In This Issue

Jump to Page

1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18

Audio version

DECEMBER MIDWINTER 2016 PREVIEW COGNOTES 15

Library Users Nominate Favorites for Prestigious National Public Service Honor

Ten librarians were honored with this year's I Love My Librarian Award for their exceptional public service to the community and ongoing commitment to transforming lives through education and lifelong learning. The winning librarians were selected from a pool of more than 1,300 nominations submitted by library patrons nationwide who use public, school, college, community college, or university libraries. The nominations detailed stories about how their favorite librarians helped improve the quality of life in their communities.

The nation's 166,164 certified librarians continue to play a vital role in assisting and inspiring all who seek information and access to technologies. The I Love My Librarian Award winners are living examples of how library professionals are expanding beyond their traditional functions and providing more opportunities for community engagement and delivering new services that connect closely with patrons’ needs.

“It is gratifying to have the I Love My Librarian Award bring much deserved recognition to librarians. As libraries transform so do librarians to support individual opportunity and community progress,” said Sari Feldman, president of the ALA. “Every day librarians connect library users with the books, information and critical technology resources they need to thrive in the digital age.”

The award recipients include a librarian who fought censorship when residents attempted to ban and remove books from the shelves; a librarian who works with incarcerated youth; a librarian who fostered a deeper understanding of the Muslim world by facilitating a campus exhibit and lecture; and a librarian whose efforts helped raise student reading scores significantly at an underserved elementary school.

Each winning librarian received a $5,000 prize at a ceremony and reception in New York City, hosted by the philanthropic foundation Carnegie Corporation of New York, which sponsors the award. The New York Public Library and The New York Times are co-sponsors of the award, which is administered by the ALA.

The librarians join an esteemed group of award recipients who are recognized as being catalysts for powerful individual and community change. Only 80 librarians have received the award since its inception in 2008.

The 2015 recipients are:

  • Diane Brown
    New Haven (Connecticut) Free Public Library, Stetson Branch
  • Doug Campbell
    Willis Library, University of North Texas, Denton, Texas
  • Sylvia Cieply
    Otto A. Fischer School Library, Orange County Juvenile Hall Orange, California
  • Dona J. Helmer
    College Gate Elementary School Library, Anchorage, Alaska
  • Courtney P. Kincaid
    Formerly with Hood County Library, Granbury, Texas
  • Leslie D. Koch
    Armstrong Elementary School Eastover, North Carolina
  • April Roy
    Kansas City (Missouri) Public Library, Lucile H. Bluford Branch
  • Elizabeth G. Rumery
    Avery Point Campus Library, University of Connecticut Groton, Connecticut
  • Dr. Christopher A. Shaffer
    Troy (Alabama) University
  • Shugana Williams
    Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College, Perkinston Campus

For more information regarding the 2015

I Love My Librarian Award recipients, please visit www.ilovelibraries.org/ilovemylibrarian.

Carnegie Corporation of New York was established by Andrew Carnegie in 1911 “to promote the advancement and diffusion of knowledge and understanding.” In keeping with this mandate, the Corporation's work focuses on the issues that Andrew Carnegie considered of paramount importance: international peace, the advancement of education and knowledge, and the strength of our democracy.

The New York Public Library is a free provider of education and information for the people of New York and beyond. The Library offers free materials, computer access, classes, exhibitions, programming, and more to everyone from toddlers to scholars, and has seen record numbers of attendance and circulation in recent years. The New York Public Library serves more than 18 million patrons and millions more around the globe who use its resources at www.nypl.org. Learn more about how to support the Library at nypl.org/support.

ALA is the oldest and largest library association in the world. The ALA administers the I Love My Librarian Award through the ALA's Public Awareness Office which promotes the value of libraries and librarians.