Vice President - National Library of Wales
- Body
- Welsh Government
- Appointing Department
- Welsh Government
- Sector
- Culture, Media & Sport
- Location
- Majority of meetings are held in Aberystwyth
- Skills required
- Communication / Media / Marketing, IT / Digital, Legal / Judicial, Regulation
- Number of Vacancies
- 1
- Remuneration
- Unpaid but Members are entitled to claim travel costs and other reasonable expenses within reasonable limits
- Time Requirements
- 3-4 days per month and 7 meetings per year
Campaign Timeline
-
Competition Launched
09/03/2017
-
Closed for Applications
31/03/2017
-
Panel Sift
10/04/2017
-
Final Interview Date
08/07/2019
-
Announcement
to be confirmed
Assessment Panel
- Panel Member
- Sioned Rees
- Added
- 09/03/2017
- Panel Role
- Panel Chair
- Positions
- Welsh Government Departmental Official
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| Political Activity | Nil |
|---|---|
| Notes | - |
- Panel Member
- Rhodri Glyn Thomas
- Added
- 09/03/2017
- Positions
- President of the National Library of Wales Representative of Organisation
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| Political Activity | Rhodri Glyn Thomas has declared political activity for Plaid Cymru. He was elected to the National Assembly as an AM in 1999 and has canvassed on behalf of the party and helped at elections. |
|---|---|
| Notes | - |
- Panel Member
- Robert (Hag) Harris
- Added
- 09/03/2017
- Positions
- Independent Member
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| Political Activity | Robert Hag Harris has declared political activity for the Welsh Labour party. He was elected to Ceredigion County Council in 1981 to the present day. He has spoken on behalf of the Welsh Labour party and canvassed for it and helped at elections. |
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| Notes | - |
Vacancy Description
The National Library is Wales’ pre-eminent library and archive. It is a massive information resource and treasure house on all subjects, freely available to everyone, and a living store of the recorded cultures of Wales. In reality it has two dimensions – a splendid physical building in Aberystwyth housing the print, manuscript, visual and audio-visual collections, and an online library available through the internet.
Background
The National Library of Wales (‘the Library’) was established by Royal Charter on the 19th of March 1907. Supplemental Charters were granted in 1911 and in 1978, with slight constitutional revisions. On the 19th July 2006 a new supplemental Charter was granted by Queen Elizabeth II. The 2006 Supplemental Charter changed the constitution and the Library’s governance significantly and recognised devolution of Government from Westminster to Wales. Whereas previously the Library had a Court of Governors and a Council it now has a Board of Trustees.
The Library is also a registered charity (registered number: 525775) and a Welsh Government Sponsored Body (WGSB).
It must therefore function as: (a) a Royal Charter foundation and a Registered Charity of the highest order, and (b) a Welsh Government sponsored body. This dual nature governs how it operates and fulfils its role and obligations, and requires a delicate balance between the pursuing and fulfilling (a) the ‘objects’ of its Charter and Charitable status, which reflect its foundation purpose, and (b) the principles of arms-length Government. A Framework document drawn up by MALD: Museums, Archives and Libraries Division in 2010 in consultation with the Library sets out the details of the terms and conditions under which the Welsh Ministers provide grant-in-aid to the Library.
The Library currently employs 240 members of staff. In 2017-18 it will receive c£17.89 million in grant-in-aid from the Welsh Government.
The Library’s primary ‘object’, as expressed in the 2006 Supplemental Charter is:
To collect, preserve and give access to all kinds and forms of recorded knowledge, especially relating to Wales and the Welsh and other Celtic peoples, for the benefit of the public, including those engaged in research and learning.
The Library’s responsibilities and associated activities are best expressed as five ‘core functions’, each of which has many aspects:
• Collecting • Preserving • Giving access and information • Publicising and interpreting • Professional collaboration (especially with libraries and archives across Wales, also Amgueddfa Cymru – National Museum Wales and the Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Wales)
At the heart of the Library are its rich and diverse collections, some of which have been ‘inscribed’ in UNESCO’s Memory of the World register:
• Printed works: books, periodicals, newspapers and other printed material amounting to about 6m volumes. They are a ‘legal deposit’ library (one of only six in the UK and Ireland) and collect a high proportion of the entire printed publications of the UK and Ireland, some of which is now in electronic formats.
• Manuscripts: 30,000 items, the oldest dating from 113 AD, and including the earliest literature of Wales and early British and European texts.
• Archives: 15km, 2,500 collections, including the Welsh Political Archive, estate records, records of the Court of Great Sessions and the Church in Wales, all wills proved in Welsh dioceses before 1858, modern literary papers and the archives of Welsh organisations and businesses.
• Maps: over 1.5m, and thousands of atlases.
• Pictures: 50,000 works documenting Wales, mainly through landscapes and portraits.
• Photographs: 950,000 prints, negatives and transparencies – the largest collection in Wales.
• Microforms: e.g. of newspapers, archives and family history sources.
• Sound and moving images: 7m feet of film, 300,000 hours of video, 250,000 hours of sound recordings, 200,000 items from the ITV Wales Archive, and thousands of records and tapes, all maintained by the National Screen and Sound Archive of Wales.
• Electronic material: millions of digital objects, including CD-ROMs, e-books, e-journals, websites, electronic archives and digitised items.
