For those unable to attend that cold blustery night, here is an edited version of the award introductions given by Bobbie Goering on each of the winners. Congratulations again, to one and all.

Author

For readers of the Informant, Suzanne Arist is a familiar name. She is honored tonight for her 2008 contributions on Web 3.0 at the National Association of Realtors and her profiles of Judy Alspach and Karen Krupka. We also honor Suzanne for her entire body of work on the Informant and other library publications.

Up and coming

The up and coming award is presented to an Illinois SLA member who demonstrates drive and ambition. Not much says drive and ambition more than becoming an active member of the Illinois chapter and commuting to SLA meetings and events while working at a law firm in Detroit and finishing an MLIS degree at Wayne State University. The 2008 Up and Coming award is awarded to Andrea Szabo Tellander.

In May 2008, Andrea finished her M.L.I.S in Special Libraries and became a resident of Illinois. Shortly after, she began volunteering for committee work within the association. She participated in the Awards Committee, where she handled communications and played a key role in facilitating member involvement. She will also be a contributor and rolling editor for the Informant.

Andrea, although new to the profession, is dedicated to cultivating growth within SLA-IL and librarianship now and in the years to come.

Library Partner and Green Awareness

Christina Stoll is a Metropolitan Library System (MLS) Consultant providing support, answering questions about all facets of librarianship and library work, and arranging training and networking opportunities with a focus on special libraries. She has the knowledge to provide insight on advocacy and legislation, grant development, marketing initiatives, and staff training and development. Christina’s work helps the special library community in Illinois grow and develop new skills.

Christina is currently coordinating the MLS' planned program on going green by Anca Novaconvici earning Christina and the MLS the first ever Green awards.

Green and eco-friendly are two terms that are mentioned and discussed frequently in the media, in businesses, and by individuals today. Going green is a trend that has arisen from a growing awareness that global warming is a pressing issue. It reflects the recognition that we all have an impact, and are impacted by it, and that each of us can take action to have a positive rather than a negative impact on the planet.

Thank you Christina for raising the issue and providing a forum for learning and sharing.

Web 2.0 (Innovation Leader)

In past years, we have awarded technology efforts. This year we expanded the award from library technology to Web 2.0 efforts.

The 2008 Gartner Hype Cycle for new technologies lists Social Computing Platforms just past the Peak of Inflated Expectations and Web 2.0 as entering the Trough of Disillusionment. (For those not familiar with Hype Cycles, the next stages are Slope of Enlightenment and Plateau of Productivity.) We are awash with possibilities and the organizations we support are struggling to make sense of it all. We have challenges: being a source of information, understanding the options, and modeling social networks.

Our Innovation & Technology Leader is a self-described “ancient librarian always interested in learning from other librarians.” She is a member of the Web 2.0 Library ning, Ziggs, Facebook, KM in Practice, NAYMZ, Twitter, Plaxo, and probably more. With 99.11% of the search engine market share divided between Google, Yahoo, MSN, and Ask, IXQuick is her search engine of choice. She is well known among SLA Illinois discussion list members for urging us to explore the SLA Innovation Laboratory. She worked on the SLA Innovation Lab committee chaired by Stephen Abrams and Cindy Romaine, and worked at the SLA kiosk in Seattle demonstrating it. A nomination letter described her as “always-cheery, forward-thinking champion of her profession”: Joyce Fedeczko.

Library Champion

In March 2008, Penny Sympson shared a video she created with the SLA community with no strings attached -– she encouraged us each to share this video with our communities. This YouTube video advertises the power of special librarians. Who can forget the scene where Penny lays one hand on her laptop, touches a finger to the forehead of the information seeker and the subsequent jolt of knowledge transfer? The tag line is “Need information? Contact your special librarian today."

By April 16 of last year, the special segment had been viewed 1,472 times. Links to the special segment have been found posted on several blogs/newsletters, including:

a. American Libraries Direct (go all the way to the bottom)
b. Webjunction Illinois
c. Stephen's Lighthouse
d. Ilovelibraries.org (ALA)

For crafting such a creative message and for sharing her creativity, SLA Illinois recognizes Penny Sympson as Library Champion 2008.

Outstanding achievement

If one were to ask the recipient of our outstanding achievement award about her contributions to the Illinois Chapter, she would say, “Oh heavens! I haven’t done anything, except attend a lot of meetings and serve on some committees…..”

There are three characteristics that outstanding members of this chapter share:The first is the willingness -– I could say eagerness -- to give time and attention to Illinois SLA. As a former member of the leadership team for this chapter, I was forever heartened and frankly, sometimes surprised, by the number of people who would respond to a phone call or discussion list call for help with a committee or project. This year’s recipient of the Outstanding Achievement award is one of those who can be counted as having open hands, accepting behind the scenes tasks with grace and serenity, a person who does the little but extremely necessary tasks to make a project or task or meeting run smoothly.

The second characteristic that outstanding members of this chapter share is continuous improvement, always learning, remembering the theories of our profession that have stood the test of centuries while moving forward to adapt to new times with new tools & new technologies, never retiring in place. This year’s recipient of the Outstanding Achievement award is one of those who can be counted for keeping an open mind. She is forever interested in learning. She supports the chapter with regular attendance at meetings and events. Just this past week -- and this impressed me because most people I know don’t recall the cataloging class in their MLS program with great warmth – this member shared her interest in attending a seminar on the new cataloging rules.

The third characteristic that outstanding members of this chapter share is appreciating our diversity while striving to be inclusive. We define “special” loosely -– after all, we are all special -– and we open our doors to librarians and information professionals and knowledge managers from all types of organizations. We encourage students, we support those who are between jobs, we strive to provide interesting programs no matter the arc of one’s career. This year’s recipient of the Outstanding Achievement award is known for her open heart, her welcoming style, and her interest in others. She is interesting AND interested.

Ladies and gentlemen, in honor of her years of service in our profession and for her open hands, open mind, open heart: please join me in congratulating the recipient of the 2008 Outstanding Achievement award: Donna Lenfest.