Monday November 9th 2026
Annabel Cavaroli celebrates Midlothian Library Service winning the Team of the Year Award at the 2026 Scottish Library and Information Council Awards.
Written by Midlothian View Reporter, Liam Eunson
Midlothian Library Service has been named Team of the Year at the 2026 Scottish Library and Information Council (SLIC) Awards, recognising its work to make libraries more accessible and bring communities together.
The service received the award at the SLIC showcase and AGM at The Barracks in Stirling on Friday, November 6.
The annual awards celebrate library teams and projects across Scotland that have improved learning, wellbeing and community engagement through innovative, staff-led initiatives.
Midlothian was recognised for its wide-ranging approach to community-focused library services, bringing together literacy, digital inclusion, accessibility and practical support in response to local needs.
Its initiatives include Every Child a Library Member, which registered more than 400 babies between June 2025 and June 2026, as well as the expansion of VERA remote advice points, loanable Lend + Mend activity kits, accessible communication and community support groups.
Judge Garrett Baylor Stell, a journalist with The Herald’s specialist education team, said: “Midlothian stood out for the scale of its community-focused work, from the reach of its VERA advice points to its early-years literacy and wide-ranging diversity and inclusion initiatives. The service demonstrates a clear commitment to responding to local needs.”
Glasgow Life’s Libraries Development Team was highly commended in the category for delivering the Wee Write Book Festival 2026 alongside its wider citywide responsibilities.
The festival reached 2,681 pupils through its education programme and welcomed more than 1,000 people to its Family Day, helping widen access to children’s literature and encourage reading for pleasure.
Elsewhere at the awards, the National Library of Scotland received the Project Excellence Award for *Experiences of Rain*, an intercultural project exploring shared heritage through creativity.
South Lanarkshire Leisure and Culture Libraries won the inaugural Jacqueline Geekie Award for Excellence in Digital Innovation for a digital resource bringing the library experience into classrooms.
The SLIC Awards are open to member libraries across Scotland, including public library services, further and higher education libraries and specialist libraries.
Winners receive a trophy and cash prize in recognition of their achievements in library service delivery and project innovation.
For more information, visit [scottishlibraries.org/funding/the-slic-awards/](https://scottishlibraries.org/funding/the-slic-awards/).
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