The UK Secretary of State has confirmed the extension of Professor Dame Carol Black GBE as Chair of the British Library, continuing her leadership from 1 September 2026 to 31 August 2027.

Dame Carol, a distinguished physician and academic, currently chairs the Centre for Ageing Better and the Centre for Homelessness Impact, and serves on the boards of the Institute for Employment Studies while advising RAND Europe on health and work policies. Since 2022, she has also acted as the UK government’s Independent Adviser on tackling drug misuse.

Her illustrious career includes a seven-year tenure as Principal of Newnham College, University of Cambridge, where she also served as Deputy Vice-Chancellor. Dame Carol has led multiple landmark independent government reviews, including investigations into the health of the working-age population (2008), sickness absence in Britain (2011), and employment outcomes related to addiction, obesity, and illicit drugs (2016–2021).

In addition, Dame Carol has served as President of the Royal College of Physicians, President of the Academy of Medical Royal Colleges, and Chair of the Nuffield Trust for health policy. She founded a world-renowned research centre at the Royal Free Hospital, London, specializing in connective tissue diseases such as scleroderma, and has been a trustee of the National Portrait Gallery.

The Chair of the British Library role carries an annual remuneration of £35,180. The extension follows the Cabinet Office’s Governance Code on Public Appointments, which ensures transparency in public office appointments. Under this code, appointees must declare any significant political activity in the past five years; Dame Carol has confirmed she has none.

Her continued leadership is expected to strengthen the British Library’s mission to advance research, education, and cultural heritage across the UK and globally. Photo by Mohammed abushaban, Wikimedia commons.