Micah Ashford was awarded the UK Pupil Library Assistant of the Year Award (Secondary School winner) at a ceremony at Pearson Publishers in London on 25th March 2025. Micah was nominated by his School Librarian Alice Leggatt (an SLG committee member), who said about him:
“Micah is an exceptionally kind and empathetic student; he is intensely interested in the wellbeing of others (not just his friends but the whole student body). Our Library Policy states that we run ‘a welcoming, positive, well-organised, safe and dynamic space in the heart of the school, where all pupils are encouraged and empowered in their reading, learning and social development’ and Micah really does help us to achieve this, from seemingly small contributions such as welcoming students at the door at break time, to larger ones such as leading library-focussed assemblies or designing specific book recommendations. Micah is the embodiment of both what great school libraries can look like, and what they can help their users to achieve.”
Here we catch up with Micah about what the award meant to him and his plans for the future.
1) Tell us a bit about yourself Micah and your love for reading?
I am a Year 9 students at Oaks Park High School, I live with my Mum and my younger brother Joel in Carshalton, South West London; my favourite things are reading, Legend of Zelda and Pokémon. have always loved reading, even from a very young age. I feel like books are a place where I can retreat from the world. My favourite author is Patrick Ness, I love his writing style, his books are the best I’ve ever read.
2) What is like being a pupil library assistant and what do you enjoy about your role?
As soon as I started at Oaks Park High, I gravitated straight to the library, I loved how it took care of students and how it was almost a community hub. I was so pleased when I found out that I could be a pupil librarian and started my training, it has given me a safe place within school, support when I’ve needed it and a way to challenge myself, develop my skills and help others. I think my favourite library activity is being a Dungeon Master for our D&D club, I love the chance to help other students build imaginary worlds we can enjoy together, especially younger students. D&D is great for building friendships and imagination, and for taking a break from screens!
3) How did you feel when you were selected as a finalist for the award?
To be honest I was just so flattered that my librarians thought I was good enough to be put forward, that being selected as a finalist felt unbelievable!
4) What was like attending the award ceremony and winning the award as well?
I was very nervous but also excited just to meet everyone there and see their love for libraries as well. When they announced me as a winner I was genuinely shocked as there were so many other great nominees. My little brother and my mum couldn’t believe it either, my brother wouldn’t stop hugging me, they were so proud!
I was also very proud that our local MP for Carshalton, Bobby Dean, visited the school library to congratulate me on the award and to have a look around at the amazing work we all do here. He gave me a House of Commons badge and I gave him a Librarian badge, it was so interesting to learn more about politics, and great to show off how brilliant school libraries are to someone who can make a difference.
5) Can you give us an overview about your project for your school library and what will be outcomes from this project?
Earlier this year I helped to host our first ever Open Mic event in the library and we found that loads of students who didn’t normally visit the space came in! I want to help run lots more of these events and theme them around books to encourage a link between reading and being creative (e.g. Gothic books & Haunting Songs, Comedy books and Stand Up etc.). The very generous £500 prize money will therefore be used to purchase our own music equipment so that we run these events whenever we want to, without needing to hire or borrow equipment from elsewhere. I’m really excited about the project and have been working on designing bookmarks with related book titles on them to promote reading during the events. I am so glad to volunteer in a library that supports students to be creative and brave.
To find about more about the Pupil Librarian of the Year Awards, visit: https://libpupilaward.wixsite.com/home