DUBLIN, Ohio, 25 September 2025—The OCLC Leaders Council has elected Keith Webster, Helen and Henry Posner, Jr. Dean of the University Libraries at Carnegie Mellon University, to the OCLC Board of Trustees.

Webster was appointed Dean of University Libraries at Carnegie Mellon in July 2013 and two years later to the additional role of Director of Emerging and Integrative Media Initiatives. In 2021, his deanship was endowed by the Posner Foundation of Pittsburgh, making him the inaugural Helen and Henry Posner, Jr. Dean.

Previously, Webster was Vice President and Director of Academic Relations and Strategy for the global publishing company John Wiley and Sons. He was formerly Dean of Libraries and University Librarian at the University of Queensland in Australia, leading one of the largest universities and hospital library services in the southern hemisphere. Earlier positions include University Librarian at Victoria University in New Zealand, Head of Information Policy at HM Treasury, London, and Director of Information Services at the School of Oriental & African Studies, University of London.

Webster has held professorships in information science at Victoria University of Wellington and City University, London. He is a Chartered Fellow and an Honorary Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals (UK), and has served on government advisory boards, journal editorial boards, and as an officer in professional and learned societies around the world. He was Chair of the National Information Standards Organization in 2018/19.

His professional interests include research evaluation, learning space design, and trends in scholarly communication. He is a regular speaker on topics such as the future of research libraries and the impact of open science on publishing and libraries.

The OCLC Leaders Council is comprised of 24 councilors from OCLC member libraries around the world who work on behalf of the global membership to share insights on issues of importance to libraries. Leaders Council is a vital part of the OCLC governance structure, electing six members of the Board of Trustees.

Debbie Schachter, Associate Vice-President, Students, Langara College, will complete her term on the Board in November, when Webster will take his seat. There are eight librarians serving on the 14-member OCLC Board of Trustees.