We’re thrilled that the Library’s 180th anniversary LitFest was Highly Commended at last Friday’s FutureBook awards event, organized by the book industry’s leading trade title The Bookseller. The LitFest was pitched against the Booker Prize (the overall winner), World Book Night, Penguin Talks and the VoyagerCon festival for the top award in the Events category and it’s a tribute to the efforts of the Library team – and particularly those of Head of Programmes Claire Berliner - that the LitFest has been recognised as one of 2020’s most prominent publishing events. Its success reflects the range and innovation of the online programming that featured no fewer than 51 speakers across three days, including Salman Rushdie, Sarah Waters, Tom Stoppard and Simon Schama, plus a specially created, staged adaption of A Room of One’s Own with Nina Sosanya.
The Library was also recognised for the outstanding efforts of its Postal Loans team which was shortlisted in FutureBook’s Team of the Year award alongside Penguin Random House and Hachette UK. Throughout the pandemic, the Postal Loans Team has run an enhanced service that has seen over 22,000 books sent out to members. Facing often challenging working and travelling conditions during lockdown and at a time when very few libraries were able to make their collections accessible at all, the service has been hugely appreciated by members. We’re delighted to have the Library’s events and postal loans recognised in this way and our congratulations go out to all the team members who have worked to achieve this.
We’re delighted that the Library has been shortlisted for this year’s FutureBook awards organized by the book industry’s leading trade title The Bookseller. The awards will be announced at the FutureBook conference on 19th November and the Library has been nominated in two categories. In the Events category the Library’s 180th anniversary LitFest – the remarkable online festival that featured 51 speakers including Salmon Rushdie, Sarah Waters and a staged adaption of A Room of One’s Own with Nina Sosanya – is pitched against the Booker Prize, World Book Night, Penguin Talks and the VoyagerCon festival for the top award.
In the Team of the Year category, the Library’s Postal Loans team vies with Penguin Random House and Hachette UK on the final shortlist. Throughout the pandemic, the Postal Loans Team has run an enhanced service that has seen over 22,000 books sent out to members. The team has faced challenging working and travelling conditions during lockdown and at a time when very few Libraries were able to make their collections accessible at all, the service has been hugely appreciated by members.
We’re delighted to have the Library’s events and postal loans recognised in this way and look forward to the 19th!
The London Library, the UK’s largest independent library, will team up with the Jhalak Prize to offer shortlisted and winning authors complimentary membership with full access to the Library’s collection of over a million books and to its extensive online resources.
For the next three years, the shortlisted authors for the Jhalak Prize and the new Jhalak Children’s & YA Prize will receive a complimentary one-year membership and the winning authors of both prizes will receive a complimentary two-year membership of The London Library.
The London Library will host a celebration of the prize for all the shortlisted authors of the Jhalak Prize and Jhalak Children’s & YA Prize for each of the three years.
The Jhalak Prize was established in 2016 to celebrate books by British and British resident writers of colour and the Jhalak Children’s & YA Prize was founded in 2020. Jennifer Nansubuga Makumbi won the Jhalak Prize in 2021 for her novel The First Woman, published by Oneworld, and entries for the 2022 prizes are open until 15 December 2021.
Commenting on the partnership, London Library Trustee Yassmin Abdel-Magied says: “I’m so pleased that The London Library is partnering with the Jhalak Prize to help celebrate and support the work of British and British resident writers of colour. We are delighted to provide Jhalak prize nominees with Library membership and free access to our collection and very much look forward to welcoming such gifted writers to the Library’s writing community. I hope to meet some myself, browsing through the stacks!”.
The Jhalak Prize’s Sunny Singh comments: “We are delighted to partner with The London Library to celebrate and support writers of colour in Britain. The London Library is a uniquely writerly institution not only with its incredible collection but also its writing spaces. We can’t wait to have our winners and shortlisted authors join this incredible community.”
Read more: Announcing our New Partnership with the Jhalak Prize
The 2021 London Library Christmas card is designed by the illustrator Vanessa Lovegrove. Lovegrove is a Bristol-based illustrator who worked as a children's book designer before moving on to freelance illustration. Her award-winning picture book, Mind Hug, was published in 2017, and her work expresses a genuine love of character and narrative through the use of mark-making and texture. Her festive card for the Library features the Reading Room on a winter's evening - a cosy haven for all bibliophiles.
A pack of 8 cards and envelopes costs £8, including postage within the UK mainland. They can be ordered here.
