Nancy Pearl: Library Journal's 2011 Librarian of the Year

No one other than Nancy Pearl has so convinced Americans that libraries, books, and reading are critical to our communities. Her passionate advocacy has done that nationwide for thousands of individual readers and library workers in the trenches at the local level. She has spread book lust via broadcasts to the nation on National Public Radio’s Morning Edition and from local radio and TV outlets and through her blog posts and tweets. She has done it in hundreds of workshops and performances for library patrons, library staff at all levels, and small groups of readers who want to be with her to discuss what they’ve read and what they have written. She has taught the skills and techniques of collection development, readers’ advisory (RA), and booktalking to the LIS students at the University of Washington Information School, and honed RA skills across staffing lines in the public libraries of Detroit, Tulsa, and Seattle.

Her work has reinforced reading via libraries as essential and empowering for all people. Her innovation in training has deepened the book skills of library workers. Her public outreach has effectively promoted libraries well beyond library walls, broadening the public’s perception of the purpose of libraries. All of these efforts have earned her recognition as LJ’s 2011 ­Librarian of the Year.

To read the full article go to:  http://www.libraryjournal.com/lj/newslettersnewsletterbucketljxpress/888408-441/nancy_pearl_ljs_2011_librarian.html.csp

(Library Journal, January 15, 2011)