Stella Thebridge
Stella Thebridge

We are delighted to send our congratulations to Stella Thebridge, whom we are proud to acclaim as one of our members and who has just been awarded an MBE at Windsor Castle for her services to the Schools Library Service, amongst other things.

We also know her as the dedicated editor of Holy Trinity, Sutton Coldfield, the most entertaining and informative recent local publication relating to the history of our parish church and to which many of the Sutton Coldfield Local History Research Group made a valuable contribution.


MBE is a real honour for principal librarian

Report by Matt Panter
Chronicle Week

 

SteIIa Thebridge with her husband Dave at Windsor Castle

SteIIa Thebridge with her husband Dave at Windsor Castle

Stella Thebridge, who was joined by husband Dave, picked up her gong from Prince Charles after being honoured for services to public libraries.

Stella, from Sutton, said: "It was a lovely day and wonderful to be part of something so big, that feeling of ceremony. Prince Charles was lovely and spoke to everyone.

"He asked me about libraries and my role. He was very genuine and made you feel important. It made me feel very special and it was a real honour."

Stella is nationally respected as an authority in her field, and has just retired as Warwickshire's Principal Librarian: Schools and Reading. She is renowned for her transformational management of the Schools Library Service and her development of services for children, young people and families.

Stella led a project funded by the Paul Hamlyn Foundation promoting services across Warwickshire to looked after children. She was also Warwickshire Co-ordinator of the National Year of Reading 2008 where she oversaw a successful and wide-ranging programme of reading activities for all age groups.

She has also played a national role through her voluntary work as a board member, and as chairman of the Association of Senior Children's and Educational Librarians (ASCEL). She led work on the review of ASCEL as a professional body, to strengthen its ability to represent the voice of the child and young people across the libraries sector.

This newscutting is from Chronicle Week dated Thursday, October 28, 2021.