Behind the Awards

January 25, 2010

Each year, the American Library Association seeks to honor those who have rendered distinguished service to libraries and librarianship. Such recognition is made for individual achievement of a high order in some area of librarianship. The winners of ALA awards for individual achievement constitute a "hall of fame" for librarianship.

But the men and women in whose honor the awards are named are often little known. This photo essay offers a glimpse into the lives of a few of the people who have had an award, scholarship, or other commendation named for them. They include librarians, authors, illustrators, and civil rights workers. Not everyone included here had a direct impact on libraries or literature during their own lives, but all of them left their mark on the profession in some way.

This month, ALA launched a database organizing information about its full list of awards and recipients. The database can be used to explore the different awards that are offered, the past winners of awards, and how someone can apply for an award.

Coretta Scott King Book Award. Coretta Scott King (1927 - 2006) is most famous for being the wife of Martin Luther King Jr., but she established a distinguished career in activism in her own right. She took part in the Montgomery Bus Boycott of 1955 and worked to pass the 1964 Civil Rights Act. She became the first women to deliver the Class Day address at Harvard and the first women to preach at a statutory service at St. Paul's Cathedral in London. King remained active in causes of racial and economic in

Randolph Caldecott Medal. Randolph Caldecott (1846 - 1886) was an English artist who illustrated picture books, fiction, verse, and fables for children as well as poetry, novels, and nonfiction for adults. He is regarded as one of the most influential illustrators in the field on children's literature. Caldecott is best known for creating sixteen picture books that feature traditional nursery rhymes and songs and eighteenth-century comic poems. His first two books, <em>The House that Jack Built</em> and <em>The Diverting History of John Gilpin</em>, were published in 1878, and he continued to publish two books full of rhymes of his own choosing or writing every year until his death.” alt=”Randolph Caldecott Medal. Randolph Caldecott (1846 – 1886) was an English artist who illustrated picture books, fiction, verse, and fables for children as well as poetry, novels, and nonfiction for adults. He is regarded as one of the most influential illustrators in the field on children’s literature. Caldecott is best known for creating sixteen picture books that feature traditional nursery rhymes and songs and eighteenth-century comic poems.” /> </div>
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Michael L. Printz Award. Michael L. Printz (1937 - 1996) worked at Topeka West High School for 25 years where he was the head librarian and implemented many innovative programs for the students. Among the programs he founded or co-founded are Interim Adventure, a program that allowed students to travel, an oral history program, and an author in residence program, which brought authors and students together for a two day workshop. Printz was also an active member of YALSA.

David H. Clift Scholarship. David H. Clift served as the Executive Director of ALA from 1952 to 1972. Prior to his library career, Clift served in WWII, where he was assigned to the Office of Strategic Services Interdepartmental Committee on Foreign Acquisitions. He went to Yale University as Associate Librarian in 1945. While an Associate Professor at Yale he traveled in Europe to obtain books for The Library of Congress.

James Bennett Childs Award. James Bennett Childs (1896 - 1977) worked at the Library of Congress for over 50 years, and was the author of numerous books and articles. He was recognized as the principal authority in the field of government publications, not only in the United States but throughout the world. Childs' contributions to the acquisitions and organization of government documents at the Library of Congress enabled it to become one of the world's greatest repositories of official publications.

Hugh C. Atkinson Memorial Award. Hugh C. Atkinson (1933 - 1986) was an American librarian known for his innovations in library automation and cooperation. He served as director of libraries at Ohio State University from 1971 to 1976 and at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign from 1976 to 1986. In 1967, Atkinson moved to Ohio State University where he served as head of public services (1967-71), and then as director of libraries (1971-76).

Mary V. Gaver Scholarship. Mary Virginia Gaver (1906 - 1991) served as the president of ALA from 1966 to 1967. Gaver also served as the president of the American Association of School Librarians from 1959 to 1960 and the New Jersey School Library Association from 1954 to 1955. She was also an educator of librarians at several universities. Her longest tenure was at Rutgers University, where she taught from 1954 to 1971.

