ABOUT MARILYN
B.A. A.L.A. F.E.A.

Marilyn Brocklehurst is a librarian at heart. She worked her way up through the Library Service before leaving to set up her ideal bookshop - the Norfolk Children’s Book Centre.

For over 35 years, Marilyn shaped the bookshop into a wonderful space for families to gather and read stories together. With the support of a team of former teachers, librarians and good friends, she managed the shop as both a specialty destination bookshop and an important resource for schools and teachers to discover the best children’s books available and to receive support and advice. 

Marilyn’s ethos has always been about reading for pleasure. On her visits to schools and national conferences up and down the country, she regularly enthused about children’s books and has inspired hundreds of teachers and educators during her career.

She ran a Reading for Pleasure conference in Norwich every year from 2012-2017 and regularly judged National book awards and provided book reviews for the Bookseller, the Guardian and other print publications. 

In recognition of her life-long enthusiasm for children's reading, in February 2016 she was invited to become a Fellow of the English Association. She was also given honorary life membership of the YLG in 2019.