EXPERIENCES OF RAIN INTERCULTURAL PROJECT WINS AWARD
The National Library of Scotland has been recognised at the 2026 Scottish Library and Information Council (SLIC) Awards for demonstrating the innovation and impact of library services through its intercultural project exploring shared heritage through creativity.
The Edinburgh based service was presented with the Project Excellence Award for Experiences of Rain at the SLIC showcase and AGM at The Barracks in Stirling yesterday (Friday 6 November).
The annual awards, judged by an independent panel led by SLIC Chair Alan Clarke, alongside guest judges Garrett Baylor Stell, a journalist with The Herald’s specialist education team, and Susan Calcluth, Scotland Lead for the National Year of Reading 2026, celebrate library teams and projects that have enhanced learning, wellbeing and community engagement through pioneering staff-driven initiatives.
The National Library of Scotland’s project brought together seven people with lived experience of migration to explore personal memories and cultural connections to rain, drawing on the Library’s collections and creating a sound installation for its 2026 exhibition.
Through creative workshops led by poet and storyteller Dr Tawona Sitholé and sound artist Ros Fraser, participants shared stories, music and perspectives from different cultures, building connections with one another and the Library. The installation became a central part of the Rain exhibition, which attracted a record 28,531 visitors in its first two months.
Judge Susan Calcluth praised the project, saying: “A distinctive and moving example of co-creation, Experiences of Rain explores both the connections we share and the different meanings rain holds across cultures.
“It demonstrates the power of creativity and shared experience to bring people together.”
The Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Glasgow was highly commended in the category for Maximising Audubon’s The Birds of America, a project combining conservation, digitisation and public engagement to bring one of Scotland’s rare library treasures to wider audiences.
The work contributed to a threefold increase in enquiries and a rise in visitors from 351 to 1,478 within four months.
Midlothian Library Service was named Team of the Year for its whole-service approach to developing libraries as community hubs, while South Lanarkshire Leisure and Culture Libraries won the inaugural Jacqueline Geekie Award for Excellence in Digital Innovation for an imaginative digital resource bringing the library experience into classrooms, while
For more information, visit scottishlibraries.org/funding/