The SCONUL Library Design Awards showcases and celebrates the very best in recent academic library design in the UK and Ireland. There are two categories of award:
- Small (under 2,000 square metres)
- Medium/large (2,000 square metres or greater)
The selection criteria for the awards concentrates on three broad themes: Strategic alignment, design, and transformation. The short listed libraries illustrated clearly:
- how the development contributed to the strategy of the institution
- how the buidling design helped articulate the vision for development of the library service
- how stakeholders and users contributed to the development
- how the design meets the objectives of the development
- how the building design enabled innovation and facilitated service redesign
- how the development supports its stakeholders and users in achieving their objectives.
The SCONUL Library Design Awards have been running since 1973 and are held every three years. The aim is to encourage good practice in library planning and design and to celebrate outstanding examples of cutting-edge design. Awards are given on the basis of the functional design of buildings and their transformational nature, rather than purely architectural merit.