Minutes Board of Trustees Meeting 09 May 2025

Meeting: National Library of Wales Board of Trustees Open Meeting

Date: Friday, 09 May 2025

Location: The National Library of Wales

Present: 

Board Members: 

• Ashok Ahir (President and Chairman)
• Gronw Percy
• Andrew Evans
• Janet Wademan
• David Hay
• Susan Davies
• Quentin Howard
• Andrew Cusworth
• Hannah Lindsay
• John Allen
• Mohini Gupta
• Michael Gibbon
• Heledd Bebb
• Josephine Williams
• Andrew Prescott 

Executive Team: 

• Rhodri Llwyd Morgan, Chief Executive
• Owain Roberts, Director of Collections and Digital Services
• Mererid Boswell, Director of Finance and Corporate Services
• Rhian Gibson, Director of Communications, Engagement and Partnerships

Also present: 

• Annwen Isaac, Human Resources Manager
• Llinos Williams, Executive Officer to the Chief Executive
• Jeff Smith, Partnership Council
• Phillip Roberts, Welsh Government
   

Minutes:

• Annwen Isaac

Section 1

1. General Matters

1.1 Welcome by the Chair, opening remarks and apologies

The Chair welcomed everyone to the meeting.

Andrew Prescott and Josephine Williams were welcomed to their first meeting as new Trustees.

Phillip Roberts and Mary Ellis from Welsh Government and Jeff Smith on behalf of the Library”s Unions were welcomed.

1.2 Declaration of interests relevant to the agenda

No declaration of interests were relevant to the items on the agenda.

1.3 Minutes of meeting 7th March 2025 and non-agenda issues

The minutes were approved as an accurate record of the issues discussed.

Section 2

2.1 Chief Executive's Report

The Chief Executive presented his report highlighting the following areas for the attention of the Trustees.

He noted that the work and the roof of the Library had been completed on time and that a ceremony was held yesterday morning to mark the occasion. Completing the work ensures that we are able to protect our collections for years to come. All of the new slates that have been installed have come from Blaenau Ffestiniog which ensures that the carbon footprint of the work is as low as possible and also the contractors and the team of architects were from Wales.

RTS Cymru Wales Award 2025 - the TV series Cyfrinachau’r Llyfrgell was the winner in the Factual Entertainment category of the RTS Cymru Wales Awards 2025. Congratulations to SLAM on their success and also to Rhian Gibson and all the staff who worked on screen and behind the scenes in the creation of the series.

Strategy 2025 -2030 - we will be launching our Strategy for 2025-2030 in the next two weeks. The timetable had to be adjusted slightly which has moved the publication of our Digital Manifesto to October 2025.

We held our 6-month meeting with the Minister where working with the Unions in Social Partnership and capital works were discussed.  Minister Jack Sargeant MS, Minister for Culture, Skills and Social Partnership and Mark Drakeford MS, Cabinet Secretary for Finance and Welsh Language, will visit the Library on 2nd June 2025.

A reception was attended in Downing Street for the Heads of Legal Deposit Libraries at the invitation of the British Library. The British Library has received £1.1 billion towards the expansion of the St. Pancreas site.

There has been a recent press report that fewer Researchers and Academics are using the Library's services.  Looking at our statistics, we see a reasonable increase in our users over the last 5 years.  Our partnership with education and research is much stronger now

AI – AI is becoming more apparent, and it is certainly a big and important topic which is worth holding a wider discussion about at one of our meetings.

Electronic Legal Deposit – the service has started again within the 5 Legal Deposit Libraries but has not been restored to the British Library.  There is significant work to be done by the British Library before the service resumes.

9th/10th June - the Legal Deposit Librarians meeting will be held here in the Library.

Cyfrinachau’r Llyfrgell - a second series will be broadcast from September 2025. The format has been sold to ITV Studios and ITV/HTV is also keen to run the series in English.  It was noted that the series should be shared as widely as possible.

Digital Manifesto - as part of the development of the Digital Manifesto it was noted that it would be worthwhile to prepare a briefing pack and hold roundtable discussions between staff and trustees.

Anti-racism - it was noted that the budget of the Anti-racism project was coming to an end.  As part of the project, decolonisation work has been done with the collections and a support package has also been prepared.  There is now a permanent Decolonization Officer on the staff of the Library.

Art Gallery - it has been noted that the Library's Art exhibition is currently on display at the Waterfront Centre, Haverfordwest.  The Gallery of Contemporary Art project is another project, funded for two years and led by Amgueddfa Cymru – National Museum Wales. The Library is part of the partnership showcasing the collections across Wales.

Clip Corners – technical issues have been identified with the Clip Corners, upgrades to the systems are currently underway and service should be restored within a few weeks.  Our Clip Corner at the Millennium Centre, Cardiff will be officially opened on the same day as the launch of the Strategy in Cardiff, 20th May 2025.

Section 3

3.1 Windows - Stage 2 upgrade, Book Stacks 1 and 2

The report was submitted for information only as the Board accepted the recommendations and approach at its March 2025 meeting.

As the work on the roof has been completed, the scaffolding can now be used to carry out work on the windows.  The Welsh Government has accepted our Business Justification Case and confirmed £1.26m towards the work.

There will be some impact on the work at the Library during this period as staff and collections will have to be moved at times.  With the timetable confirmed, it is anticipated that the work will be completed by the end of the calendar year.

3.2 Board Work Programme 2025-2026

The Work Programme for the period 2025-2026 was approved.

Specific presentations within the areas were also requested

• Website - July 2025 meeting
• Artificial Intelligence - September 2025 meeting
• Education

It was also agreed to circulate some key papers for the attention of the new Trustees.

