M25 SpeedMeet
Welcome to M25 SpeedMeet and Spotlight. Every month we meet someone working in an M25 member institution or someone involved with an M25 Consortium Group, Network, or Committee. They tell us a little bit about themselves and how the Consortium has benefited them.
April 2026: Carly Ramirez-Herelle
Who are you, where are you based and what do you do?
I am Carly Ramirez-Herelle and I am Head of Library and Academy Services at the University of Bedfordshire. I am responsible for teams across three university sites who deliver frontline support to students, staff and visitors.
What do you enjoy most about your job?
My job is multi-faceted and completely variable day to day! I think the most favoured aspect of my role is the relationships myself and my team build with students and how much this can influence their experience at university. I like to challenge students’ perceptions of what a library is and actively demonstrate it can be the hub of (nearly) all things! It is very important to me that students believe they have a place to belong, that they can call their own and rely on when it matters the most. The library and my team offer this support, and I am extremely proud and honoured to have the opportunity to be part of students’ journeys in this way.
What motivates you in your work?
The university supports students who perhaps would not have had the opportunity to access HE. I see our students balancing the demands of higher education with family life and caring responsibilities, employment, conversing in English which may be a second or even third language, and returning to education in mature life with the goal of changing careers. I am motivated by seeing students negotiate barriers – and succeed! I see the challenges our students face with such courage and enthusiasm. It is completely inspirational and I am motivated to support them to succeed, every day.
How has the M25 Consortium supported you in your career?
The M25 Consortium has provided invaluable networking opportunities and access to shared expertise. Engaging with peers across the region has helped me stay informed about best practices and inspired ideas that I have adapted within the context of my own institution.
In summer 2025, I co‑delivered a Lightning Talk at an M25 Consortium event with my colleague, Dr Steve Briggs. Opportunities provided through the Consortium have enabled collaboration with experienced practitioners and strengthened my professional practice and outputs.
Building on this work, the Library Excellence Framework introduced through the Lightning Talk has since gained significant momentum. Most recently, Dr Briggs and I successfully secured funding from the Consortium’s Innovation Fund to develop a resource package that will support library teams to create bespoke versions of the Library Excellence Framework tailored to their local contexts.
What would it surprise people to know about you?
It might surprise people to know that I wanted to be a journalist. I began very young, presenting a few episodes on a children’s TV programme in the early 90s. This really whet my appetite for bringing information to an audience. I settled on the prospect of field reporting, and embraced the pressure, exposure and danger that I knew came with the role, which was overshadowed by an intrinsic belief that people should have unfiltered access to information. Albeit a little less volatile an industry, perhaps it is not completely surprising that I should end up in a library!
If I wasn’t working in a library I would
have, I hope, fulfilled my initial ambition, because equitable access to information has always been a deep-rooted belief of mine. Who knows – we could have been speed meeting in an alternative context!
What’s your role?
We’re keen to meet even more members so if you’d like to feature in an upcoming M25 SpeedMeet or Spotlight send an email to Jill Howard, m25libadmin@london.ac.uk. You can send in your replies to our questions or alternatively video your answers and we’ll show the video here.
Read more SpeedMeet interviews :
2026
January: Steve Briggs Director of Learning, Teaching, and Libraries, University of Bedfordshire
February: Mary Blomley, Open Research Librarian, University of West London
March: Louise Savage, Collections Coordinator, King’s College London
2025
Lydia Harris, Collections Manager at King’s College London
Alison Mackenzie, Research Support Librarian, RHS Libraries
Natalie Brown, Library Customer Services Team Leader, Anglia Ruskin University
Eloise Carpenter, Collection Services Manager at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine
Leah Gulley, Academic Liaison Librarian, Buckinghamshire New University
Dr Janice Fernandes former Academic Support Manager, University of West London
Helen Curtis, Director of Learning Resources and University Librarian at Oxford Brookes University
Dan Herbert, Library Buildings Development Manager, Queen Mary, University of London
Polly Mortimer, Library Manager and Learning Support Lead, British Psychotherapy Foundation
Ian Clark, Academic Services Manager, University of East London
2024
Chris Foreman, Associate Director of Library Services at University of the Arts, London
Vicky Robertson, Deputy Librarian, UCL School of Pharmacy Library
Laura Scullion, Administrator (Events & Programmes), M25 Consortium of Academic Libraries
Dave Puplett, Associate Director, Libraries and Academic Enhancement, University of Greenwich
Fiona Ainsworth, Head of Library and Archives at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew
Dianne Shepherd, The British Museum, Senior Librarian
Jill Howard, M25 Consortium of Academic Libraries, Operations Manager
Cliff Van Dort, National Archives, Kew, Head of Library
Camilla Churchill, British Medical Association, Library and Archive Lead
Chloe Carson-Ashurst, The National Gallery, Library Assistant
2020-2023
Birgit Fraser, Anglia Ruskin University, Assistant Director – Academic and Content Services
Sarah Pipkin, UCL – Outreach and Exhibitions Coordinator, Special Collections Library
Anna Gillis, Royal Veterinary College – Research Support Librarian
Rachel Geeson, Anglia Ruskin University – Assistant Director, Customer Services
Jennifer Domingo, London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine – Library Assistant
Emma Wisher, University of Essex – Assistant Director for User Engagement
Louise Ellis-Barrett, British Museum – Librarian Acquisitions and Projects
Paul Johnson, University of Surrey – Director of Library and Learning Services
Sara Burnett, Kingston University – Information Specialist
Robert Atkinson, Birkbeck, University of London – Director of Library Services
Laura MacCulloch, Royal Holloway, University of London – Curator
Rowan Williamson, UAL – Associate Director of Library Services and Support
Frances Willis, National Art Library at the V&A – Assistant Librarian
Robin Armstrong Viner, Courtauld Institute of Art – Head of Library Services
Adam Edwards, Middlesex University – Library Liaison Manager
Linda Coombs, Buckinghamshire New University – Library and Learning Resources Manager
Liz Pinel, Royal College of Nursing Library and Archive – Customer Services Manager
David Allen, Royal Society of Chemistry – Librarian
Russell Burke, LSHTM – Assistant Librarian
Verity Allison, St George’s, University of London – Journals and E-Resources Librarian