Cited

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Activist librarian Sanford Berman received the Edina (Minn.) Human Rights and Relations Commission’s Tom Oye Award, which honors residents’ socially minded pursuits, in recognition of his work to eliminate language that perpetuates bias from library catalogs.
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East Baton Rouge (La.) Parish Library’s Children’s Services presented its Spaht Scholar Award to Pamela Cambre Lakvold, librarian at Westdale Heights Academic Magnet School in Baton Rouge.
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October 22 Simone Richardson, a librarian at Akron-Summit County (Ohio) Public Library’s business and government division, received the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction’s Impact Award for her work providing services to formerly incarcerated individuals.
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Cleveland Magazine named Cleveland Public Library Executive Director Felton Thomas Jr. its 2019 Community Leader of the Year.
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In September, the Chicago Botanic Garden’s Lenhardt Library in Glencoe, Illinois, received the American Institute of Conservation’s 2019 Ross Merrill Award for Outstanding Commitment to the Preservation and Care of Collections.
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The Geoscience Information Society recognized Clara McLeod, earth and planetary sciences librarian at Washington University in St. Louis, with its Mary B. Ansari Distinguished Service Award at its annual meeting September 24.
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The Council on Library and Information Resources has named its 2019 cohort of postdoctoral fellows: Rebecca Y. Bayeck, focusing on abolition, transatlantic slavery, early black librarianship, and other topics at New York Public Library’s Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture; Mary Borgo Ton, developing pedagogy strategies for Archivo Mesoamericano at Indiana University in Bloomington; Andrew Brown, coordinating digital humanities workshops at the University of Toronto’s Jackman Humanities Institute; Maia Call, improving digital management and library science practices at the US Agency for International Development in Washington, D.C.; Guillaume Candela, developing a digital platform for the Indigenous Languages of the Americas collection at Brown University’s John Carter Brown Library in Providence, Rhode Island; Christian Casey, developing digital technology tools for the New York University Institute for the Study of the Ancient World; Alicia Cowart, creating a research support program for geospatial research at the University of Colorado, Boulder; Faithe Day, conducting data curation projects at the African American Studies and Research Center at Purdue University in West Lafayette, Indiana; Zachary Furste, developing strategies for preserving and curating executable archival materials at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh; Amani Morrison, transitioning the Colored Conventions Project at the University of Delaware in Newark to a new digital platform; Aditya Ranganath, expanding New York University’s infrastructure supporting geospatial research; Brian A. Robinson, developing web-based content for training teachers to use the Digital Library on American Slavery at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro; Azure Stewart, working at the intersection of engineering education, librarianship, and research at New York University Libraries; Sean Tennant, developing workflows for data creation, use, preservation, and retrieval at Union College Library in Schenectady, New York; Kimber Thomas, facilitating preservation and use of the Community-Driven Archives Project at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill; and Kevin Winstead, implementing new partnerships for gathering documents and organizing research data for the Colored Conventions Project at the University of Delaware in Newark.
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Gerald Holmes, associate professor and diversity coordinator at the University of North Carolina (UNC) at Greensboro Libraries, received the UNC Chapel Hill School of Information and Library Science Distinguished Alumni Award in recognition of his contributions to diversity and equity July 10.
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The Colorado Association of Libraries named Sarah Scobey, nonprofit resources librarian at Poudre River Public Library District, as 2019 Colorado Librarian of the Year.
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Martha Hendricks, director of Clarksville-Montgomery County (Tenn.) Public Library, received the Tennessee Library Association’s Intellectual Freedom Award April 25. Hendricks allowed Equality Clarksville to use the library’s meeting space in August 2018 to hold a drag queen storytime despite protests and personal attacks.
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In June the University of West Georgia in Carrollton named Ingram Library Head of Special Collections and Associate Professor Blynne Olivieri Faculty Member of the Year for the 2018-2019 academic year.
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Owen Intermediate School Library Media Center in Belleville, Michigan, won the state’s Model 21st Century School Library award in June in recognition of its innovative collaborations with local educators.

