Elizabeth L. Black Selected as 2023 Christopher Hoy/ERT Scholarship Recipient

The American Library Association (ALA) is pleased to announce the selection of Elizabeth L. Black of Northfield, Minnesota as the 2023 Christopher Hoy/ERT Scholarship recipient.

The scholarship was named for a long-time ALA staff member who directed the ALA Conference Services Office for more than 20 years. This scholarship fund was established with donations from Christopher J. Hoy and the Exhibits Round Table (ERT) to honor his memory. The $5,000 scholarship is awarded to a person pursuing a master's degree in library and information studies.

Black’s goal is to become a librarian and archivist. She hopes to serve as a “guardian and advocate for information, history, and storytelling while ensuring services reflect community priorities.”

Black’s interest in the library profession has grown over many years of time spent working in libraries as both volunteer and employee. It began with her first job working as a page in a public library. Several years later she became a library loan services and stacks maintenance specialist in an academic library. Black says her interest in the profession deepened through additional experiences assisting with preservation and archival work, interning at a textile library, and taking introductory library coursework.

Black believes that “library and archival staff need to consider the communities they serve with an intersectional approach that recognizes the various levels at which people can be oppressed or experience privilege. Doing so will ensure representation and inclusion for everyone.” Black expects to embody this concept in her library work by “instigating structural changes, prompting dialogue, and utilizing autoethnography as a tool for reflection.” Her hope is to continue serving communities by providing access to information, celebrating history and storytelling, and by considering all voices in library and archival services.”

Black will be attending Simmons University in Boston, Massachusetts.

For information on the ALA Scholarship program, visit our scholarship page.

The ALA Office for Human Resource Development and Recruitment (HRDR) manages the ALA Scholarship Clearinghouse.