Julie Carpenter

Director and Lead Consultant

Julie Carpenter is a qualified librarian and a Member of the Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professions (CILIP). She began her professional career in the Centre for Learning Resources in the Inner London Education Authority, advising teachers and librarians on using print and non-book resources in schools. She joined the British Council in 1978 and travelled widely in Africa, working to improve the Council’s own library and information services and managing British book aid programmes. As the Council’s Assistant Director Greece (1980-86) she was responsible for management of two libraries and an active programme of professional and cultural exchanges and book trade initiatives in Greece, and for the Council’s libraries and books activities in Cyprus and Palestine. On her return to London Julie took up the new post of Information and Books Projects Officer, leading the Council’s collaboration with the Department for International Development (DFID) and the Publishers Association in formulation of policies on book and information provision to education for the World Bank, which have had a powerful impact upon subsequent development practice.

She has been a consultant since 1990 when she set up Carpenter Davies Associates, specialising in advising government agencies and educational institutions in transitional and developing economies on strategic directions in library and book development, and taking part in policy and sector review missions for international development agencies. At the same time, the partnership was successful in developing and managing research projects under the European Union’s early R&D Framework Programmes, and worked extensively with UK organisations such as the British Library and the Library and Information Commission on strategic research benefiting the library and information communities in a time of considerable change.

Since the establishment of EfC, she directed and managed DFID’s British Books for Managers programme and has specialised in the impact of electronic information and digitisation of collections in the education and cultural heritage sectors, with a particular focus on the management of change. She has led research and consulting projects for the Joint Information Systems Committee (JISC) of the Higher Education Funding Councils, the Museums, Libraries and Archives Council (MLA), the Big Lottery Fund, several national museums and universities, and the British Library. She directed the evaluation of the UK Big Lottery Fund’s ICT Content for Learning Programmes (2004/06) and has provided consulting services over several years to the National Maritime Museum on strategies to develop and enhance online access to its collections and services.

Julie’s experience overseas is broad having worked for DFID, UNESCO, UNIDO, the Asian Development Bank (ADB) and in Central and Eastern Europe, Africa, Asia and the Caribbean. In 2005/06 worked in Albania as the Public Information Campaign Consultant for the Social Services Delivery Project (SSDP) funded by the World Bank. More recently she has been the lead consultant on evaluation field work in Ethiopia, Kenya and Tanzania.