Latest Library Links

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Jessica Leigh Hester writes: “If time at home has you missing life in the stacks or sifting through old papers in search of pieces of the past, fear not: You can do the same thing online. Slews of institutions are in the market for armchair archivists—volunteers who can generate knowledge by clicking through digitized resources, deciphering handwriting, or tagging photos. Several institutions have already seen an uptick in digital detective work since the start of the pandemic. Here are a few projects you might consider.”
Atlas Obscura, Mar. 23
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Kathi Kromer writes: “Libraries were included in the largest economic stimulus package in history, which passed March 27. The $2 trillion Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act includes $50 million for the Institute of Museum and Library Services for digital inclusion projects and more than $30 billion in relief for schools and colleges, plus billions more for state and local governments and nonprofit organizations. The stimulus package also includes libraries—on Main Street, in schools, and on campuses—as part of a massive, long-overdue effort to ensure digital equity in America. Read a summary of CARES Act provisions for libraries, education, and cultural heritage institutions.”
The Scoop, Mar. 27
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Timothy Inklebarger writes: “Shortages of surgical masks, N95 respirator masks, safety goggles, and other personal protective equipment (PPE) have created a desperate need among health care workers as the pandemic escalates. Archivists and conservators from university libraries across the country have been pitching in to help bridge the supply gap, donating their supplies of the PPE. Through networking with local health care providers, libraries are getting lifesaving supplies where they’re needed most. Eric Alstrom, head of conservation and preservation at Michigan State University Libraries, says that he first heard about libraries making donations on an ALA listserv for preservation administrators.”
AL: The Scoop, Mar. 27
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Lara Ewen writes: “Keeping libraries safe is important for both workers and guests. But during the current COVID-19 pandemic, questions about how to do that—particularly when it comes to materials and surfaces—have complicated answers. It’s an unprecedented situation. Conservators, who are experienced in diagnosing and repairing collection damage, say that historical information on sanitizing library materials is lacking. Despite anecdotal evidence in a 2019 article in Smithsonian Magazine, Evan Knight, preservation specialist at the Massachusetts Board of Library Commissioners, says there’s very little historical data available. ’[There’s] nothing published or shared from previous epidemics,’ he says.”
AL: The Scoop, Mar. 27
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Leanne Ellis writes: “The best response of a capable educator is to focus on student learning no matter what. While some educators lament the influx of emails, technology directives, and response time to take students online, others take on the challenge of learning the best practices and tools for teaching students in a virtual environment. None of this work is easy. Switching instruction from in-person to Google Classroom, for example, involves thought and preparation: how to manage student accounts and work, design lessons, post content, communicate, guide discussions and responses, give useful feedback, and grade work. And that’s just for one class. Here are some pointers to keep in mind.”
Knowledge Quest blog, Mar. 27
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Kate Conger and Erin Griffith write: “As life has increasingly moved online during the pandemic, an older generation that grew up in an analog era is facing a digital divide. Often unfamiliar or uncomfortable with apps, gadgets, and the internet, many are struggling to keep up with friends and family through digital tools when some of them are craving those connections the most. According to a 2017 Pew Research study, three-quarters of those older than 65 said they needed someone else to set up their electronic devices. A third also said they were only a little or not at all confident in their ability to use electronics and to navigate the web. Families are finding new apps and gadgets that are easy for older relatives to use.”
New York Times, Mar. 27
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Alex Harrington writes: “Most academic library employees across the country have been working from home for the better part of two weeks now. What about our part-timers and student workers? In my library, I have two dozen part-time employees whose assigned job is exclusively working at the service desk when the rest of the staff has gone home for the evening or weekend. This is not work that can be done from home, or when the physical space of the library is not in use—checking items in or out, providing basic computer assistance to users, and counting the cash drawer. So what can they do?”
ACRLog, Mar. 27

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