Helen Ceridwen Saunders

A graduate of St Hilda’s College, Oxford University, Helen began her professional library career in public and research libraries across England and Wales, including The National Library of Wales.

Helen joined Cardiff University in 1995 and was instrumental in establishing the Salisbury Library at Cardiff University Library Service. She was the driving force behind the development of our Welsh and Celtic collections and her expertise and enthusiasm were recognised across Cardiff University and beyond. Her professional dedication was evident through her diligence in building, maintaining and cataloguing a world-class prestigious collection. Helen also had a passion to support the next generation of librarians and spent much of her time training Library and Information Studies interns from across the UK and Germany.

Outside of work, Helen read widely and loved researching, writing and blogging on a wide range of historical and linguistic subjects, particularly anything to do with Wales or Cornwall, and family history. She was also a firm supporter of Action Aid and a dedicated champion of public library services, joining and publicising campaigns when community libraries were under threat.

Helen was a supportive colleague and friend and we will very much miss the brightness, humour and generosity she brought to the workplace.

Alan Vaughan Hughes