March 11, 2002 Federal Libraries and Information Centers, Librarians and Technicians Win FLICC Awards

The Federal Library and Information Center Committee (FLICC) has announced the winners of its national awards for federal librarianship to recognize the many innovative ways that federal libraries, librarians and library technicians fulfill the information demands of government, business, scholarly communities and the American public.

The award winners will be honored at the 19th Annual FLICC Forum on Federal Information Policies on March 19 at the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C., where they will receive their awards and be guests of the forum. Their names will remain on permanent display in the FLICC offices at the Library of Congress.

Federal libraries and staff throughout the United States and abroad competed in three award categories for the third annual FLICC Awards. The winners are listed below.

2001 Federal Library/Information Center of the Year

The National Defense University Library is recognized for its high level of customer service, the development of outstanding collections in support of the university's mission, and its extraordinary reference services. In 2001, the library began offering distance learning students digital library access, digitized the personal papers of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and increased the library's visibility through exhibits, tours and lectures, as well as high quality on-site and remote services.

2001 Federal Librarian of the Year

An abundance of highly qualified librarians with outstanding, innovative and sustained achievements in 2001 resulted in a tie for this category:

Pamela Dawes, Director, Haskell Library, Haskell Indian Nations University, Lawrence, Kan., is recognized for conscientious and enthusiastic leadership in expanding and improving library services to the Haskell Indian Nations University. In 2001, she acquired supplemental funding grants and donated resources for the library that total more than $90,000. She initiated an aggressive acquisition program that increased holdings by 700 titles and created an American Indian language tapes collection. Her commitment to excellence increased the Haskell Library's usage by 21 percent last year, and her advocacy efforts have led to enhanced accessibility for patrons with disabilities.

Lynne C. Tobin, Chief, Reference Library, National Imagery and Mapping Agency, Bethesda, Md., is recognized for her active and innovative leadership in expanding a small reference collection into a full-fledged branch of the National Imagery and Mapping Agency (NIMA) reference library. In 2001, she directed the retrospective conversion of legacy textual materials and loaded them into NIMA's new Voyager ILS. Her efforts have improved access via employees' workstations to texts and maps that are currently cataloged following MARC standards. The bibliographic instruction program and training materials she initiated are now recognized by the NIMA College.

2001 Federal Library Technician of the Year

Leslie Yeakley, Library Technician, DTIC Technical Library, Defense Technical Information Center, Fort Belvoir, Va., is recognized for her proactive work ethic exemplified by her consistent enthusiasm, initiative, tenacity and resourcefulness. In 2001, she served as the only DTIC library staff member for several months while at the same time testing software to map COSATI-format bibliographic records to the MARC format. She is also recognized for balancing her excellent technical competencies with a strong personal commitment to providing customer service. Patricia E. Tellman, Library Technician, Base Library, Naval Air Station, Fort Worth, Texas, received an honorable mention.

Information on the 2002 Award program will be announced later this summer. For the latest information on the awards, interested parties may refer to the FLICC Web site, www.loc.gov/flicc/awards.html, where information regarding the 2002 nomination packet will be posted on the "What's New" section as soon as it becomes available.

The Federal Library and Information Center Committee fosters excellence in federal library and information services through interagency cooperation and provides guidance and direction for the Federal Library and Information Network (FEDLINK). Created in 1965 and headquartered at the Library of Congress, FLICC also makes recommendations on federal library and information policies, programs and procedures to federal agencies and to others concerned with libraries and information centers.