National Award For Businessline Wrexham Champion

Information Services Assistant Gareth Hatton who works for Wrexham County Borough Council’s Businessline service has been named Public Library Champion of the Year, a national award from the Public and Mobile Libraries Group (PMLG) of CILIP, the Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals.

Gareth was presented with the award yesterday by Baroness Diana Eccles of Moulton, MP, at a special ceremony as part of CILIP’s two-day International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions (IFLA) Satellite Conference in Birmingham.

Gareth has provided vital help and information to new and growing businesses in the local area for over ten years and was nominated in recognition of his outstanding information retrieval skills and efficiency, combined with a providing valued customer service support to his users, many of whom credit his assistance for helping their businesses to thrive and grow.

Gareth said: “I am absolutely delighted and honoured to have been chosen as the winner of such a prestigious award and am overwhelmed that my work supporting local SME’s has been recognised on a national level by CILIP.”

The Public Library Awards formally recognise the individual approach and achievement of outstanding library staff employed in different capacities across the public library service, highlighting the value they bring to their employers and the difference they make to service users.

Nominations are made by employers and must be endorsed by community partners, colleagues and public library service users.

Dr Darren Smart, Chair of CILIP’s Public and Mobile Library Group said: “I am proud to announce the winners and runners up of our annual awards which recognise the outstanding contribution that paid library staff make to their customers, the communities they serve and the wider public library profession”.

Cllr Hugh Jones, Wrexham Council’s Lead Member for Communities, Partnerships and Collaboration, said: “I would like to pass on my congratulations to Gareth for winning this national award. He clearly has made an outstanding contribution and the award is very well deserved.”