May 14, 2013 FEDLINK Announces Annual Awards for Federal Librarianship

The Federal Library and Information Network (FEDLINK) 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.

FEDLINK will honor the award winners at the 2013 FEDLINK Spring Exposition on May 22, 2013, at the Library of Congress in Washington, where the winners will receive their awards from the Library’s Associate Librarian for Library Services, Roberta I. Shaffer. The names of the winners will remain on permanent display in the FEDLINK 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.

2012 Federal Library/Information Center of the Year

Large Library/Information Center (with a staff of 11 or more federal and/or contract employees): Research Library, Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, is recognized for its leadership role in initiating new data services (including sophisticated data-discovery tools) and its rapidly growing data-reference service. The library improved data discovery by releasing an enhanced library catalog, which includes metadata for datasets as well as traditional library materials. Staff also began offering data-reference assistance in addition to traditional reference services. This included locating specific data points in the datasets to match customer research needs. The library also initiated and launched an end-user intellectual property education campaign focused on data and information best practices, using the library’s catalog to detail permitted and prohibited uses and citation requirements. The library also developed innovative tools in response to community needs and created a mobile site for staff access to research databases, e-journals, news and working papers on Internet-enabled devices including tablets and smartphones.

Small Library/Information Center (with a staff of 10 or fewer federal and/or contract employees): RAF Alconbury Base Library, 423d Force Support Squadron, U.S. Air Force, Huntingdon, England, is recognized for providing outstanding library services, collection development, space design, and innovative programming and budgeting. In support of the 38 education degrees offered by five accredited schools, the library vigorously promoted its electronic resources, College Level Exam Program (CLEP) testing materials, and Tutor.com program. The expansion of the graphic novel collection encouraged reluctant readers of all ages, while a vibrant collection of bestselling books, just-out-of-the-theater films, and the latest video games attracted patrons of all ages. Recognizing the importance of people far from home having a safe and welcoming place, the library creatively improved the design of its facilities. Not only were staff members able to rework the layout ergonomically, the redesign led to measurable increase in customer satisfaction for its 6,600-person base population. By pursuing alternative lease and purchase programs, the library reduced its acquisition costs to free up funds for both traditional services and community-building events.

2012 Federal Librarian of the Year

Joyce C. Greene, George C. Marshall European Center for Security Studies, Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany, is recognized for promoting the full value of the resources of the Marshall Center Research Library and the capabilities of its professional staff while working behind the scenes to preserve the facility’s valuable resources. Through her visionary leadership and innovative solutions, Greene demonstrated her awareness of recent and emerging trends across the information profession, applying change-management principles to prepare the library for the future by creating foundational support for those changes today. Greene championed the development of a new Content Management Office, which has increased the center’s momentum toward organizational change, and developed a digital library and repository with six unique collections. To respond to the multilingual nature of the library and its bibliographic records requiring data in several languages, Greene spearheaded work on a future library delivery system. Through her work on this initiative in fiscal year 2012, she designed an evaluation process for library products, services, and systems, while overseeing testing of indexing and records processing, including those in Cyrillic. Her combined efforts have helped ensure that the library remains a capable and valued part of the Marshall Center.

2012 Federal Library Technician of the Year

Tiffany Hughey, U.S. Army Garrison Kaiserslautern Library, Landstuhl, Germany, is recognized for improving the quality of life for her military community by supporting educational advancement, military reference and research, and leisure-needs activities. Hughey combines her efforts to provide high-quality customer service with expert technical competency to develop programming and training opportunities in an environment of reduced budget and staff. Hughey created an in-house sponsor program for new overseas staff and developed a series of trainings and guides for adult and teen library volunteers. Her enthusiastic reader-advisory services raised reserve requests by 40 percent and her work at a one of the branch libraries led to a demonstrable increase in circulation efforts. She also created a number of workflow processes to streamline resource and supply systems. She has seamlessly combined her professional technician skills with a thorough knowledge of Army policies and procedures, allowing her to improve programming and services in the garrison and in Army Europe Libraries.

For the latest information on the awards, please see the FEDLINK website, www.loc.gov/flicc/.

The Federal Library and Information Network (FEDLINK) is an organization of federal agencies working together to achieve optimum use of the resources and facilities of federal libraries and information centers by promoting common services, coordinating and sharing available resources, and providing continuing professional education for federal library and information staff. FEDLINK serves as a forum for discussion of the policies, programs, procedures and technologies that affect federal libraries and the information services they provide to their agencies, to the Congress, to the federal courts and to the American people.