October 4, 2010 FLICC Announces 11th Annual Awards for Federal Librarianship

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

FLICC will honor the award winners at the 2010 Fall FEDLINK membership meeting on Oct. 6, 2010, at the Library of Congress in Washington, where the winners will receive their awards from Librarian of Congress James H. Billington. The names of the winners 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. The winners are listed below.

2009 Federal Library/Information Center of the Year

Large Library/Information Center (with a staff of 11 or more federal and/or contract employees): National Institutes of Health (NIH) Library, Bethesda, Md., is recognized for its leadership role in the “green” initiative at NIH, serving as a role model for green procurement and environmental stewardship with the opening on Earth Day 2009 of its Green Terrace, a fully-sustainable space. The Terrace and a new “green” Information Commons provide a mix of quiet study and interactive social spaces. The library also expanded its “informationist,” or embedded librarian program into the laboratory setting with the introduction of its bioinformatics training and consultation service. NIH library informationists provide research support to more than 40 research teams and programs for 16 NIH institutes and centers. Of special note is their donation of 5,000 linear feet of medical journals, already held in trusted digital archives, to help rebuild the collections of the University of Baghdad Medical School.

Small Library/Information Center (with a staff of 10 or fewer federal and/or contract employees): Gorgas Memorial Library, Walter Reed Army Institute of Research and the Naval Medical Research Center, Silver Spring, Md., is recognized for its 2009 implementation of a citation database and citation management system for its Silver Spring Lab and six overseas labs. Using this licensed data, librarians create innovative products such as publication strategies and research impact analyses on each organization's malaria and dengue research. Librarians also developed publication and citation metrics for the organization's Balanced Scorecard which improve bench scientists' workflow, facilitating discovery and citations for future manuscripts, and identifying mission success. Customers indicated high satisfaction for new and already established information services which are instrumental for researchers and ultimately preserve the fighting strength of marines, sailors and soldiers and their early return to duty.

2009 Federal Librarian of the Year

Eleanor S. Uhlinger, University Librarian, Naval Postgraduate School/Dudley Knox Library, Monterey, Calif., is recognized as a transformational leader who championed the need for the library to be involved in all levels of accreditation, curriculum and program reviews. In 2009, she oversaw library renovations to create a combination of quiet and collaborative spaces with technology to enhance learning. Physical and virtual enhancements, coupled with her patron-friendly focus and promotion of staff initiatives, resulted in double-digit increases in in-person reference requests, interlibrary loan and reserve item circulation, with only a limited increase in library expenditures. Uhlinger’s emphasis on assessment, metrics, budget oversight and improved efficiency, combined with her commitment to the collection, preservation and access to the school’s research, publications and history, made the Dudley Knox Library more proactive in serving the current and emerging needs of the faculty, students, staff and alumni of the Naval Postgraduate School.

2009 Federal Library Technician of the Year

Gary B. Baker, Library Technician, Army Counterintelligence Center, Ft. Meade, Md., is recognized for single-handedly operating the center’s library, managing and cataloging its collections remotely as a result of a 2006 facility fire, and laying the groundwork for a physical map collection. In 2009, he cataloged 2,600 items, created 229 bibliographies in addition to collecting more than 2,000 other bibliographies from the Library of Congress and other sources, and relabeled and repaired more than 1,000 volumes. Baker actively promoted library services and access to materials and supported its patrons without the benefits of a physical library space.

For the latest information on the awards, interested parties may refer to the FLICC website, www.loc.gov/flicc/awards.html.

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.