Since the International Law Book Facility’s launch in 2005, Katrina Crossley has been at the heart of its mission to improve access to justice through the donation of legal books worldwide. After almost two decades of remarkable service, including 9 years as Chief Executive Officer, Katrina is now stepping down and handing over leadership to Katherine Eden Haig.
From the outset, Katrina helped bring legal publishers on board to donate unwanted books, raised funds for shipping and promoted the new charity. During her early years at LexisNexis, she recruited law students annually as shipping coordinators and administrators and helped lead the Operating Committee together with Paul Lowenstein KC. The Committee managed book applications, packing days and shipments to organisations around the world. She also engaged LexisNexis volunteers to build and maintain the ILBF website and social media channels, establishing a strong foundation for the charity’s growth.
After leaving LexisNexis in 2015, Katrina became a trustee and continued to expand ILBF’s reach and partnerships. Appointed CEO in 2016, she brought vision and dedication that enabled the ILBF to become the internationally recognised charity it is today. Since 2005, the ILBF has shipped almost 100,000 books to more than 285 organisations in 63 countries, and Katrina has played a role in virtually every shipment, including packing many books herself. She has worked closely with shippers and overseas recipients to ensure books reach even the most remote and challenging locations.
Katrina has built long-lasting partnerships with organisations committed to strengthening the rule of law, including ROLE UK, A4ID, the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, the Commonwealth Lawyers’ Association, the Commonwealth Magistrates’ and Judges’ Association, Justice Defenders, the Slynn Foundation, the UK Sierra Leone Pro Bono Network, Africa House London and the British and Irish Association of Law Librarians. She has secured major funding from law firms and corporates, including a long standing relationship with the legal team at Anglo American, enabling the ILBF to expand its work significantly. One of her notable achievements is a ROLE UK funded project that brought judges and law librarians from Nigeria and Sierra Leone to London for shared learning and exchange, following earlier librarian training she organised in Nigeria, Ghana and Sierra Leone.
Katrina has also championed opportunities for future legal professionals. She helped establish the ILBF essay competition for undergraduate law students in 2021 and created a work experience scheme with the University of Surrey in 2020 to recruit and mentor the ILBF shipping coordinator each year. She has supported ILBF student groups at universities across the UK, enabling students to collect and pack books for law faculties internationally.
Katrina has played a major role in marking ILBF milestones and raising the charity’s profile internationally. She organised the anniversary celebrations in 2010 and 2021 and has been integral in planning the twentieth anniversary celebrations in 2025. She has broadened the range and quality of donated resources by establishing a process for book donations from courts across the UK and expanding the ILBF’s publishing partners across Europe, including donations of specialist legal collections from Paris and Leiden. She also introduced the ILBF Latin America representative role, leading to successful shipments to four countries in South America, a new continent for the ILBF.
Katrina’s leadership and passion for the rule of law have made a lasting impact on legal communities globally. Thank you, Katrina, for everything you have done for the ILBF.
We look forward to building on your legacy in the years ahead.
