Posted April 13, 2015
The School of Library and Information Science honored students, faculty and community leaders at the annual Deans' and Directors' Lecture and Awards ceremony held on April 2, 2015.
The evening began with an awards ceremony (video), recognizing students who were inducted into Beta Phi Mu, the library and information science honors society. Inductees were selected based on character, academics and professionalism. The initiates were: Jason Monroe Broughton, Jessica Dai and Eve Alexandra Ross. Inducted in absentia were Morgan P. Kinder, Teresa Welborn Linebarger and Rachel Lane Walden.
"The best thing in my life is graduation, orientation and giving out awards," said Dr. Samantha Hastings, director of the school, who presented special awards to individuals who are involved in the community, passionate about library and information science and invested in the school. Honored were:
- Dr. Susan Rathbun-Grubb and George Shaw, Jr. — Carolyn Delton Service Award. Sponsored by LISSA, this award honors individuals who go above and beyond what they need to do for everyone at the school.
- Morgan Kinder — Wayne S. Yenawine Distinguished Student Award. This award is presented to a graduate from the previous year's class based on the entirety of the student experience including grade point average, quality of class participation and the ability to assimilate information and pass it on.
- Cathi Cooper Mack — John N. Olsgaard Distinguished Service Award. This award recognizes an individual who has made exceptional contributions to the school at large through a sharing of their time and expertise and is an outstanding representative of the profession, the school and the university.
- Dr. Curtis R. Rogers — F. William Summers Outstanding Alumni Award. This award recognizes an individual who has made significant contributions to the school and whose career reflects a commitment to excellence and dedication to the advancement of the profession.
Emily Gore, director for content of the Digital Public Library of America, gave the Deans' and Directors' lecture. She discussed DPLA's goal of creating a national digital library for the country which would pull together data from across all states and be discoverable across all platforms.
"DPLA is about all of us," she said. "We are the community which is making this happen."
She challenged students and professionals to join the partnership of academic institutions, libraries and cultural heritage institutions as they explore different developmental models for digital libraries. "Our goal is to become indispensable, to become part of the core and a part of the community."
This is the 30th year of the Deans' and Directors' Lecture and Awards ceremony.