M25 SpeedMeet
Welcome to M25 SpeedMeet and Spotlight. Every month we meet someone working in an M25 member institution or someone involved with an M25 Consortium Group, Network, or Committee. They tell us a little bit about themselves and how the Consortium has benefited them.
July 2026: Jessie McLean
Who are you, where are you based and what do you do?
I’m Jessie. I work at Buckinghamshire New University, based on the High Wycombe campus. I’m an Open Research and Publishing Librarian in the Library and Learning Services Directorate. I’m still relatively new to my role, so I’m continuing to learn and shape how it develops.
What do you enjoy most about your job?
I really enjoy helping people, especially academics that have come from practice and early career researchers. I like to take something that is quite complex (open research) and explaining it in a way that is accessible and easier to apply to their everyday work. I enjoy working with individuals to solve a problem that they’re stuck with (often publishing!).
I also really value the variability in my role, from managing the institutional repository to helping academics navigate APCs and publishing challenges, to creating Library Guide, and taking a new Open Access Policy to the Research Committee.
What motivates you in your work?
I’m motivated by the opportunity to make things better and have a meaningful impact – whether that’s improving research culture, supporting things like rights retention, or strengthening the university’s research offering more broadly. I think that drive comes from my environmental science background and an interest in sustainable change.
How has the M25 Consortium supported you in your career?
The M25 Consortium has been an invaluable learning resource. I’m the co-chair of the Sustainability Group, which has given me the opportunity to lead a working group collaborating on gathering resources and shaping what support for members could look like.
I was also recently invited to give an update at the annual M25 Conference, which marked the launch of our Sustainability Toolkit. I hadn’t presented at a conference before, so this was a new learning experience that I really enjoyed!
What would it surprise people to know about you?
Well, anyone that knows me knows that I love dogs! But it may be surprising to know that I regularly go cold water swimming in an open lake. I go all year around, so rain or shine you can find me doing 400m – 800m laps on an early Sunday morning.
If I wasn’t working in a library I would…
Honestly, I didn’t set out with a plan to become a librarian. I initially applied for a Library Assistant role when I wasn’t getting any luck trying to break into the environmental sector. So, if I hadn’t landed that entry level role, I would’ve most likely pursued something using my technical skills, such as a data administrator role for an environmental charity, drawing on my Master’s degree in Environmental Science.
But in a different life, I’d be an abstract artist, surrounded by dogs with a cup of coffee in hand.
Want to be on this page?
If you’d like to be featured as an M25 SpeedMeet or Spotlight send an email to Jill Howard, m25libadmin@london.ac.uk. You can send in your replies to our questions or alternatively video your answers and we’ll show the video here.
Read more SpeedMeet interviews :
2026
January: Steve Briggs Director of Learning, Teaching, and Libraries, University of Bedfordshire
February: Mary Blomley, Open Research Librarian, University of West London
March: Louise Savage, Collections Coordinator, King’s College London
April: Carly-Ramirez-Herelle, Head of Library and Academy Services at the University of Bedfordshire
May: Callum Tilbury, Library Supervisor, Royal Central School of Speech and Drama
2025
Lydia Harris, Collections Manager at King’s College London
Alison Mackenzie, Research Support Librarian, RHS Libraries
Natalie Brown, Library Customer Services Team Leader, Anglia Ruskin University
Eloise Carpenter, Collection Services Manager at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine
Leah Gulley, Academic Liaison Librarian, Buckinghamshire New University
Dr Janice Fernandes former Academic Support Manager, University of West London
Helen Curtis, Director of Learning Resources and University Librarian at Oxford Brookes University
Dan Herbert, Library Buildings Development Manager, Queen Mary, University of London
Polly Mortimer, Library Manager and Learning Support Lead, British Psychotherapy Foundation
Ian Clark, Academic Services Manager, University of East London
2024
Chris Foreman, Associate Director of Library Services at University of the Arts, London
Vicky Robertson, Deputy Librarian, UCL School of Pharmacy Library
Laura Scullion, Administrator (Events & Programmes), M25 Consortium of Academic Libraries
Dave Puplett, Associate Director, Libraries and Academic Enhancement, University of Greenwich
Fiona Ainsworth, Head of Library and Archives at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew
Dianne Shepherd, The British Museum, Senior Librarian
Jill Howard, M25 Consortium of Academic Libraries, Operations Manager
Cliff Van Dort, National Archives, Kew, Head of Library
Camilla Churchill, British Medical Association, Library and Archive Lead
Chloe Carson-Ashurst, The National Gallery, Library Assistant
2020-2023
Birgit Fraser, Anglia Ruskin University, Assistant Director – Academic and Content Services
Sarah Pipkin, UCL – Outreach and Exhibitions Coordinator, Special Collections Library
Anna Gillis, Royal Veterinary College – Research Support Librarian
Rachel Geeson, Anglia Ruskin University – Assistant Director, Customer Services
Jennifer Domingo, London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine – Library Assistant
Emma Wisher, University of Essex – Assistant Director for User Engagement
Louise Ellis-Barrett, British Museum – Librarian Acquisitions and Projects
Paul Johnson, University of Surrey – Director of Library and Learning Services
Sara Burnett, Kingston University – Information Specialist
Robert Atkinson, Birkbeck, University of London – Director of Library Services
Laura MacCulloch, Royal Holloway, University of London – Curator
Rowan Williamson, UAL – Associate Director of Library Services and Support
Frances Willis, National Art Library at the V&A – Assistant Librarian
Robin Armstrong Viner, Courtauld Institute of Art – Head of Library Services
Adam Edwards, Middlesex University – Library Liaison Manager
Linda Coombs, Buckinghamshire New University – Library and Learning Resources Manager
Liz Pinel, Royal College of Nursing Library and Archive – Customer Services Manager
David Allen, Royal Society of Chemistry – Librarian
Russell Burke, LSHTM – Assistant Librarian
Verity Allison, St George’s, University of London – Journals and E-Resources Librarian