Entries for the 2025 Library Assistant Blog awards for an article in the style of a blog post will open in June 2025.
The competition is open to staff at all library assistant and equivalent grades in CONUL Training & Development member libraries.
The theme of your blog entry must be library related. This could include any aspect of your current work; your ideas on a particular library development; some training/developmental activity you undertook; an event/innovation in your library; a particular item in your library’s collection; your library building etc.
The closing date for entries is the 31st July 2025.
1st Prize €200
2nd Prize €150
3rd Prize €100
Please see the following Blog Guidelines and Judging Criteria for further details.
CONUL T&D LIBRARY ASSISTANT BLOG AWARD winners for 2023:
1st Prize:
2nd Prize:
3rd Prize:
The 2023 CONUL Training & Development Library Assistant Award required entrants to submit a blog post on any library related topic. Entrants could opt to blog about any aspect of their current work for example training activities they undertook; a development in their own library or an item in their library’s collection. The prize winning and commended entries are published on the libfocus blog.
Very Highly Commended Entries:
My work on the Crawford Art Gallery’s Library Catalogue Project by Mona Power, University College Cork
Cataloguing an Archival Collection of Private Papers by Selina Collard, University College Dublin
Highly Commended Entries:
Unlocking Voices: DCU Library Creative Writing Competition and the Mountjoy Education Centre by Grace O’Connor, Dublin City University
“Brewing up a storm” – Outreach to develop your professional profile by Catherine Ahearne, Maynooth University
Bringing Collections to a Wider Audience – Digitisation @MU library by Bridie O’Neill, Edel King, Laura Gallagher, Maynooth University
Creating engaging fire safety resources – reflections from a new library assistant by Declan Synnott, University College Cork
CONUL T&D LIBRARY ASSISTANT AWARD – Previous Awards
2021 CONUL T&D LIBRARY ASSISTANT AWARD
The 2021 CONUL Training & Development Library Assistant Award required entrants to submit a blog post on any library related topic. Entrants could opt to blog about any aspect of their current work for example training activities they undertook; a development in their own library or an item in their library’s collection. The prize winning and highly commended entries are published on the libfocus blog.
2019 CONUL T&D LIBRARY ASSISTANT AWARD
The 2019 CONUL Training & Development Library Assistant Award required entrants to submit a blog post on any library related topic. Entrants could opt to blog about any aspect of their current work for example training activities they undertook; a development in their own library or an item in their library’s collection. The prize winning and highly commended entries are published on the libfocus blog.
2018 CONUL T&D LIBRARY ASSISTANT AWARD
The 2018 CONUL Training & Development Library Assistant Award required entrants to submit a blog post on any library related topic. Entrants could opt to blog about any aspect of their current work for example training activities they undertook; a development in their own library or an item in their library’s collection. The prize winning and highly commended entries are published on the libfocus blog.
2016 ANLTC LIBRARY ASSISTANT AWARD
The 2016 ANLTC Library Assistant Award required entrants to submit a blog post on any library related topic. Entrants could opt to blog about any aspect of their current work for example training activities they undertook; a development in their own library or an item in their library’s collection. Prize winners were announced at the CONUL Conference on the 2nd June 2016. The prize winning and highly commended entries were published on the libfocus blog.
Award Winners 2016:
1st Prize Tradition and Technology and The Glucksman Library, UL by Seán Cafferkey, University of Limerick
2nd Prize A Captive Audience by Bernie Gardiner, Maynooth University 2 nd Prize The Kelmscott Chaucer by Helen McGinley, The Library of Trinity College, University of Dublin
3rd Prize Facing the Open Access Challenge – The experience of a University Open Access Team by Megan Corrigan, Queen’s University Belfast
3rd Prize Brian O’Higgins/Brian Ó hUigínn (1882-1963) by Olive Morrin, Maynooth University
Highly commended entries 2016
