We're managing a series of projects, funded by Arts Council England, to develop and better support the library sector and to deliver our BBC Novels that Shaped Our World library partnership. These include Leading Libraries, our Accreditation project and our Regional Support Offer. 

We're delighted to announce the appointment of three new roles within the Libraries Connected team to help us to deliver these pieces of work. The new roles are all home-based, which has allowed us to attract talented people from around the country.

Simon Savidge is the Project Manager for our BBC Novels that Shaped Our World library partnership.
Simon is behind the book blog and Youtube channel Savidge Reads. He founded the Green Carnation Prize, has been a talent scout for Orion Publishing, and a judge for the Guardians’ Not the Booker, Fiction Uncovered and the Costa Book Awards. He has written for the Bookseller, Waterstones, the Guardian and The Independent and hosted literary events at bookshops and festivals across the UK and in the USA. He is the chair for the Portico Prize, has presented on Sky Arts and can be heard monthly on the Sarah Brett Show on BBC 5 Live. He is a passionate lover of books, reading and libraries, and he joins us from Liverpool Library service where he led on commercialisation, retail, marketing and events, covering 19 libraries including HMP Liverpool. Simon will begin with us next week.

Adrienne Speake is our new Sector Development Project Manager.
Adrienne joined us in April last year to help manage our contract with Sopra Steria. She has worked in the  library and information sector for many years. Her experience includes work in the NHS, education, research and the charity sector. Adrienne is now working on our Leading Libraries and Accreditation projects and she will work to ensure the effective delivery of these ambitious and far reaching pieces of work.

Tessa Blades is our Projects and Finance administrator.
Tessa joins us from New Zealand  where she worked as a Project Coordinator and Analyst on a number of projects for the Ministry of Education, The State Services Commission and The Treasury. After her return to the UK in 2018, Tessa worked as a Work Placement Co-ordinator at Wiltshire College and has a PRINCE 2 qualification in project management.