Staff & Trustees

Matt Dolman

Development Manager

I started work at Bromley House Library in August 2018.  I am the Development Manager - this role  oversees the membership processes at the library and developing member services.  It also includes working with authors, speakers and other literary organisations to develop working partnerships and events for our members.  I also work with the Library Director to secure funding, and other income streams to support our work.  I also head up the Garden Committee and work with the gardener and committee to restore, plant and plan the future of the Georgian Garden. I love plants and gardens so happy to chat about anything horticultural, and my spare time is usually in the garden working, reading  or with my cat Rosie (usually a combination of the three with a good cup of tea)  I love reading about plants, but also like a wide range of fiction and non fiction.   I particularly like contemporary fiction and recent authors I have enjoyed include Douglas Stuart, Bernadine Evaristo, Patrick Gale and many more!

Amy Le Huquet

Library Services Manager

I have worked at the library since 2012. My role includes managing the counter team and our library volunteers. I oversee everything that happens at the counter, from issuing books, processing new stock and most importantly, chatting with members. I usually have several books on the go at once. I enjoy reading a wide range of books including biographies, short stories and classic fiction.

Chrissie Van Mierlo

Library Services Manager

I joined the library team in Spring 2026, having previously worked in a number of museum roles. Prior to working in the heritage sector, I completed a PhD in James Joyce studies and published widely in this field. At Bromley House, I work alongside Amy in the role of Library Services Manager looking after lots of day-to-day library activities and our wonderful collections. My reading taste is eclectic, ranging from classic detective fiction to Irish modernism to lots of contemporary fiction, especially writing in translation. I am always happy to chat to members about what they are reading and especially about my two cats, Muddle and Myrtle.

Sally Green

Membership & Administration Officer

Despite working in Old Market Square in the 1990s I had no idea what a wonderful surprise was hiding behind the Georgian door until I saw an item about Bromley House on the local news a few years ago. I have been a member since 2017 and find it an ideal place to escape the hustle and bustle of the city centre. I took early retirement after over 20 years in International banking, allowing me the time to join some of the library special interest groups, namely Classic Crime, Photography, and to become a book conservation volunteer. I was delighted to have the opportunity to join the library staff in 2022. In fact, this is the only job that could have tempted me out of retirement. I’m enjoying every minute, especially the variety and meeting the library members.

Caroline Thornton

Finance Officer

I started working at Bromley House Library in April 2023. I am responsible for all the day to day financial aspects of the library. I love working in the tranquil atmosphere of Bromley House, and being in the centre of Nottingham with the hustle and bustle of the city just outside the door. I mostly read contemporary fiction and enjoy both personal intimate tales and rollicking plot driven page turners.

Katie

Lead Library Assistant

I have been working at the library for the past eight years now - I can't quite believe how quickly the time has gone! I enjoy reading contemporary fiction, especially fiction in translation, along with nature writing, biographies and philosophy.

Kieran Hogan

Library Assistant

I started in June 2021. I am mostly found on the counter or running upstairs to get books. I studied chemistry and enjoy mostly fantasy books and RPGs. I love chatting to people in the library and learning new things - the stranger the better!

Louise Hunter

Library Assistant

Having been a member of Bromley House since 2016, I jumped at the chance to work in such an amazing place and have been a library assistant since August 2021. I have degrees in History and Art History and am a voracious reader, with piles of books around my house.  I’m a member of the Library’s Classic Crime and Spooky Book clubs and love reading anything historical, mysterious, or eerie.  You will find me behind the counter or amongst the shelves, where I’m always happy to have a chat.

Vic Stevens

Library Assistant

I began working at the library in August 2023. I enjoy being in this beautiful space, finding out about new (and old) books and chatting to members. Outside of work I love gardening, spending time outdoors and walking in the woods with my dog. I’m usually growing, reading and writing about plants or making things with them. I like to read biographies, novels and nature books too.

Ellie

Casual Library Assistant

I began working at Bromley House Library in August 2023. I have degrees in Illustration and Illustration and Book Arts and work as a freelance artist. I enjoy books from various genres and probably couldn't pick a favourite - I like to keep it varied! I enjoy music and relaxing with my beautiful tortie cat, Nyx.

David Severn

Casual Library Assistant

I joined the Bromley House team in 2023 as a Casual Library Assistant, having previously been a member in my early twenties. It’s thrilling to spend time in this magical building, now on the other side of the counter. I work at the library around my commissions as a Documentary Photographer. I have an avid interest in social and industrial history, and my long-term photographic projects tell the story of Nottinghamshire’s former mining communities. My work in this area has been published by The New York Times, The Guardian and British Journal of Photography, among others. I love coffee and books — particularly poetry, cultural history and writing on place. Look out for me at the counter, where I’m always happy to help or have a good chat!

