MPLA Awards
SOMEONE YOU KNOW COULD BE A WINNER!
There’s a new award at MPLA and it’s your chance to nominate someone or a library who you know deserves recognition but didn’t fit into some category or for some other reason hasn’t gotten the recognition they deserve.
Unsung Hero Awards
Board Choice Award
Carl Gaumer Library Champion Award
Distinguished Service Award
Literary Contribution Award
Beginning Professional Award
Unsung Hero Award
Rosanne Siemens
For leadership of the Kansas Library Association after years of volunteer leadership and guided the KSA to successfully operate with clear financial records, developed policies, presented information issues to legislators, and reorganized the organization.
Unsung Hero Award
Roger Carswell and Liz Turner (Southeast Kansas Library System)
For funding and creating a showcase library that could inspire other libraries to do their own min-makeovers.
Board Choice Award
Cheryl Walters (Digital Library Program, Utah State University)
Sharon Morris (Director of Library Development and Innovation at the Colorado State Library)
Chris Hauser (Library Systems, Weber State University Stewart Library)
Susan Stringer (Manager, Tecumseh (OK) Public Library)
Marjorie Harrison (System Coordinator, Panhandle Library System, Scottsbluff, NE)
Dr. Gwen Alexander (Dean, School of Library and Information Management, Emporia State University, Emporia, KS)
Carl Gaumer Library Champion Award
Mary Bushing
To be given to the individual, organization or company who has exhibited support for the Mountain Plains Library Association.
Distinguished Service Award
Debbie Iverson
To be given to an MPLA member who has made notable contributions to the library profession or has furthered significant development of libraries in the Mountain Plains region, or has performed exemplary service for an extended period of time. In the case of retired individuals, the nominee may be a past member of MPLA.
Literary Contribution Award
Kathleen O’Neal Gear and W.Michael Gear
Winners of the MPLA Literary Contribution Award for 2008, Kathleen and Michael Gear are authors of dozens of international bestsellers including The First North Americans series, Anasazi Series, Forbidden Borders Trilogy, Genetic Thriller Series, and Spider Trilogy.
Kathleen received her bachelor's from California State University in Bakersfield and a master's from California State in Chico. She studied at the Hebrew University in Israel for a year and did Ph.D. study at UCLA for a year. Her specialty was pre-literate culture and religion. She worked for the United States Department of the Interior as the Wyoming State Historian, and later as the Archaeologist for Wyoming, Kansas and Nebraska.
Michael received his master's from Colorado State University in physical anthropology and has conducted archeological and anthropological fieldwork all over the world. He has published twelve novels and co-authored another seventeen with Kathleen. His work runs the gamut from historical, to prehistorical, to science fiction, to modern thrillers. His Morning River was nominated for the Pulitzer Prize in fiction, and the National Book Award in 1998.
The Gears live on a buffalo ranch in northwestern Wyoming. Read more at their website http://www.gear-gear.com/
Beginning Professional Award
Bryan Tronstad (University of Wyoming)
To recognize an MPLA member, who as a librarian/media specialist within the first five years after receiving a library/media masters degree, has made a positive impact on the quality and role of library service. Factors such as innovative programming and planning, use of resources, and special projects will be considered.
Nomination Information
The awards nomination form can be found at http://www.mpla.us/documents/procedures/appendix6-B.pdf
Nominations need to be to the committee chair, Beth Avery, To
Beth.Avery@unt.edu by February 8 th.