Scottish Book Trust, the national charity changing lives with reading and writing, has opened nominations for the Bookbug Hero Award 2024, run in association with Walker Books.
Now in its fifth year, the award seeks to honour those who make a real difference to the lives of the young children, families and communities they work with.
People across Scotland can nominate a librarian, early years worker, volunteer, health visitor, or anyone who uses Bookbug in their work for the award. The winner will be celebrated with a short film made about their work, a special trophy and a bundle of picture books worth £500.
Nominations can be made on Scottish Book Trust’s website until Friday 10 December.
Bookbug, delivered by Scottish Book Trust, is the biggest nationwide universal book gifting programme in the world, through which every child in Scotland receives four free book bags between their birth and first year of school.
Around 375 Bookbug Sessions take place each week in libraries and community spaces across Scotland, and Bookbug for the Home practitioners support families on a one-to-one basis.
Marc Lambert, CEO of Scottish Book Trust, said: ‘Bookbug reaches children all over Scotland, providing vital access to books. Without the work of Bookbug practitioners, many families would not discover the fun and lifechanging benefits of sharing stories, songs and rhymes.
“It is fantastic to be able to recognise this important work through the Bookbug Hero Award, for the fifth time. Our thanks to Walker Books for their continued support in recognising these heroes.”
The team at Walker Books added: ‘We really appreciate all that Bookbug and the heroes who run the programmes do for communities, and we are really pleased that we can continue to show our appreciation and support of that work by sponsoring the award.
“We love that it shines a light on those practitioners who champion reading, and work tirelessly to change lives through stories and can’t wait to hear more about the next winner!’