About the Author

Katie Pekacar is an expert in partnership development across the cultural sector, with a background in social anthropology and qualitative social research. She has specific expertise in developing partnerships between the cultural sector and higher education. Katie worked at the Museums, Libraries and Archives Council and subsequently Arts Council England, where she initiated several public engagement-focussed partnerships between libraries, museums and archives and higher education institutions, including the “Beyond the Label”Link opens in a new window project between the University of Sheffield and the Courtauld Gallery.

In 2017 Katie wrote Higher Education and Public Libraries: Partnership Research,Link opens in a new window for Arts Council England, a report mapping existing partnerships and examining the potential for greater partnership working between public libraries and higher education. She was also commissioned as a Partnership Expert by Libraries Connected as part of their “Expert Bank” support for public library services. For this project she worked with Haringey Libraries on building partnerships with a range of statutory and local community organisations.

Katie was also a Carnegie Associate for two years, as part of the project team for the Engaging Libraries Phase 2 programme delivered by Carnegie UK Trust. Engaging Libraries was supported by WellcomeLink opens in a new window, and the Wolfson FoundationLink opens in a new window. Engaging Libraries Phase 2 focussed on enabling public library partnerships with universities to deliver public engagement. She ran webinars and produced an online toolkitLink opens in a new window for the public library sector to help disseminate learning from this project and stimulate future partnerships. Katie is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts and Manufactures and a Member of the Market Research Society.