Andrew Green (librarian)

Andrew M. Green MCLIP, FLSW is a published author. From 1998 to 2013, he was the Librarian of the National Library of Wales in Aberystwyth, a position which was inaugurated on 1 January 1909, when the Library came into existence. Green was the 9th holder of the position.

Green previously worked in university libraries, including the University College of Wales, Aberystwyth (1973–74), University College Cardiff (1975–89) and the University of Sheffield (1989–92). Upon leaving the University of Sheffield, he became the Director of Library and Information Services at the University of Wales, Swansea (1992–98).

Green was born and raised in England. Consequently, he is not a native Welsh speaker. However, he is fluent in the language. At the 2009 National Eisteddfod, the Gorsedd of Bards honoured him with bestowal of the white bardic robes of a druid. His bardic name is Gwallter bach ("Little Walter").

Public statements

In 2005, Green criticised the Welsh Tourist Board for the way it advertised Wales, using old-fashioned and stereotypical concepts of the country. He suggested that Wales could benefit from attracting genealogy tourists to use the materials available at the National Library, in the same way as Ireland successfully attracts expatriates from the United States to visit the country and research their origins.

Public life

Green belongs to multiple scholarly organizations, including the Society of College, National and University Libraries (SCONUL) (Chair 2002–2004), the Legal Deposit Advisory Panel, the Legal Deposit Libraries Committee, the Research Information Network Funders' Group, the CyMAL Advisory Council, the Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals (CILIP) Wales (President), the Wales Higher Education Libraries Forum (WHELF) (Chair), and the Welsh Committee of the British Council. He was a member of the steering bodies of the Research Support Libraries Programme (RSLP) and the Research Support Libraries Group (RSLG).

In 2013, Green was elected as a Fellow of the Learned Society of Wales.

Between 2014 and 2017, Green was Chair of Coleg Cymraeg Cenedlaethol, an organisation that aims to establish the future sustainability of the Welsh language within academia.

Publications

Articles

• "Staff appraisal in university libraries". Library and Information Research. 18 (60): 34-38. 1994. Retrieved 2 May 2024.
• "Digital library, open library: developments in the National Library of Wales". Alexandria. 14 (3): 161-170. 2002.
• "Theatres of memory". New Welsh Review. 80 (Summer): 8-16. 2008.
• "Big digitisation: origins, progress and prospects". International Journal of Humanities and Arts Computing. 4 (1–2): 55-66. 2010.
• "Introducing electronic legal deposit in the UK: A Homeric tale". Alexandria. 23 (3): 105-109. 2012.
• "Sir John Williams and the National Library of Wales". Carmarthenshire Antiquary. 50: 68-79. 2014.
• "University challenged". Planet. 235 (Autumn): 12-18. 2019.
• "Welsh keywords: treftadaeth". Planet. 242 (May–August): 51-57. 2021.
• "With a pencil you can redraw the world". Planet. 246 (May–August): 67-73. 2022.

Chapters

• 'The future of national libraries and archives'. Chapter 7 in 'Myths, memories and futures The National Library and National Museum in the story of Wales'. Edited by John Osmond. Cardiff: Institute of Welsh Affairs. 2007. ISBN 1-904-773-20-6
• 'Knowledge capital'. In 'Essays on Aberystwyth / Photos by Keith Morris'. By Keith Morris et al. Llandysul, Ceredigion: Gomer. ISBN 9781843239406
• 'The place of place'. In 'Clive Hicks-Jenkins'. By Simon Callow et al. London: Lund Humphries. ISBN 978-1848220829

Books

• In the Chair How to guide groups and manage meetings. Cardigan, Ceredigion: Parthian. 2014. ISBN 1909844780.
• Wales in 100 Objects. Llandysul, Ceredigion: Gomer Press. 2018. ISBN 9781785621581.