Reid Craig receives the 2015 Mary V. Gaver Scholarship

The American Library Association (ALA) has named Reid Craig of Portland, Oregon as the 2015 recipient of the Mary V. Gaver Scholarship.

The $3,000 scholarship was established to honor the memory of a past ALA president and Rutgers University professor, who made many contributions to library youth services. The scholarship is awarded to a person pursuing a master's degree in library and information studies, with a specialty in youth services.

Craig says the thread that ties his work of nearly a decade together, is his work with children in poverty in multicultural environments.  After working in the Peace Corps where he performed storytimes, trained volunteers, conducted teacher workshops, and rehabilitated and managed a library in Namibia, he came right back to work in libraries.  His area of specialization has been services to children and new immigrants/refugees.  One reference said that Craig is “a tireless advocate.  He has an uncanny ability to connect with diverse individuals. He is smart, dedicated and compassionate.  He is a servant leader, who always puts the needs of others ahead of his own.”

One reference said that Craig “works extremely hard to produce dynamic and innovative programming that fits the needs of the community.”  In addition to establishing Spanish storytimes, Craig helped to implement the federal free lunch program at his library.  He also created a pilot volunteer tutoring program in the library, which has been going strong now for the last five years.  He provides training, mentoring, as well as a welcoming presence to library staff and patrons alike.  Another reference said “Craig is remarkable.  He is an outstanding employee, and I am so excited to see where his future professional career will take him.”

Craig attends Valdosta State University in Valdosta, Georgia.

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.