A MUSEUM in Dunfermline has won an award – and for a change it's not the £12 million arts venue in Abbot Street that's celebrating.

The Dunfermline Carnegie Library & Galleries has rightly been praised and showered with accolades since it opened in 2017 but the town has more historic attractions worth shouting about.

The Andrew Carnegie Birthplace Museum, in Moodie Street, has just been announced as the winner of the national Family Friendly Museum Award at a ceremony hosted by art dealer and broadcaster, Philip Mould OBE, at the May Fair Hotel in London.

Museum manager Kirke Kook said: "We'd gone down to London and just thought we'd have a nice trip and meet some people as we didn't expect anything.

"There's never been a Scottish winner before, or a small museum winning, so it's just amazing we won the small museum category and the overall award. We've got two plaques now so we're all delighted.

"I think the staff are key. If you look at any of our reviews they always say the staff are wonderful and really welcome everyone, while we pay a lot of attention to being family friendly."

She added: "Because Andrew Carnegie's legacy is so broad, there's still a great deal of interest in him and there are lots of aspects we can dip into, for example we did dinosaur building with the children as he donated a massive model of a diplodocus to the London Natural History Museum.

"People may think his story is just for academics but, if you look at all he did in his lifetime, he always valued and invested in children and young people, the children's departments in the libraries he set up were quite unique at the time.

"He felt investing in children was investing in the future so it's still very relevant today."

Charity Kids in Museums awards the prize annually to one museum, gallery, historic home or heritage site in the UK that goes the extra mile to provide a great experience for families. It is the only museum award in the UK to be judged by families.

One of the undercover family judges said: “Considering the Andrew Carnegie Birthplace Museum is relatively small, we were not expecting to spend much time there.

"We had spent the day in Dunfermline doing other things, and were 'popping in' to the museum on our way back to the train station to head back home to Edinburgh.

"We ended up staying over two hours! The museum goes above and beyond in making themselves a welcoming place for families.

"I have visited many much bigger museums that don't make even half as much effort. I would wholeheartedly recommend it to other families.”

The museum was in competition with 14 other venues and received glowing reviews from family judges who praised its welcoming staff, colour-coded family zones, year-round programme of activities, sensory backpacks, hands-on exhibits and great facilities.

Emmajane Avery, chair of Kids in Museums, said: “This success is an excellent illustration of how museums, regardless of their size or budget, can provide a great experience for families.

"Congratulations to the team at the Andrew Carnegie Birthplace Museum and to all our shortlisted museums, who are doing great things to welcome children and families.”

From over 800 public nominations – making it the award’s most competitive year ever – 15 museums, from large national institutions to volunteer-run venues, were shortlisted for the award by an expert panel.

The finalists were assessed by undercover family judges, who visited the shortlisted museums over the summer, with their experiences deciding the winner.

The free museum explores the legacy of Andrew Carnegie, from his humble beginnings in Dunfermline to becoming the richest man in the world and the father of modern philanthropy.

This year also marks the centenary of Carnegie’s death.