Media Releases

LA BACKS WHITBREAD PRIZE

The Library Association is to offer formal endorsement to the Whitbread Book Awards, which aim to celebrate and promote the best of contemporary British writing.  Following discussions with the Awards team, the LA has agreed to become an Official Partner in the current year’s awards, and to explore opportunities for closer collaboration in the future.

“We were particularly interested in the Whitbread Awards’ emphasis on enjoyment, their reader focus and the opportunities that they might offer for reaching groups who are not currently heavy library users,” says Tim Owen, Head of External Relations at the LA.

“Enjoyment is at the heart of the philosophy of the Whitbread Awards,” adds Bud McLintock, Director of sponsorship marketing consultants Karen Earl Limited, who manage the Awards on the Whitbread Group’s behalf.  “As a leading UK leisure company, Whitbread sees itself in the business of providing enjoyment to millions of customers.”

Under the agreement, point of sale material promoting the Awards will be made available to selected libraries during the current Awards cycle, which ends on 22 January 2002 with the announcement of the Whitbread Book of the Year and Children’s Book of the Year.  Under discussion for future years are possible joint reading promotion initiatives with companies in the Whitbread Group and LA support for the judging process.

For further information contact:

Tim Owen, Head of External Relations, The Library Association.
Tel: 020 7255 0652.
E-mail: tim.owen@la-hq.org.uk

Bud McLintock, Director, Karen Earl Ltd.
Tel: 020 7243 7118.
E-mail: Bud@karen-earl.co.uk

Notes to Editors

The Library Association is the leading professional body for librarians and information managers, with around 24,000 members who work in all sectors, including business and industry, further and higher education, schools, local and central government departments and agencies, the health service, the voluntary sector, national and public libraries.

The Whitbread Book Awards consist of six separate prizes for novel, first novel, biography/autobiography and poetry, as well as the Book of the Year and the Children’s Book of the Year.  Authors compete for a total of £50,000 in prize money, with the shortlists announced in November and the final presentation ceremony taking place on 22 January 2002.

Monday 5 November 2001