Chief Librarian

The V&A is seeking a Chief Librarian to lead the National Art Library (NAL), at an exciting moment of transformation and renewal for the future.

The National Art Library is the UK’s most comprehensive reference library for the fine and decorative arts, holding nearly a million printed, manuscript and digital items. It is also the V&A’s curatorial department of the art of the book, actively collecting, researching and making accessible our rare and distinctive collections. Incredibly wide-ranging, these include illuminated manuscripts, the Codex Forster (five of Leonardo’s notebooks), the most substantial collection of Charles Dickens’ literary oeuvre, 20th and 21st century artists’ books, comics and children’s literature, and much more.

Since its founding, the National Art Library has embraced a spirit of openness, welcoming all users as well as supporting V&A staff, students and researchers. The library plays an important role in museum programming, hosting events, undertaking outreach and contributing to learning and research programmes, and identifying library materials for inclusion in exhibitions at the V&A and elsewhere.

The new role of Chief Librarian has been created following a significant restructure intended to position the V&A for the future, which has brought together the NAL and Archives under the V&A Research Institute, positioning the library and archives at the heart of the Museum’s research community. It also follows a comprehensive review of the NAL and Archives, which has produced a substantive report and recommendations for our future direction of travel

We are seeking a visionary and experienced leader to join us at this exciting moment and lead the Library into its next phase. You will be responsible for leading the development of the NAL’s collections - reference and special, physical and digital - and services to a wide variety of users. You’ll lead a team of librarians and curators, and will play a key role as part of the VARI, NAL and Archives leadership team, contributing to the development of this new department and a new strategy that will draw research, the library and archives closer together, maximising the potential of our collections and research resources, and making them accessible and meaningful for as wide a public as possible.

**Interviews: 27 and 28 June