Board’s Role
The Board of Trustees is the governing body of the Library. All Trustees share collective responsibility and accountability for the Board’s decisions. The role of the Board is to provide effective leadership, define and develop strategic direction and set challenging objectives. The Board promotes high standards of public accountability and upholds the principles of regularity, propriety and value for money. It ensures that the Library’s activities are conducted efficiently and effectively and monitors performance to ensure that the Library fully meets its aims, objectives and performance targets. The Board meets around 7 times a year and is chaired by the President.
Although the Board is ultimately responsible for everything the Library does, it is the Chief Executive and Librarian who is responsible to the Trustees for the day-to-day operational management of the institution. The Chief Executive and Librarian has an Executive Team, comprising the Head of Collections and Public Programmes and the Head of Corporate Resources. The Chief Executive and Librarian, along with the Executive Team, support the Board by ensuring that the Library achieves its corporate aims and objectives and fulfils its full range of functions.
The Library’s Board of Trustees comprises 15 Trustees. Eight are appointed by the Welsh Government and seven by the Library. The Trustees include three Officers of the Board – the President, Vice President and the Treasurer. The President and Vice President are appointed by the Welsh Government and the Treasurer is appointed by the Library itself.
Trustees are required to fulfil the duties of a trustee of a charity. The Charity Commission defines these as set out in the document “CC3 The Essential Trustee: What you need to know” (http://www.charity-commission.gov.uk/).
Trustees must also be aware of their obligations arising from the position of the Library as a Welsh Government Sponsored Body. These are laid out in the Framework Document, which sets out the funding agreement for provision of grant-in-aid public funding from the Welsh Government, and summarises the sponsorship relationship. The Charity Commission has provided guidance on the relationship between charities and the state as set out in the document “RR7 The Independence of Charities from the State” (http://www.charity-commission.gov.uk/publications/rr7.aspx).
The Board’s role is to direct and control the Library in the public interest and to ensure accountability to the public. Trustees need to be clear about the nature of their relationship with the public. Trustees are accountable to the public and should develop a dialogue that connects the Library properly with the public they serve.
Person Specification
The National Library of Wales was established by Royal Charter. The Supplemental Charter 2006 provides that there will be a Vice President as one of the three Officers of the Library’s Board. Statutes within the Charter provide that in the absence of the President, or in the case of the President’s inability or failure to act through illness, or during any vacancy in the office of President, the Vice President will discharge the functions of the President. The roles of the President and Vice President are therefore complementary in relation to chairing Board meetings and representing the Library. The Vice President role requires an individual with significant powers of focus and the ability to adapt to changing situations at short notice.
The Vice President will take on the roles of the President if he/she is absent. These include:
• Chairing meetings of the Board of Trustees • Chairing other Library Committees in the absence of the appointed Chair • Meeting with the Cabinet Secretary for Economy and Infrastructure twice a year • Liaising with other officers and members of the Board as necessary • Liaising with the Chief Executive/Librarian as necessary • Representing the Library in its dealings with the National Assembly for Wales and the Welsh Government, primarily when the Minister or an Assembly Committee is involved • Representing the Library at public functions
The time commitment for the role of Vice President is up to 3-4 days per month.
As a Trustee, the Vice President should also be able to:
• Demonstrate Governance and Leadership skills to provide effective leadership for the Library • Attend Board meetings regularly and prepare thoroughly for those meetings • Contribute to the determination of policy, strategies and priorities to meet the Library’s overall objectives • Ensure that the Library’s activities are conducted efficiently and effectively • Monitor the Library’s performance to ensure that it fully meets its aims, objectives and performance targets • Ensure that the Library’s controls achieve value for money within a framework of best practice, regularity and propriety • Demonstrate effective representational and ambassadorial skills in order to act as an ambassador for the Library • Occasionally attend additional working groups
Person Specification and Criteria for Personal Statement
The Vice President will need expertise in one or more of the areas listed. Please describe any relevant experience you have in any of these fields.
information services sustainability the making of applications for finance/fundraising tourism and recreation user experience/customer services Commerce/e-commerce public relations/social media media and communications estates, buildings and architecture ICT/systems legal
• A commitment and enthusiasm for the Library’s work and an understanding of the cultural sector as a whole. Please describe how you can evidence this criterion.
• The Vice President must be prepared to work in a collegiate manner with fellow Board Members by contributing effectively in discussion, decision making and debate. Please explain your approach to working in a team.
• In deputising for the President, the Vice President needs to demonstrate leadership skills and an understanding of the process of managing organisations and effective governance. Please give examples which demonstrate your abilities in this area.
• The Vice President will need the capability to inspire respect for the status of the post and the Library itself. This will be reflected in effective ambassadorial, presentation and negotiation skills that can be used to influence external individuals and organisations to be more positive towards the Library. Please describe how you can evidence this criterion.
• The Vice President needs a good understanding of the Library’s dual role as a major charity and a Welsh Government Sponsored Body. Please describe your understanding of these roles.
• It is desirable (though not essential) for the Vice-President to have some degree of spoken Welsh. Please indicate your level of competency.
Additional Information
For further information regarding the role of The National Library of Wales and the role of Vice President please contact Carol Edwards, (01970) 632923 or e-mail: carol.edwards@llgc.org.uk.
If you need any further assistance in applying for this role, please contact the Welsh Government’s Corporate Shared Service Centre Helpdesk on 029 2082 5454 or SharedServiceHelpdesk@wales.gsi.gov.uk
For further information about Public Appointments in Wales, please visit www.gov.wales/publicappointments