Cheryl Coveney retires after 17 years at the OU Library

In April, the Library wished a fond farewell to Senior Library Manager Cheryl Coveney, who has worked at the OU Library for seventeen years and now starts her well-earned retirement. 

The list of Cheryl's achievements and contributions during her time with us is endless. She has driven change in our accessibility provision that has had a huge impact both institutionally, across the sector and most importantly to individual students studying with us. In particular, the difference her work has made to students in secure environments, where for many, this will have been life changing. Her commitment to EDI has been profound and fundamental in driving change, striving to do better, facilitating connections and making sure that our work is made visible to the wider community.

She has also made valuable contributions to the wider sector and support of library colleagues at all stages of their careers, both through the Mercian Collaboration, where she worked on the staff development group providing opportunities for CPD across the region, and within CILIP (the UK's library and information association) where she continues to both mentor and assess professional registration submissions as well as apprenticeships. 

In her long and varied career, she has encountered almost every scenario and has been generous in sharing the benefit of her experience. She has been instrumental in moving Library Services forward in many important endeavours, always though in every capacity, she has ensured that the student experience is kept at the heart of all we do.

We thank Cheryl for all she has done and to wish her well for the future.

 From right to left: Cheryl Coveney, Dr Jane Secker, Selena Killick, Jo Parker