Amina Shah is a Scottish librarian who is National Librarian and Chief Executive of the

National Library of Scotland The National Library of Scotland (NLS; ; ) is one of Scotland's National Collections. It is one of the largest libraries in the United Kingdom. As well as a public programme of exhibitions, events, workshops, and tours, the National Library of ...

Early life and education

Shah was born in

Pakistan Pakistan, officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of over 241.5 million, having the Islam by country# ...

to Patricia and Umeed Ali Shah. Her parents met in

Glasgow Glasgow is the Cities of Scotland, most populous city in Scotland, located on the banks of the River Clyde in Strathclyde, west central Scotland. It is the List of cities in the United Kingdom, third-most-populous city in the United Kingdom ...

and moved to Pakistan after their marriage. The family returned to Glasgow after Shah's birth. Shah studied English literature at the

University of Dundee The University of Dundee is a public research university based in Dundee, Scotland. It was founded as a university college in 1881 with a donation from the prominent Baxter family of textile manufacturers. The institution was, for most of its ...

, graduating in 1996 with an MA Hons. In 1997, she gained a postgraduate diploma in librarianship and information science from the

University of Strathclyde The University of Strathclyde () is a public research university located in Glasgow, Scotland. Founded in 1796 as the Andersonian Institute, it is Glasgow's second-oldest university, having received its royal charter in 1964 as the first techn ...

Career

From 2001 to 2014, Shah was Deputy Head of Dundee City Libraries. She was the Chief Executive Officer of Scottish Library and Information Council (SLIC) from 2014 to 2016 where she led on the development of Scotland's first national strategy for public libraries. From 2016 to 2018, she held the position of Director of Programming at the

Scottish Book Trust Scottish Book Trust is a national charity based in Edinburgh, Scotland promoting literature, reading and writing in Scotland. Scottish Book Trust works with and for a range of audiences, including babies and parents (through the Bookbug programm ...

. Prior to her appointment at the

Shah was Assistant Director of Libraries and Museums at

University of St Andrews The University of St Andrews (, ; abbreviated as St And in post-nominals) is a public university in St Andrews, Scotland. It is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, oldest of the four ancient universities of Scotland and, f ...

from 2018 to 2021. On 4 October 2021, Shah took up the position of National Librarian and Chief Executive at the National Library of Scotland. She is the first woman and the first person of mixed race to hold the post. Prior to becoming National Librarian Shah was a member of the Board of the National Library of Scotland (2015-2021). Since 2015 Shah has been a visiting professor at

Robert Gordon University Robert Gordon University, commonly called RGU (), is a public university in the city of Aberdeen, Scotland. It became a university in 1992, and originated from an educational institution founded in the 18th century by Robert Gordon (philanthrop ...

. She was President of CILIPS in 2022. Shah is a trustee of the StAnza Poetry Festival, Friends of National Libraries, and the

Institute for Advanced Studies in the Humanities The Institute for Advanced Studies in the Humanities (IASH, University of Edinburgh) was founded in 1969 at the University of Edinburgh, for visiting fellows to engage in study and research in the arts, humanities and social sciences. The curr ...

at the

University of Edinburgh The University of Edinburgh (, ; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals) is a Public university, public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Founded by the City of Edinburgh Council, town council under th ...

Honours and awards

In March 2023, Shah was elected a

Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh Fellowship of the Royal Society of Edinburgh (FRSE) is an award granted to individuals that the Royal Society of Edinburgh, Scotland's national academy of science and Literature, letters, judged to be "eminently distinguished in their subject". ...

Personal life

Shah is mother to four children. She lives in

Fife Fife ( , ; ; ) is a council areas of Scotland, council area and lieutenancy areas of Scotland, lieutenancy area in Scotland. A peninsula, it is bordered by the Firth of Tay to the north, the North Sea to the east, the Firth of Forth to the s ...

, Scotland.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Shah, Amina Living people Year of birth missing (living people) Academic librarians Scottish women librarians Scottish librarians Alumni of the University of Dundee Alumni of the University of Strathclyde People associated with the University of St Andrews Fellows of the Royal Society of Edinburgh