Information Book Award
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

The School Library Association (SLA) is an independent organization in the
United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...
which promotes
libraries A library is a collection of Book, books, and possibly other Document, materials and Media (communication), media, that is accessible for use by its members and members of allied institutions. Libraries provide physical (hard copies) or electron ...
and
literacy Literacy is the ability to read and write, while illiteracy refers to an inability to read and write. Some researchers suggest that the study of "literacy" as a concept can be divided into two periods: the period before 1950, when literacy was ...
in schools. The SLA was founded in 1937 and is based at Kembrey Park in north-eastern
Swindon Swindon () is a town in Wiltshire, England. At the time of the 2021 Census the population of the built-up area was 183,638, making it the largest settlement in the county. Located at the northeastern edge of the South West England region, Swi ...
. It is a charity registered in England & Wales and Scotland. It provides training and information to teachers and
librarian A librarian is a person who professionally works managing information. Librarians' common activities include providing access to information, conducting research, creating and managing information systems, creating, leading, and evaluating educat ...
s, promotes the role of librarians in schools and publishes a range of titles including a quarterly journal, ''The School Librarian''. Regional branches operate in many areas of the UK https://www.sla.org.uk/branches The Association's President is Richard Gerver. Past Presidents include authors
Kevin Crossley-Holland Kevin John William Crossley-Holland (born 7 February 1941) is an English translator, children's author and poet. His best known work is probably the #Arthur trilogy, Arthur trilogy (2000–2003), for which he won the Guardian Children's Fiction ...
(2012–2017)
Gervase Phinn Gervase Phinn (born 27 December 1946) is an English author and educator. After a career as a teacher he became a schools inspector and, latterly, Visiting Professor of Education at the University of Teesside. He graduated from Leeds Trinity Univ ...
(2006–2009) and
Aidan Chambers Aidan Chambers (27 December 1934 – 11 May 2025) was a British author of children's and young-adult novels. He won both the British Carnegie Medal and the American Printz Award for '' Postcards from No Man's Land'' (1999). For his "lastin ...
(2003–2006), and Miranda McKearney, Empathy Lab and Former Director of The Reading Agency. Two chief executives of the association have been honoured for their services to education: Valerie Ann Fea (MBE) in the
New Year Honours 1997 The New Year Honours 1997 were appointments by most of the Commonwealth realms of Queen Elizabeth II to various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by citizens of those countries, and honorary ones to citizens of other countrie ...
and Kathleen Amy Lemaire (OBE) in the
New Year Honours 2008 The New Year Honours 2008 for the Commonwealth realms were announced on 29 December 2007, to celebrate the year passed and mark the beginning of 2008. The recipients of honours are displayed here as they were styled before their new honour, and ...
.


Projects

In May 2007 the SLA launched a project in which it acted as facilitator for a
Department for Children, Schools and Families Department for Children, Schools and Families (DCSF) was a department of the UK government, between 2007 and 2010, responsible for issues affecting people in England up to the age of 19, including child protection and education. DCSF was repl ...
(DCSF) initiative called ''Boys into Books 11–14'', delivering 20 free books to all qualifying state schools in England with an accompanying reading guide. ''Boys into Books 5–11'', a follow-up project funded by the DCSF, ran in 2008, also with a published reading guide. A further DCSF-funded project in 2008, ''Book Ahead 0–7'', was aimed at children in Early Years settings to promote enjoyment in reading at an early stage, with a reading guide written by Julia Eccleshare. In 2010 the SLA ran the ''Everyone's Reading'' campaign in association with the DCSF, described by
Children's Laureate Children's Laureate, now known as the Waterstones Children's Laureate, is a position awarded in the United Kingdom once every two years to a "writer or illustrator of children's books to celebrate outstanding achievement in their field". The rol ...
Anthony Browne as "... a brilliant project encouraging the enjoyment of reading, a reading culture and a pleasure that will last throughout readers' lives."


School Librarian of the Year Award

The SLA founded the School Librarian of the Year Award in 2004 to highlight best practice and innovation in school librarianship.


