C&RL News April 2020 170 ACRL is pleased to announce the recipi-ents of its 2020 awards. Made possible by generous corporate support, the annual presentation of awards and grants enables ACRL to honor the very best in academic and research librarianship. Excellence in Academic Libraries The recipients of the 2020 Excellence in Ac- ademic Libraries Award are the Nevada State College Marydean Martin Library (Henderson, Ne- vada), Santa Rosa Junior College Libraries (Santa Rosa, California), and the Univer- sity of Maryland Libraries (College Park, Maryland). Sponsored by ACRL and GOBI Library Solutions from EBSCO, the award recognizes the staff of a college, community college, and university library for programs that de- liver exemplary services and resources to further the educational mission of the insti- tution. “I am delighted that ACRL can highlight the many contributions that academic libraries make to their institutions,” said ACRL Execu- tive Director Mary Ellen K. Davis. “This year’s recipients demonstrate a clear commitment to student success and equity, a creative and inventive approach to developing innova- tive programs, and engagement with their local and campus communities. Receiving an Excellence in Academic Libraries Award is a tribute to each library and its entire staff for outstanding services, programs, and leadership.” T h e N e v a d a S t a t e C o l l e g e Marydean Martin Library, recipient in the college cat- egory, impressed the award com- mittee with its dig- ital transformation and dedication to textbook afford- ability. “The culture of the Marydean Martin Library and the commitment of library leadership to providing space and opportunities for their staff to engage in team building, along with their attention to the morale of their librarians, staff, and student Chase Ollis ACRL honors the 2020 award recipients A recognition of professional development Chase Ollis is ACRL program officer, email: collis@ala.org © 2020 Chase Ollis Nevada State College Marydean Martin Library staff. mailto:collis%40ala.org%20?subject= April 2020 171 C&RL News John E. Ulmschneider named 2020 ACRL Academic/Research Librarian of the Year John E. Ulmschneider, dean of libraries and university librarian at Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU), is the 2020 ACRL Academic/ Research Librarian of the Year. The award, sponsored by GOBI Library Solutions from EBSCO, recognizes an outstanding member of the library profession who has made a signifi- cant national or international contribution to academic/research librarianship and library development. Ulmschneider will receive a $5,000 award on June 27, during the ACRL President’s Program at the 2020 ALA Annual Conference in Chicago. “As dean, Ulmschneider suc- cessfully advocated for increased financial support; doubled pro- fessional staffing; championed diversity, equity, and inclusion; strengthened state and regional partnerships; and created a culture of innovation at the VCU Librar- ies,” said Jeannette E. Pierce, chair of the ACRL Academic/Research Librarian of the Year Award Committee. “The words of one nominator describing John’s leadership role in a regional endeavor perfectly describe his selfless approach to his accomplishments—‘he has done so with a grin rather than a gavel, leading without ego, and with the evident trust and admiration of his colleagues.’” “I don’t have words adequate to express my gratitude to all of my extraordinary colleagues over the years who have made this recognition possible,” Ulmschneider said. “To be included among librarianship’s most accomplished leaders with this award, including my mentor, the late Susan Nutter, is deeply moving. I have dedicated my career to building institutional cultures that allow every person to flourish and all of us to rise to our best selves, and to develop and resource libraries that foster the success of our students and faculty and enrich our diverse communities. I am gratified that ACRL and my colleagues have recognized the importance of this work through this award.” Under Ulmschneider’s leadership, VCU developed spaces and resources that meet the needs of contemporary students and the evolv- ing academic research university. His investment of time and energy led to the expansion and renewal of the James Branch Cabell Library in 2016 and comprehensive updates to public areas of the Tompkins-McCaw Li- brary for the Health Sciences. He demonstrated his spirit of innovation as an early adopter of state-of-the-art software, initia- tives, and services. For example, in 2016, Ulmschneider helped guide the launch of the Open Textbook Network consortium in Virginia. At VCU, he invested almost $80,000 to underwrite and support VCU faculty redesigning their courses to use affordable course content