RUSA’s Annual Conference travel grant for new ILL practitioners awarded to Natalie D. Beam

CHICAGO — Natalie D. Beam, head of access services at University of Hawaii, Hilo, is the 2012 winner of the Reference and User Services Association’s (RUSA) STARS-Atlas Systems Mentoring Award — a competitive ALA Annual Conference travel grant for librarians new to the field of interlibrary loan.

The award, which is generously sponsored by Atlas Systems and RUSA’s Sharing and Transforming Access to Resources Section (STARS), provides $1,250 in travel funds to a library practitioner who is new to the field of interlibrary loan/document delivery or electronic reserves, and who has daily, hands-on involvement in the areas of borrowing, lending, document delivery, electronic reserves, material delivery or resource sharing.

“The committee was blessed with the problem of many worthy nominees and we selected Natalie because her petition demonstrated a commitment to improving her library's services to both internal and external users and an eagerness to make a difference at her organization,” said Collette Mak, award committee chair. “Natalie identified several specific goals that she could implement more quickly with a mentor, and her energy and enthusiasm showed clearly through her essay.”

Beam, who has a MLIS from San Jose State University, will receive her award, a $1,250 cash prize, at the RUSA Awards Reception, scheduled for 5 - 6:30 p.m. Sunday, June 24 as a part of RUSA’s events at the ALA Annual Conference in Anaheim. The exact location of this event will be announced in late spring. For more information, visit RUSA’s website or the Annual Conference website.

The Reference and User Services Association, a division of the American Library Association, represents librarians and library staff in the fields of reference, specialized reference, collection development, readers’ advisory and resource sharing. RUSA is the foremost organization of reference and information professionals who make the connections between people and the information sources, services, and collection materials they need. Learn more about the association at www.ala.org/rusa.