Winners

* 2005 — Anne Robinson (
Nicholas Chamberlaine Technology College Nicholas Chamberlaine School is a coeducational secondary school and sixth form with an academy status, located in the town of Bedworth, Warwickshire, England. It has approximately 1,400 pupils between the ages of 11 and 18. Nicholas Chamber ...
) * 2006 — Anne-Marie Tarter (
Ripon Grammar School Ripon Grammar School is a co-educational, boarding and day, selective grammar school in Ripon, North Yorkshire, England. It has been named top-performing state school in the north for ten years running by ''The Sunday Times''. It is one of the b ...
) * 2007 — Ingrid Hopson (
George Abbot School George Abbot School is a coeducational secondary school and sixth form with academy status in Burpham, north-east of the town centre of Guildford providing a comprehensive education, for around 2,000 young people, aged 11–18. History The ...
) * 2008 — Nikki Heath ( Werneth School) * 2009 — Lucy Bakewell (Hill West Primary School, Sutton Coldfield) * 2010 — Kevin Sheehan (
Offerton School Offerton School was a state comprehensive secondary school located north of the A626 road near the River Goyt in Offerton, a suburb of Stockport, Greater Manchester. The school catered for pupils aged 11 to 16 and was maintained by the Metropoli ...
) and Duncan Wright (
Stewart's Melville College Stewart's Melville College (SMC) is all-boys' Private schools in the United Kingdom, private day school in Edinburgh, Scotland. Classes are all boys in the 1st to 5th years and co-educational in Sixth (final) year. It has a roll of about 750 p ...
) * 2011 — Carol Webb ( Forest Hill School) * 2012 — Adam Lancaster (
Monk's Walk School Monk's Walk School is a secondary school with academy status located on the outskirts of Welwyn Garden City, Hertfordshire, England. It opened in 1964 and became an Academy in 2012. The school's motto is: "Excellence for All". The school's ann ...
) * 2013 — Hilary Cantwell ( St Paul's Community College, Waterford) and John Iona (
Oasis Academy Enfield Oasis Academy Enfield is a coeducational secondary school and sixth form with academy status, located in the Enfield Lock area of Enfield, England. The school was established in September 2007, as one of the first academies sponsored by Oasi ...
, London) * 2014 — Liz Millett (
Weatherfield Academy Weatherfield Academy (formerly Weatherfield School) is a mixed special school located in Dunstable, Bedfordshire, England. The school accepts pupils from all over the Central Bedfordshire area. The school is for pupils whose special educationa ...
, Dunstable) * 2015 — Annie Brady (St. Paul's CBS Secondary School, Dublin) * 2016 — Amy McKay (
Corby Business Academy Corby Business Academy is a non-selective, co-educational state-funded secondary school in Corby, Northamptonshire, for the ages of 11–18 years. It is one of a group of Academy An academy (Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek ἠ...
) * 2017 — Lucas Maxwell (
Glenthorne High School Glenthorne High School is a non-selective mixed secondary school and sixth form located in the Sutton Common area of Sutton in the London Borough of Sutton, England. History The school was first established in 1933 on Glastonbury Road in Sutto ...
) * 2018 — Emma Suffield (
St Wilfrid's Church of England Academy St Wilfrid's Church of England Academy (formerly St Wilfrid's Church of England High School) is a mixed secondary school and sixth form located in Blackburn in the English county of Lancashire. It is named after Saint Wilfrid, a former archbish ...
, Blackburn) * 2019 — Ros Harding (
The King's School Chester The King's School, Chester, is a co-educational private day school for pupils aged 4 to 18. It is one of the seven 'King's Schools' established (or re-endowed and renamed) by King Henry VIII in 1541 after the Dissolution of the Monasteries ...
) * 2020/21 - Kristabelle Williams of Addy and Stanhope School https://www.sla.org.uk/slya-2020


Library Design Award and Inspiration Award

In 2011 the Association inaugurated the SLA Library Design Award to recognise innovation, creativity and resourcefulness in school library design. This was superseded in 2014 by the SLA Inspiration Award for "the school library space that shows inspiration, innovation, creativity and resourcefulness in its library design and in use".


