Jarrold's Book Department is on the short list for the Midlands and Wales region for the Independent Bookseller of the Year Award alongside:

Scarthin Books, Cromford, Derbyshire
Warwick Books, Warwick
Blandford Books, Worcestershire
The Chepstow Bookshop, Chepstow, Monmouthshire
Mostly Books, Abingdon, Oxfordshire

The winner of the award will be announced at a glittering awards ceremony at the Royal Courts of Justice in London on 17^th May. As well as being crowned Britain’s best independent bookseller, the winner will receive a £5,000 cash prize from award sponsors Gardners Books to promote and market their store.

The entries have been divided into four regions across the UK – the North and Scotland; the Midlands and Wales; the South West; and London and the South East. The next stage of the competition sees one winner from each region go forward to the national shortlist for overall UK Independent Bookseller of the Year. The national shortlist will be announced on at an event on 20^th April during The London Book Fair, the global publishing community’s leading spring forum for booksellers, publishers and librarians worldwide.

The Independent Bookseller of the Year Award forms part of the new Bookseller Industry Awards which span retail and publishing, recognising excellence and achievement within the industry. The judging criteria covers a whole range of bookselling disciplines including operational excellence – from the range of stock available, helpfulness and knowledge of staff, web innovation and premises, to promotions and opening hours; customer service – evidence of ‘going the extra mile’ for their customers, and community – how the bookshops fit in to the local area, from the range of events programmed to working with local libraries and colleges. …/

The judging panel is widely drawn, with expertise from inside the book trade and beyond. Judges for 2010 are Ottakar’s founder James Heneage; Jo Howard with experience from WH Smiths; bestselling author Kate Mosse; Paul Smiddy, a noted city analyst, most recently for HSBC; marketing expert Damian Horner; Peter Williams, former boss of Selfridges and Robert Clark, one of the UK’s best informed observers of retail.

www.thebookseller.com/awards