Karen Lequay

Karen was appointed to the position of Campus Librarian at the newly-established fourth campus of The University of the West Indies (UWI) in 2008 after a three-year stint as Campus Librarian at Cave Hill, Barbados. She is involved with the development of open and flexible learning library services and with the establishment of 21st Century library learning spaces for the former non-campus territories of Anguilla, Antigua & Barbuda, Bahamas, Belize, British Virgin Islands, Cayman Islands, Dominica, Grenada, Montserrat, St. Kitts & Nevis, St. Lucia, St. Vincent & the Grenadines, Turks & Caicos.

Her time at the Cave Hill Campus resulted in significant changes at the Main Library. She successfully advocated for the inclusion of the library in the planning and management activities of the Cave Hill Campus, for collaboration between librarians and academics and significantly increased the complement of librarians at the Main Library. She also coordinated the successful implementation of the new integrated library system across the three campuses of UWI after a University-wide review of Library Systems. Prior to that, she led the transformation of the St Augustine Campus Libraries into a modern organisation for the delivery of information services.

A graduate of The University of the West Indies, (BSc Chemistry and Zoology), University of Southampton (MSc Oceanography) and Loughborough University (MSc Information Studies, 1990), she came to academic librarianship at UWI, St. Augustine Campus in 1985 as a Science subject specialist with experience as a Research Officer at the Institute of Marine Affairs.

She has taken a variety of forays out of academic libraries, the first with a technology consultancy company developing document management systems, and in 1995 started her own consultancy business, providing services to management in the area of Information Resource Management, Information Systems Strategic Planning and Implementation. At the same time she planned and established a multimedia training and information centre where she trained students from 3-18 years and educators on emerging information and communications technology and its role in teaching and learning. She continues to be an outspoken advocate for the role of libraries in education for the development of the Caribbean and is currently Chair of the Caribbean Information Action Group (CARINFO) a regional grouping of Caribbean institutions and bodies committed to regional efforts to promote collaborative knowledge networking in support of a true knowledge society.

Term end date: 30 June 2013

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