CILIP: the Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals
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MEDIA RELEASE
Wednesday 11 February 2004
For immediate release  (Please copy to online discussion lists)


POET LAUREATE ANDREW MOTION TO PRESENT THE 2004 LIBRARIES CHANGE LIVES AWARD

Annual prize celebrates libraries working with communities to combat disadvantage

CILIP and the Library + information Show are delighted to announce that Andrew Motion, the Poet Laureate will present the 12th Libraries Change Lives Award at this year's Library + information Show on 21st April 2004 at ExCeL, London. Andrew Motion will talk about his work and give a short reading of his poetry.

Entries from all over the UK are now in the process of being judged for the Libraries Change Lives Award. This is the 12th year of the national award that recognises innovative and exciting work in libraries and their communities. The award was established in 1992 to acknowledge and reward libraries and information services working with disadvantaged groups to combat inequality, including the unemployed, homeless, persons with disabilities and ethnic minorities. 

Since its inception, the award has had a significant impact on the world of library and information services. Previous winners include the Big Book Share, an innovative reading project with men in prisons, and the Bookstart scheme, which is now funded by the Government and has been recognised as making a significant difference to literacy and numeracy levels in primary schools.

The winning project receives a trophy and £4,000 prize money. The two runners-up both receive a cheque for £1,000. This year's judges are: Nigel Thomas (Chair) from Leicestershire Libraries, Terry Turner, Chief Executive of Eastern England Museums, Libraries and Archives Council, Carole Wolstenholme from Lancashire Libraries and Gos Home, Chairman of the Library + information Show. The award is sponsored by the Library + information Show. It is organised and administered by CILIP: the Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals and its Community Service Group.

The Library + information Show (LiS) takes place at ExCeL in London on 21st and 22nd April. LiS is the UK's leading library industry show. Showcasing products and services from over 130 industry suppliers including 3M, Demco, Softlink, Neilson BookData, Micro Librarian Systems, and Crossnet, this year's Show is set to attract 2,500 visitors.

LiS 2004 features a fantastic range of special features, including, for the first time a wide representation of Independent Book Publishers, the Personal Development Zone offering expert careers advice, the Children's Book Village, Workplace Libraries Live, a range of seminars and appearances by award-winning authors Deborah Moggach and Aidan Chambers, and a talk and readings by the Poet Laureate, Andrew Motion.

For further information contact: 
Philippa Perry at Philippa Perry Associates Tel: 0207 233 9911 Email: [log in to unmask] or 
Louisa Myatt at CILIP Tel: 0207 255 0650 Email: [log in to unmask] 

Notes to Editors:
1. Timetable for the 2004 Libraries Change Lives Award
    *Closing date for entries - 30 Jan 2004
    *Shortlisted projects announced - 20 February 2004
    *Winner announced - 21 April 2004

2. CILIP: the Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals is the leading professional body for librarians, information specialists and knowledge managers, with over 22,000 members working in all sectors, including business and industry, science and technology, further and higher education, schools, local and central government, the health service, the voluntary sector, national and public libraries.

CILIP's goals are to: position the profession at the heart of the information revolution; develop and enhance the role and skills of all its Members; present and champion those skills, together with new ones which will be acquired through continuing professional development; and ensure that individuals, enterprises and not for profit organisations have ready and timely access to the information they need.

3.  The Library + information Show (LiS) takes place at ExCel in London on 21st and 22nd April. For information on the exhibition or about visiting, contact Mina Booth on 020 8870 6730 or 07803 295292, email: [log in to unmask] or visit the website on www.lishow.co.uk

LiS is organised by Resources Exhibitions, which was formed 19 years ago and has successfully organised and promoted 76 exhibitions in London, Birmingham, Manchester, Belfast, Dublin, Glasgow, Uganda and Australia. For more information, visit www.resourcex.co.uk

4. Andrew Motion (biography)
Andrew Motion was born in 1952. He read English at University College, Oxford and subsequently spent two years writing about the poetry of Edward Thomas for an M. Lit. From 1976 to 1980 he taught English at the University of Hull; from 1980 to 1982 he edited the Poetry Review, and from 1982 to 1989 he was Editorial Director and Poetry Editor at Chatto & Windus. He is now Professor of Creative Writing at the University of East Anglia. He is a member of the Arts Council of England and a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature.

Andrew Motion is the author of eight books of poems, of four biographies, including the authorized life of Philip Larkin, and of critical studies of Larkin and Edward Thomas. He has been the recipient of the John Llewellyn Rhys Prize, the Somerset Maugham Award, the Dylan Thomas Award and the Whitbread Prize for Biography.

Andrew Motion was appointed Poet Laureate in May 1999. He lives in London with his wife and their three children.

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