3.3 Board Committee Membership

The membership list of the Board Committees was reviewed. The revised list will be shared with the Trustees after the meeting.

3.4 Operational Plan

Rhodri Llwyd Morgan confirmed that the Operational Plan is in place.  The Executive Team and the Leadership Team are currently in discussion.  A draft version of the Plan will be submitted to the Performance and Quality Committee in June and to the Board in July.

Section 4

4.1 Financial Reports

4.1.1 Management Accounts

The Management Accounts up to the end of March 2025 were submitted by Mererid Boswell. She noted that the performance was much better than expected explaining that Pen Dinas Restaurant was performing strongly and that a number of projects were also coming to an end.

£270K of private funding will be transferred to the Library to fund primarily the National Broadcast Archive Project.

The reach in terms of capital expenditure has been good with the £5M spent on time.

A discussion with the Auditors in relation to the roof, car park and ground source developments will be required to evaluate the developments to the Library estate.

It was agreed to hold a discussion on the commercial income budget at the November 2025 meeting.

Mererid Boswell was thanked for the report.  The result is positive and shows progress which means that the Library's financial position is under control.

4.1.2 Pension Scheme

Data verification with WTW is ongoing.  The Pension Scheme Board will next meet in June 2025.

4.2 Compliance and Risk

4.2.1 Corporate Risk Register

The Corporate Risk Register was introduced by Mererid Boswell.

Following an internal audit on risk by RSM, the residual score is now based on a non-multiplier where effect scores higher than the probability, an example of this is:

e.g. A previous score for the long-term storage had a significant effect (4) and probable probability (4). In the old scoring, this would have scored 16, but is now assessed as 21.

The Board meeting in March and the Audit, Risk and Compliance Committee reviewed the risk register but for completion, here are the movements: 

 

New risk 

• Following the Board's suggestions in March, the risk of "Failure to meet the expectations of the new curriculum and develop resources for all ages" was added, as education is a key strategic priority in the NLW Strategy 2025-2030.  

Increased risks 

• Under the new scoring system, long-term storage is the highest risk area as the probability of running out of space is high, but the impact is also significant.
• More work is need during 2025-26 to tackle the asbestos, and the risk has increased as a result. 

Reduced risks 

• CymruSOC will monitor the systems for cyber attacks (24/7) and the Cyber Essentials accreditation has been renewed.
• More work has been done on fulfilling environmental goals including the use of the new Electric Vehicles and improved awareness of waste management. Work will begin on the net zero reporting required by Welsh Government. 

The Audit, Risk and Compliance Committee was asked to look at Cyber Security as the risk should be higher than that stated. A paper was also requested for the Board's findings on Cyber Security within the Library.

It was agreed that risk management training should be arranged for all Board members.  The Audit, Risk and Compliance Committee will continue to conduct deep dive audits.

4.2.2 RSM - Draft Annual Internal Audit Opinion Report 2024/2025

The report was shared for information.

It was noted that 5 pieces of work were examined during the year: Financial Management (CIPFA); Estate Management; Stakeholder engagement; Customer Journey and Risk Maturity Assessment.

The outcome of the audit has confirmed that the Library has an adequate and effective framework for risk management, governance and internal control.

4.2.3 Audit Wales - Challenges for the culture sector

The report prepared by Audit Wales was shared for information.

The purpose of the exercise was to review whether public bodies in the culture sector had appropriate arrangements in place to ensure short-term and longer-term financial sustainability, in line with their well-being objectives.

It was noted that the Executive Team has accepted all of the recommendations, and the Audit, Risk and Compliance Committee has had a thorough discussion as to whether the report reflects the Library's financial position.  The report will be public on the Audit Wales website.

4.2.4 Timetable for the audit of financial statements 2024-2025

The timetable was shared for information.

The Annual Accounts will be shared with the Board in July and then  Audit Wales will commence its work on 1st September 2025.

It was agreed that a letter should be written to Audit Wales stating the definite timetable.

4.2.5 Procurement of Library Management System – Wales Higher Education Libraries Forum (WHELF)

Owain Roberts presented a paper on the procurement of the WHELF Library Management System. The Library, which is a member of WHELF, currently operates a Library Management System (LMS) that includes Alma and Primo products.  The current agreement with the current supplier (Ex Libris) expires in December 2026.  Following a market review and a value-for-money assessment by WHELF's Library System Management Board it was concluded that there was strong case to make a Direct Award to Ex Libris in accordance with the Procurement Act 2023. Confirmation was received from the Welsh Government that the Library did not need to seek WG approval and that the Library could proceed with the approval of the agreement.

As the proposed new deal is worth more than £1M, governance arrangements state that an application should be submitted to an Audit, Risk and Compliance Committee.  Since that Committee will not meet until July, it was agreed to present it to the Board today.

The Board agreed to approve the award of the new agreement in accordance with the Executive Team's recommendation.

 Section 5

 

5 Reports from Committees

5.1 Audit, Risk and Compliance Committee Minutes – 18th February 2025

The minutes were shared for information.

5.2 Draft Minutes of the Audit, Risk and Compliance Committee – 15th April 2025

The minutes were shared for information.

 Section 6

6. Any other business

6.1 Declaration of Interest Forms

The Trustees were reminded to return their forms as soon as possible.

6.2 Dates of the next meetings

11th July 2025 – hybrid meeting

19th September 2025 – face-to-face meeting with Healthy Boards training in the afternoon.

End.

ACTION POINTS/MATTERS NEEDING FURTHER ATTENTION