mission of universities.

Ben Meunier is the University Librarian at The Chinese University of Hong Kong. Previously he was Director of Operations for Library, Culture, Collections and Open Science at University College London (UCL). He is Vice Chair of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macau University Libraries Alliance and a member of the Pacific Rim Research Libraries Steering Committee, and the IFLA Library Buildings and Equipment Committee.

He was Secretary of the LIBER (Association of European Research Libraries) Architecture Group between 2018 and 2023. Ben holds an MBA in Higher Education Management from UCL and a BA from the University of Warwick.

Alison is the Chief Executive of the School Library Association and Co-Chair of the Great School Libraries campaign, which aims to bring libraries and access to librarians back to every school in the UK. She was named a Bookseller Rising Star in 2018 and was a school librarian before taking up her current role.

The School Library Association is a charity supporting everyone involved with school libraries - whether teaching assistants, library staff, Heads of Service or Governors. Alison also sits on the strategic boards for the Summer Reading Challenge, World Book Day and others. She’s passionate about helping people maximise the impact of their school library.

As Chief Executive Officer of the Scottish Library and Information Council (SLIC), Pamela is responsible for providing independent advice to the Scottish Government on Library and Information Services across Scotland. The SLIC is responsible for managing and distributing grant funds to libraries in Scotland, and its membership spans libraries across the education, health and special interest sectors.

Pamela currently sits on the British Library Advisory Council, the Scottish Government’s Creative Industries Advisory Group, the University of Strathclyde’s Information Science Industrial Board, the First Minister’s Reading Challenge Advisory Group and the Board of Culture and Business Scotland.