Exeter librarian shortlisted for top national award

A librarian in Exeter has been shortlisted for a top national award.

Chris White from Exeter Library has been shortlisted for Libraries Connected annual awards. Libraries Connected is the membership body for public library services in England, Wales and Northern Ireland.

Chris has been nominated and shortlisted in the Culture and Creativity category.

According to Libraries Unlimited, the charity that runs the public library service in Devon and Torbay, Chris has championed the transformation of Exeter Library into a ‘cultural powerhouse’, curating an innovative and accessible events programme that engages and reflects the diverse needs of the community.

Exeter City Council helps fund Exeter Library through Libraries Unlimited.

Elsewhere in the county, another Libraries Unlimited member of staff who makes an impact across the whole of Devon, has also made the shortlist. Dominique Sequoia, who is based at Bideford Library has been shortlisted in the Children’s category.

Dominique manages the partnership with Bookstart across the county. She puts children’s literacy and family wellbeing at the heart of everything she does, improving services and outcomes for local families with her innovative approach.

The Libraries Connected Awards celebrate the achievements of library workers who have had an exceptional impact on their library service, users or their local communities. Awards are made in six categories which reflect their Universal Library Offers (ULOs) and Promises – the core services and programmes that modern library services provide.

Alex Kittow, Chief Executive Officer, Libraries Unlimited said: “To have not one but two Libraries Unlimited staff members in this shortlist is a very proud moment for us as a charity. All of our staff work incredibly hard to deliver essential services to their local communities across Devon and Torbay. For Dominique and Chris’ work to be recognised in these national awards offers an opportunity for the work we do to have a spotlight on it. We are very grateful to them both for all their amazing efforts.”

The shortlisted nominations will now be considered by an expert panel including library service professionals, publishers and experts from library and literacy charities including the Association of Senior Children’s and Education Librarians (ASCEL) and The Reading Agency. Judges also come from organisations including Arts Council England, Creative Lives, ClearVision and digital book platform OverDrive, creator of the Libby reading app for libraries and Sora reading app for schools, which is again generously sponsoring the Awards.

The winners will be announced on June 10 at a ceremony during the Libraries Connected annual seminar in Warwickshire.