Librarians don't only help us find good books.
Disaster relief, cooking and training in academic ethics were among the skills honored Tuesday as the American Library Association announced 10 winners of the I Love My Librarian Award. The honorees, based everywhere from Conway, Ark., to Modesto, Calif., each receive $5,000 and were chosen from a pool of more than 1,100 nominations submitted by the general public.
"The I Love My Librarian Award is an incredible opportunity to acknowledge librarians as experts and valuable resources, essential to the success of their libraries and communities," library association president Julie Todaro said in a statement. "The fact that these nominations come from the people they serve gives us heartfelt testimony to the powerful impact librarians make every day through their work and commitment to their profession."
Winners included Danielle S. Apfelbaum from the New York Institute of Technology in Old Westbury, N.Y. She was praised for her efforts to "create a more technologically sound library system." Elissa Checov from Gwinnett Technical College in Lawrenceville, Ga., was cited for working with young people "as they prepare to transition into college." In Charlemont, Mass., Andrea Bernard of the Tyler Memorial Library earned lasting gratitude from one patron for bringing books to his home as he recovered from spinal surgery.
Lia Kharis Hillman of the San Francisco Public Library was credited for her work in bringing garden and food education programs to the library system.
Other winners included Olga Valencia Cardenas of the Stanislaus County Library in Modesto; Kathryn Cole of the Northside Elementary School in Chapel Hill, N.C.; Tabatha "Tabby" Farney from the University of Colorado in Colorado Springs, Colo.; Sherri Ginsberg of the Hillsides Library in Pasadena, Calif.; Jamille Rogers, of the Marguerite Vann Elementary School in Conway; and Roosevelt Weeks, Sr. of the Houston Public Library.
The award was established in 2008 and is sponsored by the library association, the Carnegie Corporation of New York, the New York Public Library and The New York Times.