viaLibri Limited announces the appointment of Alasdair North as CEO of viaLibri Ltd., the world’s largest search engine for rare, antiquarian and out-of-print books.
North will assume his new role as CEO of viaLibri Ltd. as of October 24th, 2025. Mr. North has served as Chief Technology Officer of the company based in Cambridge, United Kingdom, since 2015 – working there with founder, James A. Hinck, who will now retire as CEO and continue to serve as Chairman of the Board and strategic advisor.
“I’m deeply honored to lead viaLibri into its next chapter. Jim has built something truly special: a platform that has become an essential tool for the rare book trade. My focus will be on preserving what makes viaLibri indispensable to dealers and collectors while expanding our capabilities to serve them even better. We’ll continue investing in the tools that help dealers run successful businesses, make it easier for collectors to find those elusive titles, and ensure that researchers can access the information they need. The rare book trade is evolving rapidly with virtual book fairs, online auctions, new selling platforms, and the expanding use of AI, and viaLibri will evolve with it while remaining true to our mission of being the most comprehensive and reliable resource for the antiquarian book community” said Alasdair North, Chief Executive Officer of viaLibri.
Mr. North brings over a decade of leadership at viaLibri to his new role as CEO, having shaped the platform’s technological evolution since joining the company. As CTO, North has been instrumental in many of the improvements that have been made to viaLibri.net over the past ten years, including the mobile-friendly redesign of the website, the development of the viaLibri Virtual Showcase book fair platform, the integration of eBay searching and innumerable smaller additions. A Cambridge University graduate and book collector himself, North combines deep technical expertise with genuine appreciation for the antiquarian book community. North attended the York Antiquarian Book Seminar (YABS) in 2022 and has become a familiar presence among English dealers and collectors, many of whom are daily visitors to a website he helped to build to its current position as the world’s largest search engine for old and rare books.
As Founder, Chairman and former CEO of the company, Jim Hinck says that he has “great confidence in Alasdair’s ability to continue growing our company in an age of many technical and entrepreneurial challenges, including the advancement of artificial intelligence in all businesses, the demands of marketing in a complex commercial environment, and the need for excellent team leadership in the achievement of our exciting and ambitious goals.”
Hinck founded viaLibri in 2006 after recognising that existing book search platforms failed to meet the sophisticated needs of serious bibliophiles and scholars. As a book dealer and self-taught programmer, Hinck created viaLibri.net to provide the best possible access to the rare book world for collectors, librarians, and booksellers. Under his visionary leadership, the website grew from a simple search tool to a cornerstone of the worldwide trade in rare and antiquarian books, connecting tens of thousands of dealers and collectors around the globe.
ViaLibri Limited, viaLibri.net, is a search engine for old, rare, and out of print books. The site can be used to search for books for sale across over 180 different websites, as well as providing quick access to many different Western institutional and library holdings. Regularly, viaLibri.net hosts a Virtual Showcase, an online book fair offering a chance for booksellers to feature their current important holdings for sale.