Action for Libraries

Member News

Libraries and staff from institutions throughout the BCR region received numerous honors and awards over the last three months. The American Library Association (ALA) and its various divisions, Library Journal and The New York Times, as well as state agencies and associations, recognized these individuals and institutions for their contributions to the library community.

BCR Members Among LJ Movers & Shakers
Staff from BCR member libraries are again among the 2007 Movers & Shakers identified by Library Journal as individuals who are "Making a Difference."

Gina Millsap, director of the Topeka Shawnee County Public Library, Kansas, (and Public Libraries trustee on the current BCR Board of Trustees), was identified as a Community Builder, as was Eileen Simmons, director of the Everett Public Library in Washington. Jenny LaPerriere, senior librarian at the Schlessman Family Branch of the Denver Public Library, was named a Content Provider. Gregory Lum, librarian at Jesuit High School in Portland, Oregon, was recognized as an Educator and Rachel Bridgewater, reference coordinator at Washington State University-Vancouver, was honored as a Freedom Fighter.

Awards Granted by ALA Divisions
Diana Reese, Institutional Library Services coordinator at the Colorado State Library in Salida, was awarded the Association of Specialized and Cooperative Library Agencies (ASCLA) Exceptional Service Award. The award recognizes exceptional service to patients, inmates and the homebound.

Lizbeth A. Wilson, dean of University Libraries at the University of Washington, was named the 2007 Association of College and Research Libraries' (ACRL) Academic Librarian of the Year. The award, sponsored by YPB Library Services, recognized Wilson as a pioneer and leader in the academic library community particularly in the areas of information literacy, assessment and collaboration.

The ACRL also honored James K. Elmborg, School of Library and Information Science at the University of Iowa, with its Instruction Section Ilene F. Rockman Publication of the Year award and Thea Lindquist, literature librarian at the University of Colorado, Boulder, with its Western European Studies Section Coutts Nijhoff International West European Study Grant.

Douglas County Libraries in Castle Rock, Colorado, and the Wyoming State Library were among the winners of the John Cotton Dana Library Public Relations Award. DCL won for its "Page to Stage Productions" using live theater to connect young patrons to children's literature. The Wyoming State Library was recognized for it "Wyoming Libraries: Bringing the World to Wyoming" statewide public awareness campaign.

Kenai Community Library in Alaska won the Public Library Association's EBSCO Excellence in Small and/or Rural Public Library Service Award, which recognizes excellence of service in a public library serving a population of 10,000 or less.

Tom Stave, head of the Documents Center at the University of Oregon, was given the ALA/Government Documents Round Table Bernadine Abbott Hoduski Founder Award. He was recognized for his dedication to collecting and preserving local and regional government documents.

Suzanne Myers Harold, Multnomah County Library in Portland, Oregon, was one of four children's librarians to win a Penguin Young Readers Group Award from the Association for Library Service to Children division of ALA.

LJ, Gates Foundation Honors Awarded
The Grand County Public Library in Moab, Utah, was named 2007 Best Small Library in America by Library Journal and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. Eve Tallman is library director. The award recognizes libraries serving populations under 25,000. The library will receive a $25,000 prize from the Gates Foundation and will be honored at the 2008 Public Library Association conference in Minneapolis.

Jey Wann, documents coordinator at the Oregon State Library, was named by Library Journal as one of Three to Watch in the competition for Paraprofessional of the Year Award. Although not the top winner, Wann was one of three candidates who "stood out as people to watch."

Librarians Honored by The New York Times
Janine Abby Rose, manager of the Silt Branch of the Garfield County Public Library System, Silt, Colorado, and Cynthia L. Harrison, Bainbridge Public Library branch manager of the Kitsap Regional Library, Bainbridge Island, Washington, were among the winners of the 2006 New York Times Librarian Awards. The program honors U.S. librarians who have provided outstanding public service.

Kansas, Montana Honors Given
Kansas and Montana honored their own with library-related awards this winter.

Suzanne Reymer, statewide technology librarian at the Montana State Library, won the 2007 BiblioTechie Award. It was presented by the Montana Library Association's OFFLINE interest group for her work on behalf of Montana librarians in such programs as the Gates Rural Library Sustainability Project, Libraries Build Sustainable Communities, the WebJunction Web site and E-Rate.

The Kansas State Library awarded Shining Star certificates to three Kansas librarians. Cynthia Berner Harris, director of libraries at the Wichita Public Library; Rosanne Siemens, executive director of the Kansas Library Association; and Micaela Ayers, director of the L.W. Nixon Library at Butler Community College; were recognized for their work with the 2006 Kansas Book Festival and the Kansas Center for the Book. Berner Harris is a former member of the BCR Board of Trustees.