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Hills Road’s Library wins CoLRiC’s Innov...

Hills Road’s Library wins CoLRiC’s Innovative Practice Award, 2023!

Hills Road Sixth Form College has been ‘Highly Commended’ and awarded the prestigious Innovative Practice Award, 2023.

Published on 19/12/2023

Library Award 1 min — Innovative Practice Award, 2023

Library praised for ‘proactive and creative outreach programme’

In April 2023 CoLRiC announced a call for nominations for its annual national awards. This year would mark the 30th anniversary of this celebration. The organisation was keen to showcase the ‘quality, excellence and organiational impact’ of library and learning resources service provisions across the country.

All nominations were reviewed, scored and shortlisted by a panel of judges, which included library and information service experts and members of CoLRiC’s Executive Committee.

Hills Road Sixth Form College has been ‘Highly Commended’ and awarded the prestigious Innovative Practice Award, 2023. This award was presented to the Library and learning resources team in recognition of:

Innovative service development or exceptional enhancements to existing services
A commitment to student academic, personal or vocational development and lifelong learning
Engagement and collaboration with academic staff, curriculum colleagues, professional support services and students

The panel of judges praised Hills Road for its ‘proactive and creative outreach programme’ which they said was ‘effectively designed to reengage post-pandemic students and re-establish the importance and value of the library’. Judges also commented that Hills Road’s Library has ‘the potential to inspire colleges across the FE sector grappling with the impact of Covbid on student morale and motivation.’

As a team it is so important to see our students flourish and grow into self-confident independent learners. We are delighted to have our work with students recognised by this award. We look forward to continuing to find ways to develop innovative practice to best support our students.
Kathy Ashby, Library and Digital Resources Manager

I thought this was a really good example of how a combination of diligence, creative ambition and in-depth knowledge of the tools and applications available to library staff can make a real difference to library users.
Emma Duffield, Sales Manager at IS Oxford and External Judge

I am delighted to see the work of our Library and Digital Resources team recognised through this award. They are passionate about working in partnership with teaching departments to support our students to develop as independent learners ready to progress into higher education and employment. The team work tirelessly to promote all that the library has to offer, both to support young people with their studies, but also for wider enrichment and enjoyment of reading. It has been fantastic to see their work pay off and watch the College community reconnect with the library post-pandemic.
Ian Pryer, Assistant Principal – Quality and Systems