National award for Guernsey library exhibition

The exhibition at the library in St Peter Port including Audubon's The Birds of America, one of the rarest books in the world

Staff at Guernsey's Guille-Allès Library are celebrating after picking up a national award for libraries.

The team were awarded the top prize in the Culture and Creativity category at the Libraries Connected Awards for their Boundless Curiosity exhibition.

It told the story of the library's origins and showcased some of the treasures in its collection.

Libraries Connected is a charity representing public libraries and gave out awards in six categories.

The shortlist was judged by a panel of experts from Arts Council England, The Reading Agency, and BBC Arts.

Adam Bayfield, who was part of the five-strong team behind the exhibition, said he was "very proud".

He said: "It was very rewarding to see the way people responded to it and we had over 8,000 visitors come to see it and we had so much great feedback.

"People seemed to really enjoy it so that was amazing and then to win an award like this is I guess the icing on the cake."

The five-person team were Adam Bayfield, Jodie Hearn, Chris Jordan, Abi Paine, and Tracey Woosley

A member of the team travelled to Bedfordshire on Tuesday to collect the award at the Libraries Connected annual seminar.

Chief librarian Cornelia James said: "The Libraries Connected Awards are extremely prestigious - they're seen as the Oscars of the library world.

"Winning this award is a tremendous achievement, and it's no less than the team deserve.

"Along with this core team of five, every member of library staff had a part to play in making the exhibition a success."

She said it had been told in an "extremely compelling way" and "accessible to the whole community with a special children's trail, a programme of school visits, and a series of events in care homes".

Mrs James said it had been an "inspired idea to turn the page of The Birds of America once a week, bringing people back again and again".

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