Booksellers award Scotland three titles

Scotland not only has Britain’s best city library, but it has the UK’s best bookshop and bookshop manager too, according to the annual industry awards for booksellers.

At a ceremony in London, Edinburgh City Libraries were judged to be “innovative on so many fronts, full of energy, bang up to date and unafraid of the future”.

“This is a template for libraries everywhere to be inspired by,” the judges declared.

A special £5,000 cash prize was awarded to Mainstreet Trading Company, which opened four years ago in St Boswells in the Borders.

“This is a local bookshop with the values and qualities of a world-class retailer,” the judges said.

Bookshop manager of the Year was won by Darrell Thrush-Denning, who runs Blackwell’s in Edinburgh.