The well-deserved winner of the McCulla Award 2022 is Tony Pilmer. At present he is Librarian and Archivist at the Royal Aeronautical Society, but has had a long career in local studies in Slough and Hertfordshire. He has been active in CILIP’s Local Studies Group and the South sub-group for many years and also belongs to CILIP’s Rare Books Group. He has shared his enthusiasm for local studies through the organisation of study days, visits and contributions to the LSG blog, but most outstanding has been his work over the last four years on the Local Studies Toolkit, an online resource for all who work with local studies collections. Tony developed the initial plan and recruited a group of contributors, proof readers and checkers. He promoted the project and managed the volunteers. It is in a format, devised by him, which allows easy updating and contribution from users and will be an invaluable tool for those who work in the field.
Tag: McCulla Award
McCulla Award Winners Announced
We are delighted to announce the winners of the McCulla Award. The McCulla Award recognises outstanding contributions to local studies librarianship. The winners for 2020 and 2021 are:
2020: Norma Crowe, Local Studies Librarian, Medway Archives Centre.
2021: Louise Birch, Senior Librarian Manager, Local Studies, Leeds Libraries.
Many congratulations to Norma and Louise. We hope to organise a presentation in due course.
Sally Jenkinson – McCulla Award Speech
In the week we announce the latest winners of the McCulla Award, Sally Jenkinson of Surrey History Centre, reflects on the achievements that won her the Award in 2019/20.
Highlights of my projects
When I first joined Surrey History Centre my main role was to help with a project to set up volunteer run Local History Centres in libraries around the county, mainly supporting the volunteers with training and resources. Some of their excellent work can be seen online at Epsom & Ewell History Explorer and the RH7 History Group
I soon became involved in developing the Surrey History Centre website, and in due course in an interesting new project to make it possible for customers to pay for events and buy books online. This has now been superseded by Surrey Heritage’s combined online catalogue and shop.
The Quarter Sessions project was rather special as it was undertaken by the Surrey History Trust. The project was led by volunteer John Holland who sadly passed away before completion. I was pleased to be able to help finish producing the CD, and a few years later to arrange to put the same data on Findmypast where it continues to produce income for Surrey Heritage.
Probably the most important work I have done has been arranging to put records online on Ancestry, Findmypast, Forces War Records and The Genealogist. To be able to make so many records available all over the world so easily is something we would never have thought possible when I started work in Surrey Local Studies Library in Guildford. That was in 1989, when enquiries arrived on paper in the post.
The database I most enjoyed making is the Loseley Letters database. I created this for colleagues so that they could enable researchers to reconstruct sequences of correspondence as well as searching for a person, place, subject or keyword.
My favourite volunteers project was the Surrey tithe records project because tithe records are so useful for local history research. We made transcripts and copies of the maps available to purchase, and we were all very pleased that the project also helped the Surrey Wildlife Trust protect some ancient woodlands. In the second phase of the project volunteer David Young produced GIS-enabled tithe maps and first edition 25 inch OS maps for the county which researchers could purchase, and we were able to provide courses to show them how to use them.
Local Studies Librarian of the Year 2020 and 2021
We are pleased to announce the winners of the McCulla Award aka Local Studies Librarian of the Year. Two McCulla Awards for Local Studies Librarian of the year have been made this year, as the pandemic interrupted the usual arrangements. The Award is in memory of Dorothy McCulla, who was Head of the Local Studies Department at Birmingham Central Library from 1969 until her untimely death in 1981. The judges, from CILIP Local Studies Group, had a difficult job choosing winners from a strong field, which reflects the excellent work being done under difficult circumstances in the past few years.
Norma Crowe, Local Studies Librarian at Medway Archives Centre, won the Award for 2020. She has worked in local studies in Medway since 1995 and has a fine record of community engagement. Her work on the history of Short Brothers of Rochester led to the founding of the Short Brothers Commemoration Society (which she chaired) and the erection of a memorial in the town. A similar project led to the setting up of Strood Heritage Society. Her outreach work often uses exhibitions to involve local volunteers and encourage visitors to the Archives Centre, in recent years she has featured women’s history and World War I. New audiences have also been attracted by her wide range of publications and web pages.
The 2021 winner is Louise Birch who has been Senior Librarian Manager, Local Studies, in Leeds since 2015. She has strategic responsibility for the department and is particularly concerned with building digital platforms and leading an externally funded oral history project in partnership with other library authorities. During the pandemic, she was able to oversee the development of a new website for the Leeds online photograph archive of over 66,000 images, which has massively increased public engagement with the collection. She also runs a regular programme of events for Heritage Open Days, is developing the local studies offer to schools and has created heritage tours of the Central Library building.
Alice Lock, Secretary of CILIP Local Studies Group
Nominations open for the McCulla Award 2021
The Local Studies Group of CILIP are looking to recognise an outstanding local studies librarian.
The McCulla award is usually given for a recent major project, or as a lifetime award for someone near the end of their career. It comes with a prize of £200. Re-submissions from previous years are very welcome.
The prize is in memory of Dorothy McCulla who was the Head of the Local Studies Department at Birmingham Central Library, a post she held from 1969 until her untimely death in 1981.
We welcome nominations from colleagues, local historians, family historians and anyone who knows a local studies professional who has made a difference.
To nominate, please complete the form at the bottom of this page.
Any questions? Please contact Alice Lock via alicelocalstudies@outlook.com
This year nominations close on 31 October 2021. Nominations received after that would be considered for the next award.
Nominate your local studies librarian of the year
Do you know a Local Studies Librarian that has gone the extra mile? Have they pioneered an amazing project or given a career of excellent service to their community? If you do, nominate them for the McCulla Prize, the annual Local Studies Librarian of the Year Award.
We welcome nominations from colleagues, local historians, family historians and anyone who knows a local studies professional who has made a difference.
To nominate, please complete the form on this page.
This year nominations close on 30th November 2019. Nominations received after that would be considered for the next award.
CILIP Local Studies Group 