and led VCU in adopting and support- ing open community tools and services, such as DataCite, DMPTool, Open Science Framework, InCommon, Carpentries, and ORCID. Throughout his career, Ulmschneider has been a strong advocate for diversity, equity, and inclusion. Under his leadership, the Cabell Library was the first academic building on the Monroe Park campus to offer gender neutral restrooms in 2010. In 2018, VCU Libraries achieved membership in the Association of Research Libraries, received the 2018 ACRL Excellence in Academic Libraries Award, and received the Library Landmark award for the renewed Cabell Library in 2016. In addition to his work at VCU, Ulmschneider has made significant contributions to advancing libraries in the region through his work with the Association of Southeastern Research Libraries, including serving as president (2010–11), and the Virtual Library of Virginia. Prior to joining VCU in 1999, Ulmschneider served in multiple positions at the North Caro- lina State University Libraries. John E. Ulmschneider C&RL News April 2020 172 employees, empowers library staff to own and contribute to the campus mission,” said Cheryl Middleton, chair of the 2020 Excellence in Academic Libraries Award Committee and associate university librarian for research and scholarly communication at Oregon State Uni- versity. “Faced with a lack of space to grow the library’s physical collections and looking for innovative ways to serve a commuter stu- dent popu- lation, the l i b r a r y — w i t h t h e i n p u t o f s t u d e n t s a n d f a c - ulty—cre- a t e d t h e first digital academic library in N e v a d a . And with input from the student body, library space was trans- formed into a warm and welcoming space for students to spend time learning and relaxing when they are on campus. “Marydean Martin Library staff continu- ally make a positive impact across campus through developing strong relationships with faculty and student government,” Middleton continued. “Librarians are embedded in the campus curriculum and contribute to retention and graduation rates of a historically under- represented population.” Sponsored by the office of the provost, the No-Cost Textbook Summer Institute is the library’s flagship textbook affordability program. Librarians lead a six-week institute to support instructors as they convert their courses from using paid textbooks to open educational resources or library-provided e-books. Since the program’s inception two years ago, more than 15% of full-time in- structors have participated in the program, and students have saved nearly $600,000 on textbook costs. Nevada State librarians view textbook affordability as an equity issue, and assessment data from the program also indicates improved student outcomes, with higher grades in classes where students were not required to purchase a textbook. “Our campus is thrilled to be recognized for this prestigious award,” said Nathaniel King, director of library services at Nevada State College. “Our library team is an excep- tionally talented group, and they are leaders in seeking cre- ative ways t o i m p a c t t h e a c a - demic suc- cess of our s t u d e n t s . T h e s e e f - forts would not be pos- sible with- out support from excel- lent campus leadership, dedicated and innovative faculty, and a wide range of incredible campus partners. We are very humbled to have our collective efforts recognized. Our deepest thanks to the work of the ACRL staff and the selection committee.” Santa Rosa Junior College Libraries (SRJC), recipient of this year’s award in the community college category, was chosen for its dedication of services to its campus community. “Santa Rosa Junior College Libraries pre- sented a compelling story of learning services and programs that serve the faculty, staff, and students of their institution,” noted Middleton. “The libraries have redesigned their spaces and services based on extensive student input, which has received an overwhelmingly posi- tive response from students. As one example of this redesign, the libraries have transformed the reference desk into the Research Hub, where students come to complete their as- signments from start to finish through guided practice and peer-to-peer learning. As the application notes, ‘Students tell us they would like to live at the library because we have designed it around their needs.’ Santa Rosa Junior College Libraries staff. April 2020 173 C&RL News “The libraries have also developed targeted services and programs to decrease the ‘equity in access gap,’” continued Middleton. “Special programs such as a unique collaboration be- tween ESL faculty and librarians have resulted in the libraries being a safe space for interna- tional students to receive help and complete assignments. Additionally, the collaborative work between the libraries and student af- fairs has provided textbooks and long-term technology checkouts for students through its new Tech Gear Desk.” As one example of its exemplary commit- ment to the campus community, the libraries joined an emergency rapid response team in providing support for the campus in a time of crisis following a firestorm in October 2017 that devastated the SRJC community. While the campus was closed and classes were canceled, the library remained open as a welcoming space for students and provided food, shelter, emotional support, and computer and Internet access as they began the process of rebuilding their lives. During this time, the library hosted open counseling sessions by college mental health professionals, offered therapy dogs, and created listening boards to help students express their feelings and articulate their needs. The handwritten responses from these boards have been placed in a time capsule created by students to acknowledge SRJC’s 100th anniversary. “We are excited and proud to have earned the 2020 ACRL Excellence in Academic Librar- ies Award,” said Phyllis Usina, interim SRJC library dean. “The SRJC Libraries team is truly exceptional in their focused mission to foster academic excellence and success for students. It is a great honor that their dedication to student learning and innovative programming has received this national recognition. It is the little things each of us do every day in serving our students, our institution, and our community that make the difference.” The University of Maryland Libraries, re- cipient in the university category, was selected for its contributions to digital humanities scholarship and its engagement with students, faculty, and outside partners. “The University of Maryland Libraries stand out amongst their peers for the development of a robust library staff culture of innovation, as well as their extensive collaborations and engagement with the university’s core cur- riculum, students, and faculty,” said Middleton. “The influence and impact of the libraries’ partnerships can be seen throughout the institution. “The libraries successfully built a relation- ship with the Student Government Associa- tion that resulted in increased funding to the library along with a successful crowdfunding campaign that resulted in $13,000 from the student body to support the Top Textbooks Program,” Middleton continued. “Additionally, the $60 million ‘Fearless Fundraising Cam- paign’ the library is participating in to endow library fellows, digitization, archivists and the Top Textbooks Program illustrate their ongo- ing commitment to sustaining digital services in the future.” The libraries’ contributions to the univer- sity’s digital humanities scholarship are illu- minated by numerous projects and programs. University of Maryland Libraries staff. C&RL News April 2020 174 Through its GIS and Spatial Data Center, the library has facilitated a student mapathon of buildings and roads in international disaster areas as part of a broader humanitarian effort to assist Doctors without Borders, and is work- ing to create a virtual wayfinding app to link coordinates with library rooms, services, and call numbers to help users find what they need. The libraries are also conducting numerous digitization efforts of its special collections, in- cluding historic Maryland newspapers, AFL-CIO newspapers, back issues of its student newspa- per, rare audio recordings of community-based radio stations from the National Federation of Community Broadcasting Archives, and materi- als related to Alice in Wonderland. Additionally, since 2005 the libraries have partnered with the National Diet Library of Japan to preserve and provide digital access to publications issued in Japan during the first four years of the Allied Occupation from 1945 to 1949. “My colleagues and I are thrilled and grateful to receive this prestigious award from ACRL,” said Adriene I. Lim, dean of libraries at the University of Maryland. “We strive to ensure that our values of compassion and inclusion drive our strategies and that a culture of innovation informs the design of our library programs and services. For this reason, it’s even more of an honor and vali- dation when other library leaders recognize our work, because they know the dedication and resourcefulness it takes to advance those aspirations every day.” Each library will receive $3,000 and a plaque, to be presented at an award ceremony held on each recipient’s campus. Hugh C. Atkinson Memorial Award Beth Denker, George Machovec, and Rose Nelson of the Colorado Alliance of Research Libraries have been named the 2020 re- cipients of the Hugh C. Atkinson Memorial Award. Denker is the e-resource licensing and