Education Today Education Today Magazine
The honourees of the prestigious SLA Awards 2022 were announced on the 22 September at a virtual awards ceremony.
Considered the most influential accolade in the industry, the annual awards, which are open to state, academy and private SLA members, identify and celebrate examples of best practice across the UK.
The judges selected thirteen school librarians and schools to honour, across three categories of excellence: School Librarian of the Year Award, Community Award and Enterprise Award.
Judges of the School Librarian of the Year award were looking for librarians demonstrating a commitment to continual professional development, strong engagement with all school departments, innovative stock rotation and excellent examples of pastoral care.
In the Enterprise of the Year award, the judges considered evidence of individual projects that involved the imaginative use of resources in the form of space and stock along with any other initiatives such as a rebuilding or refurbishment project.
The Community Award highlights wider support for the school library. This included backing from a local business or individuals who have provided outstanding assistance to a school whether this be in the form of funding, infrastructure, advice, resources or simply their time.
The panel of judges, comprised of SLA trustees, authors, charity fundraisers and former SLA award winners, evaluated each entry based on its appreciation of the sector’s needs, potential and commitment to supporting education standards.
The honourees of the School Library Association Awards 2022 in each category are:
| School Librarian of the Year Award | |
| Primary Schools | |
| Rumena Atkar | Firs Primary School, Castle Bromwich, West Midlands |
| Jenny Griffiths | Ravenscourt Park Preparatory School, London |
| Secondary Schools | |
| Lauren Chatley | Bedford School, Bedford, Bedfordshire |
| Derek France | Preston Lodge High School, East Lothian, Scotland |
| Karen Whitelegg | Dronfield Henry Fanshawe School, Derbyshire |
| Enterprise Award | |
| Canford School | Wimborne, Dorset |
| Summer Fields School | Oxford, Oxfordshire |
| Broughton Junior School | Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire |
| Deer Park School | Twickenham, Berkshire |
|
Community Award |
School Library Supported |
| Alexandra Palace Children’s Book Award Team | Highgate Wood School, London |
| Hull Schools Library Service, Yorkshire | Griffin Primary School, Yorkshire
|
| Hull Schools Library Service, Yorkshire |
St Charles Voluntary Catholic Academy, Yorkshire
|
| The Education Library Services, Nottinghamshire | |
The winners in each of the three categories will be announced on the 20th October.
Alison Tarrant, chief executive office of the SLA (pictured left) said: “This year we had more entries than we anticipated, given the intense time schools were experiencing last September, and it was great to launch our two new Awards: the Community Award and Enterprise of the Year Award. Our panel of esteemed judges had an incredibly hard time selecting the honourees. It was a long but very positive experience seeing the level of excellence being achieved in so many schools’ libraries.
“It was also heartening to see the range of work going on in school libraries which is positively impacting not only children, but their families and teachers as well. This support is only more important as we recover from COVID and look to get through another difficult period for most families.”
The nominations for the Awards for 2023 are now open. For more information, please visit https://www.sla.org.uk/awards.