Steve Stratford

Steve was nominated by Cheryl Hesketh, Library Development Manager: Reading at Conwy Libraries - a recognition that came from her direct view of how Steve was applying the Dynamic Readers’ Advisory course in his day-to-day work.

Steve approached the practical application of the course in a positive, reflective way. His honest and detailed responses to the course questionnaires, and his determination to put what he discovered into practice in his library, impressed both Cheryl and the Opening the Book team. His passion and commitment came through in everything he did on the course.

01 Readers as a source of book knowledge

Steve was particularly clear that readers themselves hold a lot of book knowledge, and that talking and listening to them about their reading helps him to gain more knowledge in turn. Rather than treating book expertise as something library staff supply to readers, he treated it as something that flows in both directions - and used that to inform how he engaged with people on the floor.

02 Seeing the space through readers' eyes

Steve was acute at seeing that libraries need to implement changes that put readers first - and that part of the library's role is to help people find not just the books they already know about, but books that might be new to them. The course pushed him to view the library space through the eyes of its users rather than its staff, and that shift in perspective shaped how he thought about display, layout and stock.

03 Putting it into practice at Penmaenmawr

Steve put several of the course's suggestions into practice at Penmaenmawr Library and saw results almost immediately - books going out which, in his own words, would not otherwise have seen the light of day. The course gave him a structured way to get more out of the stock the library already held.