South Scotland MSP Martin Whitfield has tabled a motion in the Scottish Parliament to congratulate Preston Lodge High School’s librarian Derek France on collecting a national award.

Mr France saw off competition from across the UK to claim Secondary Librarian of the Year at the SLA (School Library Association) Awards 2022.

The Labour MSP had already highlighted Mr France’s shortlisting for the prestigious national award but has now tabled another motion to congratulate the PL librarian on being judged the overall UK winner in his category.

Mr Whitfield said: “I’m delighted that Derek has won this very prestigious award.

“He is a really fantastic school librarian, who works so hard to put the library at the heart of learning and ensure it is central to school life.

“He is a great, very well-deserved individual winner, but I also want to say a huge shout out to all school librarians, who do such brilliant work inspiring and engaging our future generations.”