Roly Keating

Sir Roly Keating has been Chief Executive of the British Library since September 2012.

In his tenure so far, he has overseen a series of significant developments including: the launch in 2015 of Living Knowledge, an ambitious new vision and strategy; a major expansion of cultural and learning activities, including landmark exhibitions on Magna Carta and Harry Potter; new pan-UK partnerships with public libraries including the successful Business & IP Centre national network; digital initiatives including Save Our Sounds to preserve the UK’s audio heritage; the creation of the Knowledge Quarter, an innovative partnership of knowledge-based organisations near the Library’s London HQ; and the initiation of major new capital projects in London and Yorkshire, including full-scale renewal of the Library’s Boston Spa campus and creation of a major new public space in Leeds.

Roly joined the Library after a long and successful career as a programme-maker and broadcasting executive at the BBC, where he played key roles in the launch of UKTV, as its first Head of Programming, and BBC Four, as its launch Controller in 2002, before moving on to become Controller of BBC Two and Director of Archive Content, with editorial oversight of the BBC's online services including BBC iPlayer.

Roly is a member of the board of Channel 4 and a Trustee of the Clore Leadership Programme.  He chairs the Steering Committee for the 5-year AHRC-funded research programme Towards a National Collection.

Roly holds Honorary Doctorates from the Universities of Lincoln, Warwick and York and was knighted for services to Literature in the 2023 New Year Honours.

Roly Keating爵士於2012年9月起擔任大英圖書館首席執行長，於其任內督導過數個大英圖書館重要發展建設，如2015年發布大英圖書館充滿雄心壯志的新願景發展策略「Living Knowledge」，重要的文化性與學習性活動，如「大憲章」(Mega Carta)與「哈利波特」(Harry Potter)展覽，且與許多公共圖書館如成功企業與IP中心國內網路公司建立夥伴關係。數位先導計畫涵蓋有London HQ區「搶救我們聲音」(Save Our Sound)計畫，建立「知識區」(Knowledge Quarter)，與鄰近HQ區域圖書館內知識性組織建立創新性的夥伴關係。開啟倫敦與約克夏主要建設有關計畫，包含大規模翻新圖書館的Boston Spa園區及建立位於Leed新公共空間。

Roly Keating爵士於擔任大英圖書館執行長前是BBC廣播公司內成功的節目製作與廣播執行長，是建立UKTV重要的人物，該時期為節目製作主任，英國廣播公司第四台(BBC Four)台長，2002年起負責整個業務。於其成為英國廣播公司第二台(BBC Four)台長與檔案內容主管前，曾督導BBC內含BBC iPlayer之線上服務。Roly Keating爵士是第四頻道董事會成員與Clore領導計畫受託人，他是由AHRC資助5年計畫「邁向國家館藏」(Towards a National Collection)指導會主席。

Roly Keating爵士亦擁有林肯大學、華威大學與約克大學榮譽博士學位，因文學卓著貢獻，於2023年新年授勛禮（New Years Honours）中受封為英國爵士。