Library Wins Pride Award

Sandwell Council is celebrating after scooping a top award for a campaign to boost library membership.

The council claimed gold in the public sector category of the Chartered Institute of Public Relations Midland Pride awards.

Judges were impressed by efforts to boost the number of people borrowing books and other items from the borough's libraries.

Organised by the council's corporate Communications Unit and Library and Information Service, the three month campaign saw a 13 per cent rise in borrower numbers.

The campaign beat off competition from organisations including the Environment Agency to win the top award.

In their assessment, the judges said: "Clear and comprehensive objectives which were eminently measurable. Key messages were distinct and simple - they were not tempted to go for too many.

"Review mechanism built in. Results exceeded targets. Good value for money. The real test will now be to sustain the number of borrowers."

The award was presented at a ceremony at Birmingham University by BBC Midlands broadcaster Sarah Falkland.

Sandwell Council's cabinet member for improvement and equality Cllr Pauline Hinton said: "The award is fantastic recognition for a highly successful project."

Mobile Library Wins National Award

Sandwell's brand new mobile library is the best in the country - and that's official!

The £133,000 vehicle wowed judges at the annual Mobilemeet, at Thruxton Race Circuit in Hampshire. Packed with IT, it beat off competition from mobile libraries from across England and Wales to scoop the state-of-the-art award. Visitors were impressed by its satellite and wireless broadband , which means it can park outside community venues for courses or groups who use IT.

The national Mobilemeet is organised by the branch and mobile libraries group of CILIP (Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals) and is recognised as the industy's showcase.

Outreach Services Manager, Sandy Mahal, said, "The new mobile library presents a new and modern image to reflect the nature of today's services. It aims to reach a wide range of people, including those who for whatever reason don't or can't use traditional library buildings. I am really pleased the quality of the new mobile library has been recognised by a national award, and it is even more rewarding that so many of our regular customers think it is a major improvement on the previous vehicle."

The new vehicle was built from scratch by a specialist firm in Scotland and replaced the borough's exisiting mobile library. It was officially unveiled by best-selling author Meg Hutchinson and Mayoress sadie Smith, at a ceremony in July 2006.

Sandwell's Top Ten Librarian!

What do you think of when you think of librarians?

Aged women with buns and brown cardigans?

Bespectacled boffins with a tendancy to shush?

Well, a new national competition launched by the Love Libraries Campaign to find ten 21st century librarians has found that popular perceptions are totally out of touch with reality. The competition has revealed a group of ten passionate, ambitious and inspiring young librarians and our very own librarian, Sandy Mahal, is a winner!

Sandy Mahal joined Sandwell Libraries in 1998 as a library assistant and has since taken on a whirlwind journey of progression.Sandy now spends less time on frontline services and more time directing , developing and managing a diverse range of Outreach Services, including Housebound and Mobile Library Services, ensuring people who can't get to a branch library easily, can still make use of books, DVDs, talking books and IT facilities - the same as you would expect to find in a library building.

The expert panel of judges said, "We were very impressed by Sandy Mahal's entry and her obvious passion and commitment to her work at Sandwell Library Service. Many congratulations to Sandy and we wish her all the best for an exciting and dynamic future in the library service."