Wilma van Wezenbeek appointed new Director General of the National Library
Wilma van Wezenbeek appointed new Director General of the National Library
The KB, National Library of the Netherlands, has appointed Wilma van Wezenbeek as its new Director General. Van Wezenbeek succeeds Lily Knibbeler, who will step down per July 1. Van Wezenbeek will start her new position as of 1 September.
Foto: Jacqueline van der Kort, Beeldstudio KB, nationale bibliotheek van Nederland, CC-BY-SA.
Van Wezenbeek (1967) graduated in Materials Science & Engineering at TU Delft and started her career in various roles in the world of publishing. She was Director of TU Delft's Library from 2011 to 2020, during which time she introduced many innovations. She was, for instance, lead author of the first National Open Science Plan, and one of the initiators of the Open Access programme line. She was also Director of Student and Educational Affairs at VU Amsterdam for over 3 years. Since July 2023, she has led the Digital Educational Resources transformation hub of the National Growth Fund programme Npuls.
Social impact
The Chair of the Board of Governors of the KB, Tjibbe Joustra, has every confidence in Van Wezenbeek’s appointment: “Van Wezenbeek has been at the helm of (higher) education organisations since 2011 and has taken them forward each time with her innovative interventions. She brings managerial experience and, like the KB, is keen to work on social impact. The KB is currently facing several challenges: from our relocation and ensuring the security of our collections, to matching our funding to our statutory duties. We look forward to tackling these issues with Van Wezenbeek. Together with her, we hope the KB will encourage even more Dutch people to read, learn and research."
Wilma van Wezenbeek is very much looking forward to starting as Director General of the KB after the summer: “To me, the library is a wonderful organisation in every facet. It is the place with an eye and heart for the past, present and future. As the National Library of the Netherlands, the KB fulfils this role pre-eminently. I'm looking forward to getting to work on some very important tasks. Not only in taking care of Dutch written heritage, but also in working together with the public libraries and helping to build the national scientific infrastructure. The KB is an innovative, digital organisation, which constantly strives to find new ways of bringing reading and research to as many people as possible. The aim is for everyone to be able to develop oneself throughout their lives. It is a privilege and a fantastic challenge for me to commit to this, together with the KB staff and all network partners."
Martijn Kleppe will act as acting Director General until Van Wezenbeek takes over as the new Director General on September 1.

Subscribe to the English KB newsletter
More news
KB publishes its 2024 - 2030 collection strategy

Stolperstein placed in front of the KB

KB reaches 1 in 3 of the Dutch population through digital services
