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2015 Achievement Award winners

RUSA Division Level Achievement Award Winners

“RUSA’s Achievement Awards provide us the very special opportunity to recognize the most outstanding librarians, libraries and projects in the field. At this event we also highlight the successes of our future leaders on what they’ve worked so hard to achieve. These awards recognize important contributions and allow our next generation of leaders to gain further experience through attendance at the ALA Annual Conference and conduct further research,” remarked RUSA President, Joseph Thompson. “I want to congratulate this year’s award recipients on their accomplishments. We look forward to celebrating with everyone in June at the RUSA Achievement Awards Reception in San Francisco – one of the signature events of the ALA Annual Conference. I would like to sincerely thank the members of our award committees for their invaluable volunteer work through the selection processes and our generous sponsors for their support.”

The 2015 winners are:

  • Isadore Gilbert Mudge Award, RUSA’s highest honor, sponsored by Gale Cengage Learning, offers $5,000 and a citation to an individual who has made a distinguished contribution to reference librarianship. Denise Beaubien Bennett, Engineering Librarian, University of Florida, was selected for her instrumental shaping of the instructional program for thousands of students in many disciplines, with a reputation for inspired teaching and creation of many online and video tutorials, and presentation of workshops nationwide.
  • Gale Cengage Learning Award for Excellence in Reference and Adult Services, sponsored by Gale Cengage Learning, offers $3,000 and a citation to a library or library system for developing an imaginative and unique resource to meet patrons’ reference needs. Lauren Comito was selected for the development of the interactive database, “Where in Queens?” which uses GPS technology to help users connect to social services that are closest to where they are located at any given time.
  • NoveList’s Margaret E. Monroe Library Adult Services Award, sponsored by NoveList, which offers $1,250 and a citation to a librarian who has made significant contributions to library adult services. Neil Hollands, Adult Services Librarian, Williamsburg Regional Library, was selected for being a leader in the Readers’ Advisory (RA) world. Holland’s development and advocacy of form-based RA has been a tremendous advancement in RA services.
  • Reference Service Press Award, sponsored by Reference Service Press, consists of $2,500 and a plaque which recognizes an author(s) of the most outstanding article published in Reference and User Services Quarterly (RUSQ), RUSA’s research journal, during the preceding two-volume year. Pauline Dewan, Laurier/Nipissing Liaison Librarian for the Brantford, Ontario campuses of Wilfrid Laurier University and Nipissing University was selected for her article, “Reading Matters in the Academic Library: Taking the Lead from Public Librarians.” Summer 2013, Volume 52, Issue 4. This article explores the idea of revitalizing academic libraries by reconsidering the place of pleasure reading in them.
  • John Sessions Memorial Award, consists of a plaque sponsored by the Department for Professional Employees, AFL-CIO, and recognizes a library or library system which has made a significant effort to work with the labor community and by doing so has brought recognition to the history and contribution of the labor movement to the development of the United States. The Calcasieu Parish Library System was selected for its Southwest Louisiana (SWLA) Workforce Resource Guide. The guide offers essential step-by-step instructions for job seekers and providing contact information and guidance for where to go, who to call and what to say.

BRASS Achievement Award Winners

  • The Academic Business Librarianship Travel Award, which consists of citation and $1,250, is awarded to an individual new to the field of academic business librarianship in order to support attendance to the ALA Annual Conference. Grace Liu, Business Reference Librarian at University of Maine, was selected as this year’s recipient.
  • The Emerald Research Grant Award, sponsored by Emerald Group Publishing, consists of one $5,000 grant awarded to an individual or team seeking funding support to conduct research in business librarianship. Jason Dewland, Assistant Librarian and Cindy Elliott, Engineering & Innovation Librarian, University of Arizona were selected for their study, “Review of Research Methods Employed by Start-Ups,” which will identify networks of new businesses that can be targeted for data collection and to identify the research practices and information needs of new start-up businesses.
  • The Gale Cengage Learning Excellence in Business Librarianship Award, sponsored by Gale Cengage Learning, offers $3,000 to a librarian providing outstanding business reference services. Peter Z. McKay, Business Librarian, University of Florida is this year’s winner for his innovative development of online business collection development, instructional resources, service to BRASS and his invaluable contributions to the profession.
  • The Gale Cengage Learning Student Travel Award, sponsored by Gale Cengage Learning, offers $1,250 in travel funds to the ALA Annual Conference and a one year BRASS membership to a student in an accredited MLIS program. Sara F. Hess, MLIS candidate, University of Michigan School of Information was named as this year’s recipient.
  • The Morningstar Public Librarian Support Award, sponsored by Morningstar, offers $1,250 to a public librarian providing business reference services so they may attend the ALA Annual Conference. Barbara Alvarez, business liaison librarian, Barrington Area Library (Illinois) was selected for her extensive range of activities in support of the local business community, including one-on-one appointments to assist business professionals and entrepreneurs, podcasts, as well as maintaining a business blog and a SlideShare account with business database tutorials.

