April 8, 2005
Library to
Receive Award April 13
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Mount Holyoke's
Library |
Mount Holyoke has
received a 2005 Excellence in Academic Libraries Award from the Association
of College and Research Libraries, an honor that recognizes the staff of
a college, university, and community college library for programs that deliver
exemplary services and resources to further the educational mission of the
institution. A ceremony to mark the achievement will be held Wednesday, April
13, at 6 pm in the library court.
Mount Holyoke was the winner of the college category. Also receiving awards were
the Pierce College Library, Lakewood and Puyallup, Washington, the winner of
the community college category; and the University of Virginia Library, Charlottesville,
Virginia, the winner of the university category.
The ACRL found that Mount Holyoke’s library demonstrated excellence as
a team in furthering the College’s educational mission. “They exemplify
the college library delivering services relevant to the needs of students and
faculty in the new century,” said Helen Spalding, chair of the 2005 Excellence
in Academic Libraries Selection Committee. “They have provided leadership
in the college planning process; creatively combined the college’s library,
computing and media services; and designed new learning spaces and services.”
“Receiving an Excellence in Academic Libraries Award is a national tribute
to a library and its staff for the outstanding services, programs and leadership
they provide to their students, administrators, faculty, and community,” said
Mary Ellen K. Davis, ACRL executive director.
“We are extremely honored to have been chosen by our colleagues for this
prestigious award,” said Patricia Albanese, chief information officer and
director of LITS.
“Mount Holyoke is blessed with an exceptional staff of highly dedicated
individuals, focused on enhancing the teaching and learning activities of the
College. This honor is a reflection of our deep desire to understand the perspectives
and needs of our community and translate them into a set of services and collections
that
serve them in their roles as students and
scholars.”
Mount Holyoke is one of the first undergraduate institutions to have merged its
library and computing services. The result is LITS, which combines the College's
excellent library, computing, media resources, and electronic services. “As
a merged organization of Information and IT professionals we are able to focus
our energies on the primary initiatives of the College,” Albanese said.
The library’s physical facilities are continually evolving in response
to the changing needs of the campus community. A café, wireless Internet
access, and collaborative work areas are among the most recent additions. Also
new is the Information Commons, a space that provides the College community with
more than 50 high-end computers, two large-format plasma screens, scanners and
laser printers, and a diagnostic center, staffed by lab consultants, that provides
onsite technology support and helps troubleshoot problems with personal computers.
“We have adjusted our collections to include an expanding array of multimedia
databases, leisure offerings, and a variety of circulating equipment, such as
digital cameras and laptops, tools as well as content- rich databases that match
the ways that information is captivating for learners,” Albanese said.
“Our integration of reference and the instructional technology staff into
one unit has allowed for the integration of the content and the technology necessary
to excel in research and presentation. It has allowed us to approach the question
of educating students with the research and technology skills needed for a lifetime
of learning.”
Each winning library will receive $3,000 and a plaque, to be presented at an
award ceremony Wednesday, April 13, at 6 pm in the library court. The winners
also will receive special recognition at the ACRL President's Program during
the American Library Association Annual Conference on June 27 in Chicago. ACRL,
based in Chicago, is a division of the American Library Association, representing
12,000 academic and research librarians and interested individuals.
ACRL is the only individual membership organization in North America that develops
programs, products, and services to meet the unique needs of academic and research
librarians. Its initiatives enable the higher education community to understand
the role that academic libraries play in the teaching, learning, and research
environments.
The Excellence in Academic Libraries Awards are sponsored by ACRL and Blackwell’s
Book Services.
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