Peter Ware

Chair

I am solicitor and partner at Browne Jacobson in Nottingham and have been advising governmental bodies for nearly 20 years. I have historically been chair of the Midlands Engine Green Growth board and I was a main board director for Inspire (who deliver the  library and archives service in Nottinghamshire) for 6years. I am currently a trustee for Nottingham Schools Trust and another small charity. I am married with two boys and we live in West Bridgford. I like sport and in particular football. I also enjoy cycling, so you will often see me out on Sunday morning moving very slowly around the Vale of Belvoir.

Paul Harrison

Treasurer

Paul is a retired Finance Director who trained as a chartered accountant with Price Waterhouse in Nottingham. His experience in business and finance is wide ranging and he brings relevant financial, administration and compliance expertise to the library. In addition to his Bromley House role, Paul is a trustee of the recently formed City of Nottingham Historic Buildings Trust, which is looking at restoring at-risk heritage buildings in the city and bringing them back into use, and is also a parish councillor.

Catharine Arnold

Trustee

I grew up in Nottingham, read English at the University of Cambridge and I hold a post-graduate diploma in psychology. I trained as a journalist on the Nottingham Evening Post and represented Basford on Nottingham City Council for 12 years, including being the Sheriff of Nottingham from 2018-2019. I have also served on the board of Nottingham Playhouse and the National Justice Museum. I am a fellow of the Royal Historical Society. My first novel, 'Lost Time', won a Betty Trask award, but I am now better known as the author of the 'London Quartet', a series about the dark side of the capital's history. My most recent book is 'Pandemic 1918', an account of the Spanish flu pandemic, the greatest human disaster of the 20th century, which killed up to 100 million people in the last year of WW1.

Michaela Butter MBE

Trustee

I have over 40 years' experience as a museum curator, creative producer, funder and venue manager, including working 20 years for Nottingham City Council running Nottingham Museums, overseeing the refurbishment of the Castle in the 1990s. Most recently I was Director of an inclusive multi-disciplinary arts centre, Attenborough Arts Centre, within the University of Leicester - becoming part of the Arts Council England's National Portfolio as a centre of excellence for inclusive practice, championing disabled artists and emerging local talent, backed by award winning education and outreach programmes. With extensive experience on boards, I an currently Chair of City Arts, a participatory arts organisation working within some of Nottingham's most economically challenged wards, and I sit on the board of the London based theatre company, Access All Areas, championing employment opportunities for Learning Disabled creatives within mainstream organisations such as the National Theatre, BBC, Channel 4 and Netflix. I have been a member of Bromley House for over ten years and am a keen reader of thrillers and historical fiction but also have a passion for travel, gastronomy and flamenco! I was awarded an MBE in 2013 for services to the Arts.

Erin Connelly

Trustee

I hold a UK Research and Innovation Future Leaders Fellowship to explore questions of ethnopharmacology and the antimicrobal efficacy of ingredients from historical and traditional medical sources. I am an Assistant Professor (Research) in the School of Life Sciences, but the core of my work involves analysis of medieval manuscripts. Prior to my Fellowship, I worked on a number of collaborative, interdisciplinary projects, such as digitization and creation of metadata for around 400 medieval manuscripts (Bibliotheca Philadelphiensis), analysis of stains in medieval manuscripts using multi-spectral imaging (Labeculae vivae), and projects with the Ancientbiotics consortium. During my PhD, I was a conservation volunteer with NADFAS at Bromley House, and developed a great love for the building, garden, and collections of this wonderful historic library.

Martin Gorman

Trustee

I have been a member of the library since 2008. I joined shortly after retiring from the Civil Service after a career of 36 years, based in Leeds and Nottingham. My final years were with the Government Office for the East Midlands, managing relationships between central government departments and local authorities in Nottinghamshire, Derbyshire, Leicestershire, Rutland, Lincolnshire and Northamptonshire across town planning and cultural services, and links with the regional economic development agency and regional cultural bodies. Like all interesting jobs in the Civil Service, it was swept away by a new Government after I retired, along with some of the organisations I enjoyed a relationship with! I have volunteered in the library, getting involved in the cataloguing project, the exhibition commemorating members' family links with the First World War and by giving public tours of the library building. I constantly hear people on tours saying how much they are surprised and delighted that Bromley House exists. I should like as a Trustee to help maintain that spirit of delight and help ensure that the library can both develop in serving its members and keep its uniqueness.

David Hoskins

Trustee

David is a semi-retired Civil Engineer specialising in land drainage and flood risk management, having spent most of his career at the Environment Agency and its predecessor bodies. He has a family connection with the library going back nearly 50 years and has advised the library on issues relating to the restoration of the building for some time. David is an active member of the Institution of Civil Engineers as well as being a Trustee and Vice-Chair of the Thoroton Society of Nottinghamshire.