Winners

* 2011 —
Rosendale Primary School West Dulwich ( ) is a neighbourhood in South London on the southern boundary of Brockwell Park, which straddles the London Borough of Lambeth and the London Borough of Southwark. Croxted Road and South Croxted Road mark the boundary between S ...
, London * 2012 —
The Duston School The Duston School is a mixed all-through school and sixth form located in Duston in the English county of Northamptonshire. History Previously known as Duston Upper School, it educated children aged 13 to 18. Due to school reorganisation in No ...
,
Duston Duston is a suburb of Northampton and a civil parish in West Northamptonshire, England. History Archaeological remains found in the area suggest that Duston has roots in Prehistoric and Roman settlements. However, development in the area ...
, Northampton * 2013 — Carterton Community College, Oxfordshire * 2014 — Oak Tree Primary School, Nottinghamshire (Primary School category); Dixons Allerton Academy, West Yorkshire (Secondary School category) * 2015 — All Saints Primary School,
Stibbard Stibbard is a village and civil parish in the English county of Norfolk. The village is south-west of Cromer, north-west of Norwich and north-east of London. The village lies south-east of the nearby town of Fakenham. The nearest railway ...
, Norfolk (Primary School category);
Valley Park School Valley Park School is an academy school in Maidstone, Kent, England. The school caters for girls and boys between the ages of 11 and 18. Valley Park became a specialist Arts College in July 2007. It also has the Artsmark Gold award. Valley Par ...
, Maidstone, Kent (Secondary School category) * 2017 — Adderley Primary School, Birmingham (Primary School category);
American School of Madrid The American School of Madrid (ASM) () is a Private school, private international school in Madrid, Spain that was founded in 1961. History The American School of Madrid was founded in 1961 by members of The American Club in Madrid. It ...
/
Headington School Headington School is an independent girls' school in Headington, Oxford, England, founded by a group of evangelical Christians in 1915. In 2024, it merged with Rye St Antony School to form Headington Rye Oxford. History Headington School was ...
/
Hymers College Hymers College is a co-educational Private schools in the United Kingdom, private day school in Kingston upon Hull, located on the site of the old Hull Botanical Gardens, Botanical Gardens. It is one of the leading schools in the East Riding of ...
(Secondary School category)


Community and Enterprise Awards

These two awards were started in 2022 to recognise partnerships and projects benefitting school libraries. Winners due to be announced Autumn 2022.


Information Book Award

In 2011 the Association inaugurated the SLA Information Book Award with shortlists in three categories, "designed to support school libraries, reinforce the importance of non-fiction and highlight the high standard of resources available".


Winners

* 2011 – ''How to Make a Universe with 92 Ingredients'' by Adrian Dingle (Scholastic, ) * 2012 – ''Can We Save the Tiger?'' by Martin Jenkins (Walker Books, ) * 2013 – ''Incredible Edibles'' by
Stefan Gates Stefan Gates (born 19 September 1967) is a British television presenter, author, broadcaster and live-show performer. He has written books about food, cooking and science. He has presented over 20 TV series, mostly for the BBC, including '' Cook ...
, illustrated by Georgia Glynn (Walker Books, ) * 2014 – ''Get into Art: Animals'' by Susie Brooks (Kingfisher, ) * 2015 – ''Shackleton's Journey'' by
William Grill William Grill is a British illustrator, whose first children's book, ''Shackleton's Journey'', depicting Ernest Shackleton's Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition, won the Kate Greenaway Medal in 2015. His second book is titled ''The Wolves of ...
(Flying Eye Books, ) * 2016 – ''The National Theatre'' by Marina McIntyre (Walker Books, ) * 2017 — ''Survivors of the Holocaust'' by Kath Shackleton, Zane Whittingham and Ryan Jones (Franklin Watts, ) * 2018 — ''Look I'm a Scientist'' by Various Authors (Dorling Kindersley, ) * 2019 – ''Politics for Beginners'' by Alex Frith, Rosie Hore, Louie Stowell and Kellan Stover (Usborne, ) * 2020 — ''Africa, Amazing Africa'' by Atinuke and Mouri Feddag (Walker Books, )Federation of Children's Book Groups: Judging the 2020 School Library Association Information Book Award
/ref>


References


External links


School Library Association website
* *
Book Ahead

Boys into Books

Everyone's Reading
{{Authority control 1937 establishments in the United Kingdom Academic libraries in the United Kingdom Education in Swindon Educational charities based in the United Kingdom Library associations in the United Kingdom Organisations based in Swindon Organizations established in 1937