administrative manager, Machovec is the executive director, and Nelson is the assistant director. The team will receive a cash award and citation at the ALA Annual Conference. Named in honor of one of the pioneers of library automation, the Atkinson Award rec- ognizes an academic librarian who has made significant contributions in the area of library au- tomation or management and has made notable improvements in library services or research. “Together, Denker, Machovec, and Nelson exemplify the spirit of the Hugh C. Atkinson Memorial Award through their outstanding contributions toward the improvement of library services,” said Holly Tomren, Hugh C. Atkinson Memorial Award committee chair and head of metadata strategy and digitization services at Temple University. “Their collaborative and innovative work in library automation has had a broad impact on the library profession be- yond the Rocky Mountain region, particularly in the development of Gold Rush, a collection assessment and electronic resource manage- ment system used by libraries nationally and internationally.” The Alliance leadership has also piloted a creative and forward-thinking program to implement interlibrary loan for streaming video through their SILLVR project,” continued Tomren. “Additionally, Denker, Machovec, and Nelson together provide a model for consortium management in their delivery of patron-centered library services and efficient library systems, including their Prospector union catalog, trans- formative licensing agreements for electronic resources, shared print initiatives, interlibrary loan services, and professional development opportunities for their members.” The Hugh C. Atkinson Award is jointly sponsored by four ALA divisions: ACRL, the Association for Library Collections and Tech- nical Services, the Library Leadership and Management Association, and the Library and Information Technology Association. The award is funded from an endowment established to honor Hugh C. Atkinson. Section awards CJCLS EBSCO Community College Learn- ing Resources Leadership Recipient: Jean Amaral, associate professor and open knowledge librarian at Borough of Manhattan Community College. Sponsored by April 2020 175 C&RL News EBSCO Information Services, the $750 award recognizes outstanding achievement in com- munity college leadership. CJCLS EBSCO Community College Learn- ing Resources Program Recipient: The Colorado Community College System for their program “Colorado’s Top 40: Curating OER Content for the Top 40 GT Pathway Courses.” Sponsored by EBSCO Information Services, the $750 award recog- nizes outstanding achievement in community college programming. CLS Innovation in College Librarianship Recipients: Alexandria Chisholm, Sarah Hart- man-Caverly, and Brett Spencer, all refer- ence and instruction librarians at Penn State University-Berks Campus, for their work on creating the Discovery Lab at Thun Library. Sponsored by SCELC, the $1,000 award hon- ors librarians who demonstrate a capacity for innovation in working with or serving under- graduates or instructors in the areas of pro- grams, services, and operations, or creating innovations for library colleagues that facili- tate their ability to better serve the library’s community. DLS Routledge Distance Learning Librari- anship Conference Sponsorship Recipient: Samantha (Sam) Harlow, online learning librarian at the University of North Carolina-Greensboro. Sponsored by Rout- ledge/Taylor & Francis Group, the award provides a $1,200 conference sponsorship to honor any individual ACRL member working in the field of, or contributing to the success of, distance learning librarianship or related library service in higher education. EBSS Distinguished Education and Be- havioral Sciences Librarian Recipient: Cassandra Kvenild, associate dean of libraries at the University of Wyoming. Sponsored by the American Psychological As- sociation, the $2,500 award honors a distin- guished academic librarian who has made an outstanding contribution as an education and/ or behavioral sciences librarian through ac- complishments and service to the profession. ESS De Gruyter European Librarianship Study Grant Recipient: Emma Popowich, acting head of the Elizabeth Dafoe Library and romance languages librarian at the University of Mani- toba, for her project “A Conscience of Cloth: Blue Textiles in the Identity of the Midi.” Sponsored by the Walter de Gruyter Founda- tion for Scholarship and Research, the grant provides €2,500 to support research in Euro- pean Studies with an emphasis on librarian- ship, the book trade, resource documenta- tion, and similar information-science related topics. IS Miriam Dudley Instruction Librarian Recipient: Veronica Arellano Douglas, in- struction coordinator at the University of