Sponsored by
SHORTLISTED
Listening Books Nationwide
S
pecialist audiobook library Listening Books, is celebrating 60 years
of catering for individuals who find that an illness, disabilit or learning difficult impacts their abilit to read or hold a book. The charit supports some 60,000 people nationwide every year with a permanent staff of 11, plus 10 volunteers. Copyright manager Amy Flinders says: “The audiobook market is growing rapidly, and for many people with a print impairment, audiobooks are the only way they can access literature. So we are thrilled that our service has been recognised by The Bookseller and the judges.” The library consists of more than 8,000 audiobooks, 90% of which are commercial titles bought from publishers and 10% are books recorded in-house. For the past few years the library has been increasingly trying to bring titles directly to groups who would struggle to join as individu- als. In 2010, it established the
Books for Hospices project and began providing hospices with free “mini-libraries”, a selection of 300 popular CDs from its library, along with CD players. It has delivered these mini libraries to more than 180 hospices, and is now in the process of delivering its digital service to younger members of societ who are receiving hospice care: to date, it has provided 45 children’s hospices with tablets and access to its digital library. The library has seen its efforts
convert into a significant increase in loans. In 2018, it increased its total digital audiobook loans by 23% on 2017 (from 56,670 to 69,170). This is also a 538% increase in digital audiobook loans from 2011, the first full year the digital library was operational. The library is still thinking of new ways to reach readers. It has launched a podcast and an Ask the Author series on YouTube, which has so far featured videos from Kit de Waal, Sally Gardner and its patron, Stephen Fry, who says: “I am overjoyed that Listening Books has been recog- nised for all the support it gives to those that are unable to access the printed word.”
AUTHOR PATRICK GALE RIGHT AT AN EVENT WITH LIBRARIES NI’S PETER HUGHES
SHORTLISTED
Libraries NI Northern Ireland
L
ibraries NI, the public library service for Northern Ireland, includes 96 branch libraries
and 16 public mobile libraries, and it is celebrating its 10th anniversary in 2019. Coming together as one library service has enabled the libraries to use their combined heft to deliver exceptional service. Now in its fourth year, the libraries run BookWeekNI in partnership with BBC Northern Ireland. Last year the partnership involved book-related content across the Radio Ulster schedule featuring the voices of read- ers, authors, presenters and library staff, and a social media campaign which saw members upload selfies with their current read. The social media reach throughout the week totalled 436,574. Similarly, The Biggest Book Club
I am overjoyed that Listening Books has been recognised for all the support it gives to those that are unable to access the printed word Stephen Fry, patron
TheBookseller.com
in the Country is a feature on popular BBC Radio Ulster programme “The Stephen Nolan Show”. “It enables Libraries NI to engage with a demographic which would normally be beyond our reach,” says service development manager Sean Beattie. Staff are able to feature the work of local Irish authors, and books featured on the show regularly become the most borrowed book of that month. In December, two children from Libraries NI won the chance to see David Walliams at a BBC launch event. Libraries NI also implemented
a One Book campaign, featuring Turning for Home by Barney Norris. During the campaign, 4,784 people borrowed the novel which
was available in book, e-book and audiobook format. The service also developed an in-house summer read- ing challenge, The Big Summer Read, which saw 39,317 children borrow 390,578 books—an increase of 2.2% year on year.
[Collaborating with BBC Northern Ireland] enables Libraries NI to engage with a demographic that would normally be beyond our reach Sean Beattie, Libraries NI
Another highlight for the service
is the continued growth in the use of e-books and audiobooks. Since 2011, use has grown by more than 2,000%. According to Beattie, this growth has been achieved by prominent use of social media. As well as service-wide initatives,
individual libraries also deliver programmes tailored to meet local needs and engage with the community. Such features showcase both fiction and non-fiction and, where applicable, highlight stock in languages other than English. For example, Falls Road Library in Belfast worked with arts organisa- tion Beyond Skin to host an event looking at the transformative power of the arts and its ongoing work with refugees; and Derry’s Creggan Library worked with the Sia Pak Chinese Community Association to host a workshop to coincide with Chinese New Year.
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