After moving to Australia from Scotland as a teenager, Catherine commenced her professional career in public libraries and following experience in school and special libraries in the UK, worked in academic libraries in Western Australia for over 20 years at both The University of Western Australia and Curtin University. Catherine was appointed as the CEO and State Librarian at the State Library of Western Australia in 2022, a role that provides opportunities to demonstrate the value of libraries as cultural keeping places; and critical physical and online infrastructure where communities can connect, learn and grow.
Additional leadership roles have included: Member of the Board of the Council of Australian University Librarians and Program Director for the Advancing Open Scholarship Program; Member of the Curtin University Council, the University’s governing authority, Chair of the Libraries of the ATN Universities Executive Group and Member of the National and State Libraries Australasia Board.