Justin Winsor Prize for Library History Essay. Justin Winsor (1831 - 1897) began his library career in 1866, when he was appointed a trustee of the Boston Public Library. Previously, Winsor had been a freelance writer, but soon he became the superintendent of the library, a job he held until 1877. Winsor became a librarian of Harvard University that year, where, in combination with his years in Boston, he came to be regarded as a leading figure in the library profession. In 1876 Winsor helped to found ALA

The Amelia Bloomer Book List. Amelia Jenks Bloomer (1818 - 1894) was a social reformer, women's suffrage activist, writer, and publisher. Remembered most for her contribution to women's clothing styles, she was a prominent women's rights advocate during the nineteenth century. Bloomer's husband, Dexter Bloomer, published the newspaper the Seneca Falls County Courier, which Bloomer wrote for, despite having little formal education. She struck out on her own with The Lily, a temperance newspaper, in 1849.

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Max Eddy writes: “It’s a nightmare scenario: You’ve protected all of your online accounts with two-factor authentication (2FA), but then your phone is broken, lost, or stolen, and you’re locked out of everything. Past You’s effort to protect Future You has made Present You’s life a living hell. 2FA is supposed to keep attackers and scammers out of your online accounts, but what if something happens to your second factor? With a little planning, you can reduce that risk and still keep your accounts safe.”

New York Times Wirecutter, Apr. 12
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Nik Altenberg writes: “About 100 librarians and their supporters rallied outside San Francisco Public Library’s Main Library on April 9 to demand the city hire security guards for every branch. Workers decried a lack of security at most of the city’s branches and said they are often forced to de-escalate volatile situations and step into the role of providing security themselves. The rally is the latest in a series of union actions [from 10 unions representing more than 25,000 city workers across city departments] seeking to draw attention to what they say is a pervasive understaffing crisis.”

KQED-TV (San Francisco), Apr. 9
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“Two years after Brooklyn Public Libraries’ (BPL) launch of Books Unbanned, an initiative to protect the freedom to read for young people, In Their Own Words: Youth Voices on Books Unbanned gives new insight into the impact of censorship on teen and young adults across the US and how restrictions and other barriers to access build upon and reinforce each other. The new report, published April 11 by BPL and Seattle Public Library, analyzes 855 stories shared by young people who signed up for a free Books Unbanned ecard from April 2022 through December 2023.”

Seattle Public Library, Apr. 11
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Samantha Guss, Sojourna Cunningham, and Jennifer Stout write: “Recruitment and retention are both critical to diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts in academic libraries, and failing to improve retention has and will continue to derail these initiatives. Research that addresses retention tends to focus on proposed strategies, such as stay interviews (structured interviews aimed at strengthening employee and employer relationships) and mentorship programs. But there is no agreed-upon definition of retention that would allow us to assess these strategies. We should recognize that involuntary staying can be just as negative an outcome for the individual and the organization as leaving, setting the stage for legacy toxicity.”

In The Library With The Lead Pipe, Apr. 10
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Jackie Edwards writes: “As spring rolls around, seasonal allergies can flare up among library workers, resulting in symptoms like sneezing; runny or stuffy nose; itchy eyes, ears, and nose; coughing; and asthma. Not only are these symptoms detrimental to well-being and productivity, but they can also mean you’re less able to provide excellent customer service to library users. Fortunately, by purifying the air, preventing mold, and keeping your work area clean, you can improve indoor air quality and combat allergies in your library.”

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In Episode 94, Call Number celebrates Preservation Week, to be held this year April 28–May 4. The week’s events aim to raise awareness of the role libraries and cultural institutions play in protecting historic and culturally significant collections. Segments include Traci Sorell, honorary chair of this year’s Preservation Week, discussing the role of preservation through storytelling; Kathleen Monahan, special collections public services supervisor at Boston Public Library, addressing the importance of security in preservation; and Rosie Grayburn and Melissa Tedone, cofounders of the Poison Book Project, talking about their research on potentially toxic bookbinding materials from the 19th century.

AL: The Scoop, Apr. 15
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Leigh Kunkel writes: “The legalization of marijuana in many states and municipalities in recent years has created a newly legal industry and budding entrepreneurs who can benefit from the expertise of business librarians. As soon as Washington state introduced an initiative to legalize recreational cannabis use in 2012, Seattle Public Library librarian Jay Lyman started fielding questions from potential entrepreneurs. Since then, 24 states and the District of Columbia have legalized recreational cannabis use, and 14 more have legalized medical use of cannabis. This cultural shift brings a new opportunity for libraries to step in with support services.”

American Libraries Trend, Mar./Apr.

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