New Director of Collection Services appointed at National Library

Fri, 31 Jul 09 10:05:00

Avril Jones has been appointed as the new Director of Collection services at The National Library of Wales, beginning her post on 1 August. Avril Jones is the first woman appointed to the Library’s senior management team.

 

Avril is originally from Llanllwni and was educated at Llanbedr Pont Steffan School and the University of Aberystwyth where she graduated with a degree in History and Classics. She then spent a year studying Librarian Studies at the Welsh Librarian Collage.

 

She started her career at the University of Lampeter library in 1979, before moving to the National Library a year later as the acquisitions and cataloguing officer for printed books. With the advent of computers to the Library at the beginning of the 1980s Avril took many roles within systems and technology before being appointed Head of the Computer sub department in 1999.

 

As Director of Collection services Avril will be responsible for protecting, preserving and developing the Library’s collections – including manuscripts and archives, printed material, maps, portraits and electronic material. She will also be responsible for providing continuous access to the collections and the Library’s preservation department.

 

‘I’m looking forward to getting to grips with this new position. As one of the great libraries in the world The National Library of Wales has a responsibility to collect and provide access to and protect all material relating to Wales and Welsh culture. The Library has a strong world presence as a great electronic library and we’re involved in numerous digitisation projects to present our collections to Wales and the world. These developments have a far-reaching effect on our readers and researchers alike.’