CODES achievement Award winners

  • Zora Neale Hurston Award, sponsored by HarperCollins, offers $1,250 in travel funds to the ALA Annual Conference, tickets to the United for Libraries’ Gala Author tea, and a set of the Zora Neale Hurston books published by Harper Perennial. Carolyn Garnes, Founder and CEO of Aunt Lil’s Reading Room. Aunt Lil’s Reading Room serves as a platform for children, authors, and illustrators of color and African descent. The project aims to promote the unique history and culture of African Americans through books, literature and storytelling.
  • Louis Shores Award, offers a citation which recognizes an individual reviewer, group, editor, review medium, or organization for excellence in book reviewing and other media for libraries. Brad Hooper, Editor of Booklist was selected for his passion and commitment to book reviewing. Hooper reviews a wide variety of genres for Booklist, hosts workshops and has published books that give librarians reviewing and readers’ advisory skills they need for success.

History achievement award winners

  • The Gale Cengage Learning History Research and Innovation Award, sponsored by Gale Cengage Learning, offers $2,500 and a citation to a librarian in need of funds to facilitate and/or further research in history or historical librarianship. David J. Gary, Kaplanoff Librarian for American History, Yale University Library was selected as this year’s winner for his project “Toward a Sociology of Knowledge: The History of Acknowledgment Pages in American History Monographs,” which will “take thousands of acknowledgement pages from e-books and hand-selected acknowledges since 2000 and use the methodology of the digital humanities to analyze them en masse,” said Gary.
  • The ABC-CLIO Online History Award, a bi-annual award of $2,500 sponsored by ABC-CLIO, recognizes the accomplishments of a person or a group of people producing (1) a freely available online historical collection, or (2) an online tool tailored for the purpose of finding historical materials, or (3) an online teaching aid stimulating creative historical scholarship. Joanne Murray, Historian and Director, The Legacy Center, Drexel University College of Medicine, was selected for her work as Principal Investigator of the online history project called “Doctor or Doctress?: Explore American history through the eyes of women physicians.” The first runner up was Jason Roe for “The Civil War on the Western Frontier”; the second runner up was Robin Katz for TeachArchives.org.
  • The Genealogical Publishing Company Award, sponsored by Genealogical Publishing Company, offers $1,500 and a citation to a librarian or library in recognition of their professional achievement in historical or genealogical reference, service or research. Michael D. Kirley, retired librarian from Los Angeles Public Library History & Genealogy Department after 39 years of service (1970-2009). Kirley single-handedly built the Genealogy Collection at the Los Angeles Public Library, which consists of more than 50,000 volumes of individual family histories in addition to more than 2,500 circulating books about genealogical research, heraldry and related subjects. These include print, microform and digital resources. The Genealogy Collection wouldn’t be what it is today without his painstaking efforts.

MARS: Emerging Technologies in Reference award winner

The My Favorite Martian Award, which offers a citation to a member of the MARS: Emerging Technologies in Reference Section that has contributed exceptional service to the section. Debbie Bezanson, Associate University Librarian for Research and User Services, George Washington University Libraries, was selected for her tireless advocacy for the section and her service as a role model for collaborative teamwork and leadership.

RSS achievement award winner

The RSS Service Achievement Award consists of a citation which recognizes a member that has made exceptional contributions to the Reference Services Section. Liane Taylor, Head of Acquisitions, Texas State University, was selected for continuously playing a vital role in RSS, both in leadership, and as Chair, but also by representing RSS to RUSA and beyond throughout the library profession.

STARS achievement award winner

  • The Atlas Systems Mentoring Award, sponsored by Atlas Systems, Inc., offers $1,250 to a library practitioner new to the field of ILL and resource sharing to fund travel expenses to ALA Annual Conference in San Francisco. Karen Thomas, Access Services Librarian at Krauskopf Library, Delaware Valley College was named as this year’s recipient.
  • The Virginia Boucher-OCLC Distinguished ILL Librarian Award, sponsored by OCLC, offers $2,000 and a citation to a librarian showing outstanding professional achievement, leadership, and contributions to interlibrary loan and document delivery. Lars Leon, Resource Sharing Librarian and Head of Organizational Development, University of Kansas Libraries, was named as this year’s winner for his impressive breadth and depth of knowledge about interlibrary loan, his enthusiasm about mentoring new practitioners and advocating with upper-level library administrators to recognize the importance of resource sharing in their organizations.

Andrew Carnegie Medals for Excellence in Fiction and Nonfiction

Longlist announced!

http://www.ala.org/awardsgrants/carnegieadult/longlists

Sponsor a table at the ceremony!

Table reservations will open in late February. Stay Tuned! Each table can accommodate up to 10 individuals and ensures that attendees will enjoy this exciting evening with their friends, colleagues and fellow book lovers. Table reservations will open late February and will remain open until mid-May. The table reservation form can be found here.

Maroon Sponsor ($750 per table)

  • 10 tickets to the Andrew Carnegie Medals for Excellence award ceremony and dessert reception
  • Sponsorship recognition in award ceremony PowerPoint

Gold Sponsor ($1,000 per table)

  • 10 tickets to the Andrew Carnegie Medals for Excellence award ceremony and dessert reception
  • Sponsorship recognition in award ceremony PowerPoint
  • Sponsorship recognition in award ceremony program
  • Pre-event acknowledgement in Booklist’s June REaD ALERT newsletter and the June issue of RUSA’s newsletter RUSA Update

If you wish to order one or more individual tickets, you may do so via Annual Conference registration site at www.alaannual.org. Individual ticket holders will find open seating at non-reserved tables. If you order 10 individual tickets from conference registration, you will be ordering 10 individual open-seating tickets. Individual ticket holders who reserved their ticket before conference will pick up their banquet ticket on their first day of conference at registration. Individual ticket sales close at 12 Noon (CST) on Friday, June 26.