CFL Librarian of the Year Award

Brief Award Description: This award is being established to highlight the value of the information professional within the nonprofit and philanthropic communities.  It honors librarians who have gone beyond the expected to provide their colleagues with the expertise they need to move their work forward.  The winner will be presented with a framed award and a $100 Visa prepaid debit card which will be presented at the 2012 Consortium of Foundation Libraries meeting.  

Eligibility: The nominee must be a librarian working in a CFL member organization.  The librarian must have earned a master’s degree in library/information science.  CFL board members are ineligible.  

Nomination Criteria:  This award seeks to honor a professional librarian for their outstanding achievement and accomplishments during the previous year (2010).  Foundation staff can nominate their organization’s librarian for consideration or candidates can self-nominate.  Nominating letters should name the candidate and describe in one page or less why he/she is deserving of this award.  The deadline for nominators to send in their submissions is December 31, 2011.  Submissions should be sent as a PDF or Word document to sophiaguevara@gmail.com.  

 For those looking to strengthen their nomination letter, here are some points to keep in mind:

- How has the nominee moved the field of information/philanthropy forward?

- Has the nominee taken an active role in the organization’s work? What are some examples?

- How has he/she gone above and beyond the expected?  What are examples of value you provide to your organization?

- How has the librarian contributed to the organization’s overall continuous learning and innovation?

- How has the librarian continued to improve his or herself to better serve their clients?

Selection of Winner:

The submissions will be reviewed by the CFL board and will be judged on four criteria:

1. Impact of librarian (30%): What kind of effect have they had on the overall work, learning and innovation within their organization?
2. Going above and beyond (30%): How has the librarian surpassed their clients’ expectations? How have they continued to prove value to their organization?
3. Impact on the field (20%): How has the librarian had an impact outside the organization?  Examples of this would be leadership positions in professional associations or mentoring of new professionals.
4. Continuous improvement (20%): Examples would be additional training or courses that the librarian has taken in order to stay on top of changes in the field.  

The winner will be notified by early March 2012.  Those nominated but not selected will receive an honorable mention.