Under the Act funding is provided by Central Government and payments are made to eligible authors in accordance with how often their books are lent out from a selected sample of UK public libraries. The UK Public Lending Right office is part of the British Library. The British Library receives funding for PLR from the Department for Culture, Media and Sport. For the current spending review period PLR funding amounts to £6.6 million per year. To qualify for payment authors must apply...

  For the last 200 years gamekeepers have burnt long narrow strips of mature heather on a rotation. By creating a patchwork of different aged heathers a gamekeeper knows he will always have some young heather for grouse to feed on that is nutritionally richer and more digestible. There has been considerable research on the effects of such activities and the impact that poorly controlled fires can have on the peat substrate. However, my interest in the photograph is because I am...

Ravenseat is a 2,000 acre hill farm at the top of my dale where Amanda Owen, ‘Yorkshire Shepherdess’, lives with her husband and nine children.  You may have seen her on the telly in programmes hosted by Ade Edmondson and Ben Fogle. In November and December, Ravenseat was back on the box in four fascinating episodes covering the changing seasons on the farm. It painted a very realistic picture of what hard work it is to manage the isolated farm at the top of the dale,...

Last night I enjoyed an evening in Reeth that began with the lighting of the enormous bonfire and culminated in a really spectacular firework display. The centre of the village was packed with adults and children of all ages celebrating an attempt to reduce the House of Lords to rubble! This is the time of year when I begin the next book. Currently I am still working on the plot but soon I must start monitoring the word count and ensuring that the weekly target is maintained, otherwise...

Surprisingly, now, even places with large populations like Richmond and Catterick have what are referred to as ‘community libraries’. I assume that now means they are run by the community (rather than for the community). As a child I would borrow three books a week, exchanging them on a Saturday morning. I find myself doing the same now.  Of course I choose authors I know I will enjoy such as Ruth Rendell, Reginald Hill and Sophie Hannah but I always select one book by an...