Dear All,
Back in April we launched a competition to find the Top 10 Young
Librarians in public libraries. The competition was open to all English
library staff between 18 and 30 and entrants were asked to write 250 words
about why they should be chosen as one of the top ten 21st century
librarians.
The panel of six judges were looking for entries that demonstrated
commitment, originality, passion and creativity. They included Director of
The Reading Agency Miranda McKearney; reporter on The Bookseller,
Katherine Rushton; Head of Library Policy at the MLA, John Dolan; Head of
Museums and Cultural Property Division at the Department of Culture, Media
and Sport, Paul Kirkman; Head of Libraries & Heritage, City of York, Fiona
Williams, and Clare Somerville, Retail Marketing and Sales Director,
publishers Harlequin Mills and Boon.
The top ten winning 21st century librarians are:
Jen Bakewell, 27, Staffordshire Library Service
Cheney Gardner, 28, London Borough of Lewisham Library Service
Anthony Hopkins, 26, London Borough of Merton Library Service
Jake Hope, 27, Lancashire County Library and Information Service
Lucy Kitchener, 28, Wiltshire Library Service
Sandy Mahal, 28, Sandwell Library Service
Richard Pemberton, 26, Medway Library Service
Simon Smith, 27, Reading Borough Libraries
Michael Stead, 26, Bolton Libraries Service
Tabitha Witherick, 27, Somerset Libraries Service
Specially commended by the judges were the following librarians:
Georgia Bowers, 27, Bedfordshire Libraries
Katie Conder, 27, Gloucestershire County Council, Libraries &
Information
Cat Jarman, 24, Bath & North East Somerset
Angela Jarvis, 27, Essex County Council Libraries
Anna Simmons, 27, Luton Libraries
Libraries competition has shown that popular perceptions of librarians are
out of touch with reality, commented Miranda McKearney, Director of The
Reading Agency It has revealed a group of ten inspiring and ambitious
young librarians who are helping reinvent the nations public library
service, bringing with them new energy, enthusiasm and spirit to the
service. Congratulations to them all.
To find out more about the librarians please go the Love Libraries website
at http://www.lovelibraries.co.uk/librarians.php
Catherine Howard
Love Libraries
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