Man who ‘put Warwickshire village’s library on the map’ is on New Year Honours List

A man credited with ‘putting his Warwickshire village’s community library on the map’ has been named on HM The King's New Year Honours List.

Richard Fowler, the former lead for Harbury Community Library will receive the British Empire Medal.

Richard, who has very recently moved away from Harbury and back to Shropshire where both he and his wife Julia were born, was involved as a volunteer for the village’s community library for almost ten years since 2014.

It was through this that he became a trustee on the board of the Community Managed Libraries National Peer Network which he had helped to establish.

Villagers, including fellow community library volunteer and the chair of its steering committee Sharon Hancock, have praised Richard for the “huge amount of work for the library” which has evolved into a community hub over the years or his involvement.

Janice Montague, another of Richard’s fellow volunteers, said: “He was the man who put the library on the map”.

Richard said his first reaction to being told he was named on the list was “total shock” but that he is now “really pleased”.

He said: “Giving your time to help your community is something I saw a lot of when I lived in Germany and Harbury is like that.

"It’s an extraordinarily active village with so much going on there.”

Martin Harrison, from Leamington, will also receive the Medal of the Order of the British Empire for his service to the community in the town and Warwickshire.