Judith Prowse Reid, head of the Library's Local History and Genealogy Reading Room, will receive the top award given to genealogy librarians by the History Section of the Reference and User Services Association (RUSA), a division of the American Library Association (ALA), in cooperation with the Genealogical Publishing Co.
Judith Prowse Reid - N. Alicia Byers
The award, consisting of a citation and check for $1,000, will be presented on June 29 during the ALA's Annual Conference in Washington.
"Through her dedication to public service and to her profession, [Reid] has made outstanding contributions to reference librarianship and is an inspiration to her RUSA colleagues," according to an announcement of the award.
As a senior reference specialist and head of the reading room, Ms. Reid is responsible for development of the Library's U.S. and foreign genealogical and local history collections. A frequent lecturer at national and international conferences, she is a recognized specialist in British Isles local history and genealogy.
With a 1994 Fulbright Fellowship for Research Librarians, she spent three months in London and published the results of her research, Genealogical Research in England's Public Record Office: A Guide for North Americans (Baltimore, 1996), now in its third printing. Another reference work by Ms. Reid, Family Ties in England, Scotland, Wales, Ireland: Sources for Genealogical Research, will soon be published by the Library.
During her 21-year career at the Library of Congress, Ms. Reid has served as chair of RUSA's History Section and was instrumental in setting up the History in Libraries Discussion Group and the Genealogy and Local History Discussion Group, of which she was chair. She served on the board of RUSA's forerunner, the Reference and Adult Services Division. She served as a member and chair of Genealogy and Local History committees of the History Section.
