ALA announces winners of the 2016 I Love My Librarian Award

NEW YORK, Nov. 30, 2016 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Today 10 librarians from across the country were honored with this year's I Love My Librarian Award. The winning librarians were recognized for their exceptional contributions to transforming lives and communities through education and lifelong learning. The librarians were selected from nearly 1,100 nominations submitted by the public detailing how their favorite librarians working in public, school, college, community college or university libraries connected them to information, opportunities and critical technology to help improve the quality of their lives.

"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," said Julie Todaro, president of the American Library Association (ALA). "As highly educated professionals, librarians are providing library constituents with the tools and knowledge they need to grow and thrive in today's changing information landscape. 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."

The 2016 award recipients include a librarian who provides a safe haven and emergency relief services during natural disasters, a librarian who works with students with learning or behavioral challenges and youths in foster care, a librarian who uses her skills as a former chef to teach the community about cooking healthy meals and a librarian who instructs incoming college freshmen on plagiarism and academic integrity.

This year's librarians join a distinguished group of award recipients who have been commended for their efforts to advance individual and community progress. Ninety librarians have received the national award since its inception in 2008. In the United States, there are 166,000 librarians who are continually working to meet the changing needs of library users and the communities they serve.

Each winning librarian will receive a $5,000 prize at an award ceremony and reception to be held tonight in New York City. The ceremony is hosted by the philanthropic foundation Carnegie Corporation of New York, which co-sponsors the award along with The New York Public Library and The New York Times. The American Library Association administers the award through its Public Awareness Office, which promotes the value of libraries and librarians.

The 2016 I Love My Librarian Award recipients include three academic librarians, four public librarians and three school librarians. This year's winners are:

Danielle S. Apfelbaum
New York Institute of Technology
Old Westbury, New York

Andrea Bernard
Tyler Memorial Library
Charlemont, Massachusetts

Olga Valencia Cardenas
Stanislaus County Library
Modesto, California

Elissa Checov
Gwinnett Technical College / Gwinnett County Public Library
Lawrenceville, Georgia

Kathryn Cole
Northside Elementary School
Chapel Hill, North Carolina

Tabatha "Tabby" Farney
University of Colorado, Colorado Springs
Colorado Springs, Colorado

Sherri Ginsberg
Hillsides Library
Pasadena, California

Lia Kharis Hillman
San Francisco Public Library

Jamille Rogers
Marguerite Vann Elementary School
Conway, Arkansas

Roosevelt Weeks, Sr.
Houston Public Library

For more information regarding the 2016 I Love My Librarian Award recipients, please visit www.ilovelibraries.org/ilovemylibrarian.

About Carnegie Corporation of New York
Carnegie Corporation of New York was established by Andrew Carnegie in 1911 "to promote the advancement and diffusion of knowledge and understanding." In keeping with this mandate, the Corporation's work focuses on the issues that Andrew Carnegie considered of paramount importance: international peace, the advancement of education and knowledge, and the strength of our democracy.

About The New York Public Library
The New York Public Library is a free provider of education and information for the people of New York and beyond. With 92 locations—including research and branch libraries—throughout the Bronx, Manhattan, and Staten Island, the Library offers free materials, computer access, classes, exhibitions, programming and more to everyone from toddlers to scholars, and has seen record numbers of attendance and circulation in recent years. The New York Public Library serves more than 18 million patrons who come through its doors annually and millions more around the globe who use its resources at www.nypl.org. To offer this wide array of free programming, The New York Public Library relies on both public and private funding. Learn more about how to support the Library at nypl.org/support.

About the American Library Association
The American Library Association is the oldest and largest library association in the world, with more than 57,000 members in academic, public, school, government, and special libraries. The mission of the American Library Association is to provide leadership for the development, promotion and improvement of library and information services and the profession of librarianship in order to enhance learning and ensure access to information for all.

SOURCE American Library Association

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http://www.ala.org