Sutton Coldfield MBE Stella's date 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.” to be a part of it.”

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 the 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.

Stella has published many influential articles and reviews. She co-wrote the chapter on public libraries in the last two volumes of British Librarianship and Information Work (1991-2000 and 2001-2005), and collaborated on a publication on library design.

She has also had an international impact, presenting a paper at the International Federation of Library Associations’ conference in 2019.

She has also played a critical 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.

Her expertise has been recognised by her appointment as one of the first children’s librarian peer reviewers for early years work.

She led on identifying improvement opportunities and good practice on speech and language development initiatives across a wide range of services country-wide and advocated for the role of children’s libraries in supporting the home learning environment.

She has been pivotal in developing new national partnerships with organisations such as the BBC and Tiny Happy People to ensure libraries are recognised as a key partner supporting the home learning environment.

She was also a leading member of a libraries group that is working closely with the Department for Education on ‘Hungry Little Minds’, a national initiative to boost speech and language development in the home learning environment.

Stella has also been a pioneer in developing libraries’ offer in volunteering opportunities for young people, working with Youth Employment UK