Ennis festival nominated for Scottish award

Ennis Book Club Festival has been nominated for a prestigious award in Scotland. The EDGE 2012 awards, which are designed to reward innovation and creativity in Library services, will be announced in Edinburgh on March 1st at a conference organised by Edinburgh City Council. Ennis has been nominated for the Social award which celebrates library engagement with community groups. Festival Chairperson Ciana Campbell said they were thrilled to be nominated for an EDGE award. ‘Ennis Book Club Festival is organised by a voluntary committee in association with Clare County Library,’ she said, ‘and we really value that support. Ennis is a festival dedicated to book club members and readers and given that there are over 150 library-based book clubs in the country it makes complete sense to work together in this way. The organisers of the EDGE 2012 Conference obviously feel that we are a good example of how the public sector can support community organisations like ourselves.’ Helen Walsh, Clare County Librarian, said ‘The festival has enabled the library service to reach out, make contacts and create goodwill with a broad sector of the community. Over the years, links have been forged with local writers, artists, musicians and youth groups and the library service, through the festival, has contributed to the cultural life, tourism and economy of the region and proved that Local Authorities can play a vital role in projects such as this.’ At the cutting edge of digital technology, the EDGE 2012 conference will show how libraries – physically, virtually and socially are revolutionising local authority service delivery. The two-day conference in Edinburgh will bring together top local government figures from the UK and beyond to explore how libraries are key to delivering council services, e-government, learning and digital inclusion. Ennis Book Club Festival 2012 will be held from 2nd to 4th March. The full programme of events, authors and contributors is available on www.ennisbookclubfestival.com Festival tickets are now available. Booking for all events in all venues is through Glór Box Office. To book, ring 065 6843103 or email boxoffice@glor.ie