Houston. Sponsored by ACRL’s Instruction Section (IS), the $1,000 award recognizes an individual librarian for significant contribu- tions to the advancement of instruction in a college or research library environment. IS Innovation Recipients: Kathy Anders, graduate studies librarian, Sarah LeMire, coordinator of first- year programs, and Terri Pantuso, coordi- nator of freshman composition (all of Tex- as A&M University), for their project “OER Textbook for Composition and Information Literacy.” Sponsored by EBSCO Information Services, the $3,000 award honors librar- ians who have implemented innovative ap- proaches to information literacy at their re- spective institutions or in their communities. IS Ilene F. Rockman Instruction Publica- tion of the Year Recipient: Amanda L. Folk for her article “Re- framing Information Literacy as Academic Cultural Capital: A Critical and Equity-Based Foundation for Practice, Assessment, and Scholarship,” published in 2019 by ACRL. Sponsored by Carrick Enterprises, the $1,000 award recognizes an outstanding publication C&RL News April 2020 176 related to instruction in a library environment that was published in the last two years. PPIRS Marta Lange/SAGE-CQ Press Recipient: Jeremy Darrington, politics librar- ian at Princeton University. Sponsored by SAGE-CQ Press, the $1,000 award recognizes a librarian who has made distinguished con- tributions to bibliography and information service in law or political science. RBMS Katharine Kyes Leab and Daniel J. Leab Exhibition Catalogue Sponsored by Katharine Kyes Leab and Dan- iel J. Leab, American Book Prices Current, this award recognizes outstanding catalogs published by American or Canadian institu- tions in conjunction with library exhibitions. Category 1 (Expensive) Recipient: The Huntington Library for “Nineteen Nineteen.” Category 1 Honorable Mention: The Grolier Club for “A Matter of Size: Miniature Bindings & Texts from the Collection of Patricia J. Pistner.” Category 2 (Moderately Expensive) Recipi- ent: The University of Pennsylvania Libraries Kislak Center for Special Collections, Rare Books and Manuscripts for “Wise Men Fished Here: A Centennial Exhibition in Honor of the Gotham Book Mart, 1920-2020.” Category 2 Honorable Mention: Texas A&M University Libraries Cushing Memorial Library & Archives for “The Stars Are Ours: Infinite Diversities in Science Fiction & Fantasy.” Category 2 Honorable Mention: Yale Uni- versity Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library for “Bibliomania; or Book Madness: A Bibliographical Romance.” Category 3 (Inexpensive) Co-Recipient: Oak- land University Art Gallery for “Encountering the Rare Book.” Category 3 Co-Recipient: The University of Guelph School of Fine Art and Music and the Archives and Special Collections at McLaugh- lin Library for “Spaces of Wonder, Wonder of Space: Encountering the Eighteenth Century in Image, Object, and Text.” Category 4 (Brochures) Recipient: The University of Alberta Bruce Peel Special Col- lections for “Fishing with Flies.” Category 4 Honorable: The University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Rare Book & Manuscript Library for “Making Mr. Darcy: Cultural Context for the Regency Gentle- man.” Category 5 (Electronic) Recipient: North- western University Transportation Library for “Independence in the Air: African Aviation in the 1960s.” ULS Outstanding Professional Develop- ment Recipient: Mary Ann Hansen, research servic- es librarian at Montana State University and Tribal College Librarians Institute coordina- tor. Sponsored by Library Juice Academy, the $1,000 award recognizes librarians, archivists, or curators whose contributions to providing professional development opportunities for librarians have been especially noteworthy or influential. WGSS Award for Career Achievement Recipient: Emily Drabinski, critical pedagogy librarian at the Graduate Center, City Univer- sity of New York. Sponsored by Duke Uni- versity Press, the $750 award recognizes an individual librarian for career achievement in the area of Women and Gender Studies librarianship. WGSS Award for Significant Achieve- ment Recipient: Shawn(ta) Smith-Cruz, associate dean of teaching, learning, and engagement at New York University. Sponsored by Duke University Press, the $750 award honors a distinguished academic librarian who has made outstanding contributions to women and gender studies through accomplish- ments and service to the profession. Recipients of section awards will be pre- sented with their awards during an event planned by each sponsoring section. For full details, please contact the appropriate award chair. Additional information on ACRL’s awards, along with listings of past recipients, is available at www.ala.org/acrl/awards. http://www.ala.org/acrl/awards