Inspiring staff shortlisted for prestigious national award

Inspire Nottinghamshire Libraries is one of 26 library services to be shortlisted for the Libraries Connected Awards 2023

A Project Worker and a Libraries and Culture Officer at Inspire Culture, Learning and Libraries have been shortlisted for a prestigious national award that celebrates the achievements of library workers.

The Libraries Connected Awards recognise individuals or teams that have had an exceptional impact on their library service, library users or their local communities. The Awards are organised by Libraries Connected, the independent charity representing public library services across England, Wales, Northern Ireland and the Crown Dependencies.

Michelle Dunstan, supported by the Libraries and Culture team is nominated for 'I Am A Reader', a project that aims to inform and revitalise the way Inspire and the wider libraries and literature sector engage with readers.

Ellie Booth, Village Hubs Project Worker is nominated for her work on the Library Improvement Fund Villages Hub project. This project re-imagines and re-configures six smaller libraries to create vibrant and inclusive village hubs at the heart of their communities.  

The shortlisted nominations will now be considered by an expert panel of judges including celebrated crime writer Priscilla Masters and children’s author Cathy Cassidy. They will be joined by judges from organisations including Arts Council England, The Reading Agency, BBC Arts and library app developer OverDrive, creator of the Libby and Sora reading apps, who are again generously sponsoring the Awards. The winners will be announced in June at a ceremony during the Libraries Connected annual seminar in Bedfordshire.

The Awards are again generously sponsored by OverDrive, the leading digital reading platform for libraries and schools worldwide, and creator of the award-winning library reading app, Libby.

Inspire delivers Culture, learning and Libraries on behalf of Nottinghamshire County Council with funding from Arts Council England, and Education and Skills funding agencies. Set up in April 2016, Inspire is an independent organisation that has charitable aims and status. The I Am A Reader project is supported using public funding by the National Lottery through Arts Council England.  Village Hubs is funded by the Libraries Improvement Fund (LIF), which is part of the Cultural Investment Fund a programme of work funded by the Department of Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) delivered by Arts Council England.

Peter Gaw, Inspire CEO said;

“I am delighted that Michelle and Ellie have been recognised for their work on their respective projects. Both projects highlight the importance of reading and libraries to individuals and communities. I’d also like to recognise the contribution of the wider teams in delivering these projects – well done.”

Isobel Hunter MBE, chief executive of Libraries Connected, said:

“Congratulations to everybody who made the shortlist this year in a very competitive field. The Libraries Connected Awards put the spotlight on some of the amazing staff that make the libraries sector so vibrant and inspiring. It’s so important that we recognise the incredible achievements of library workers who show such dedication, creativity and innovation every day.”

Nick Forster, regional manager at OverDrive, said:

“On behalf of the OverDrive team I want to congratulate all the shortlisted nominees. It’s important to recognise the achievements of library services and their staff because their work is so essential to our communities throughout the country. We’re excited to sponsor the Awards again and are looking forward to the ceremony later this year.”