Martyn Wade

Librarian - National Library of Scotland

Martyn Wade was appointed as National Librarian in October 2002. He was previously Head of Libraries, Information and Learning at Glasgow City Council, the largest public library and information service in Scotland.

Born and brought up in Birmingham, he took his librarianship degree at Newcastle Polytechnic, following that up with a Masters in librarianship from the University of Wales. He has been a member of the Library Association since 1976.

Before taking up his Glasgow post, Mr Wade held a senior position in the library service of Cambridgeshire County Council. In that post, he led the development of one of the most advanced 'hybrid' public library services in the United Kingdom at that time, and was successful in bringing together public and private sector partnerships to integrate access to electronic and printed resources. He has worked also in Leicestershire, Northumberland, Sunderland and in the London Borough of Sutton.

Mr Wade takes a leading role in librarianship and information management. He is currently Chair of the Information Services National Training Organisation, a member of the National Organising Committee for IFLA 2002 (the annual conference of the International Federation of Library Associations, held in Glasgow in August) and was a member of the Social Inclusion Policy Action Group for the Library Association. He represents Scotland on the Library Association's Public Libraries Group.