LBF International Awards for Latvia and Sweden

The National Library of Latvia, a Swedish Bookshop and Penguin Random House were among the winners at The London Book Fair International Excellence Awards last night (Tuesday 10th April).

Bookstore of the Year, sponsored by Gardners, went to The English Bookshop in Uppsala, Sweden, with the judges saying it "demonstrated its all-round capability with the outstanding loyalty of its customers and outreach."

The first Audiobook Publisher of the Year prize, meanwhile, was scooped by PRH US. "Crucial to PRH Audio’s success is finding the right voices, making accurate recordings and memorable performances,” said the judges, while praising the list’s "professionalism, sheer quality and scale of ambition". Another new award Library of the Year went to the National Library of Latvia in Riga. Of the library, which turns 100 next year, the judges said: "It is a symbol of Latvia’s national revival and sense of identity."

SAGE founder Sara Miller McCune collected the Lifetime Achievement Award. David Roche, non-executive chairman of the London Book Fair, paid tribute to her as "a visionary publisher and entrepreneur" who had started SAGE at the age of just 24 and built it into a global company. Accepting the prize, McCune noted there were "very few awards for people who are readers, book lovers, book collectors, and who have a real hand in making books", and said that for SAGE publishing was always about "making useful knowledge more widely available, to inform good public policy".

"We don't always win, but we have to keep trying, especially now," she added.    

LBF director Jacks Thomas said: "The International Excellence Awards are a reminder of the magnificent work being done in publishing by creative groups of people all around the world. It has been a pleasure and honour to celebrate these individuals and organisations."