Wilma van Wezenbeek recently completed her first 100 days as the KB's new Director General. Has she already come up with ideas for the future of the National Library of the Netherlands during her journey of discovery? Read this last column in the 'Wilma discovers' series and find out.
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I started as the KB's new Director General last September and, since then, I’ve met many colleagues and reported on our exchanges in this column. These visits were invaluable to me and I hope you also enjoyed the glimpses behind the scenes at the KB. How hard everyone works to meet our missions!
I cannot help but think about all the customers we delight when we find an item that they had long been searching for. About the incredible ICT work that keeps our systems running so that people can browse through DBNL.org, Delpher and the Online Library. How about our metadata services, that help you to actually find our books, newspapers and magazines in our catalogue.
Let's not forget about the more than 2 billion digital files we store and all the questions that are answered by customer service. Not to mention the public library organisations we help get started on the topic of digital citizenship. And who would have thought I could get so excited about mould in the warehouse! (Obviously not if we have it, but that we are so good at detecting and combating it in time).
How I envision the future
This column series is now coming to an end. But that doesn't mean I know everything about what the KB does. Luckily, this is not necessary thanks to all the knowledge possessed by the colleagues I just mentioned. But based on what I have discovered, I am happy to ponder a bit on how I envision the future.
With 2025 just getting underway, I look to the year ahead with curiosity and positivity. What new connections will we make? What conversations will we have? What brilliant thoughts and concepts will we come up with and share with each other?
As the new Director General, I have some ideas about all this. One of the things I recognise is the value that the KB can add to make society smarter, more creative and more skilled. Why not broaden our scope for this, for example, to education? Up to now, we have collaborated in networks such as university and public libraries and heritage institutions.
And with the Library at School, we work with libraries to ensure that pupils also have access to books in their own media library. But why not also use our resources to develop learning materials or see open learning materials as part of the National Library collection? Or why not collaborate more intensively with the education field on strengthening (basic) skills?
I also see a role for the KB as an important part of the 'knowledge quarter' in The Hague, also known as the International City of Peace and Justice. Based at our beautiful square in the city with TNO, Leiden University and the National Archives as immediate neighbours, weare in good company of institutions that, like us, want to inspire learning and a deepening of knowledge. We want to play an even bigger role in this with our new public building that we will 'renewvate' in a few years. In the plans we are developing for this, we envision many creative activities for a wide audience!
Opportunities
I also see opportunities to increase our impact internationally. The KB has a great deal of in-house expertise on very diverse topics such as digitisation, public values, AI, metadata, physical and digital collection preservation, you name it. This is knowledge that we gladly disseminate across national borders, and thus would like to see develop further.
I shall enjoy exploring opportunities like this with all colleagues - without losing sight of you, the end user, in the process. Because what our customers want, helps determine what we will do as a National Library.
That’s why I am looking forward to this new year. But before I'll go about this business, I would like us to settle on one thing. After 100 days on the job, you can no longer be considered the new Director General of the KB, right? I am now the Director General of the KB. And I am only too proud of that.
Wilma van Wezenbeek
To accompany this column series, we made a series of videos to give you an actual look behind the scenes. We are looking to continue this series soon (be it: without me), so you can continue to learn about all that unexpected work that is done here in The Hague – to ensure your National Library runs smoothly. Keep an eye on this website to not miss any episodes!