Rainbow and Government Documents Round Tables announce Larry Romans Mentorship Award

CHICAGO - The American Library Association (ALA) Rainbow and Government Documents Round Tables (RRT and GODORT) are proud to announce Debbie Rabina as the 2023 recipient of the Larry Romans Mentorship Award. 

The award's namesake, Larry Romans, mentored numerous librarians at Vanderbilt University, where he worked for more than 30 years. For decades, he was also a tremendous leader and mentor in the Tennessee Library Association, providing a positive influence on the association and the careers of innumerable librarians, many of whom have gone on to be leaders in ALA. During his 23 years of service to ALA Council, Larry mentored countless new and veteran councilors.

Rabina’s commitment to fostering a two-way relationship of teaching and learning with her students at the Pratt Institute School of Information and Library Science has sparked new ideas and created lasting impressions in the field of government information access, storage, and retrieval.  Her curiosity and dedication is reflected in the way her colleagues speak about her. Her students are no different, citing her engagement with them and on their behalf as key models for how they should interact and move forward on their path to librarianship.

The award consists of a citation and $1,000.  The award will be presented at the GODORT Awards Program at the 2023 ALA Annual Conference in Chicago. In addition, recognition of the recipient will also take place at the beginning of the Stonewall Book Awards Program held at the conference

To learn more about the Larry Romans Mentorship Award, please visit http://www.ala.org/glbtrt/award/larry-romans-mentorship-award.

About the Rainbow Round Table 

The Rainbow Round Table of the American Library Association is the oldest professional association for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, pansexual, genderqueer, queer, intersex, agender, asexual, and ally (LGBTQIA+) people in the United States.  It is committed to serving the information needs of the LGBTQIA+ professional library community and information and access needs of individuals at large.  It is home to Rainbow Book Month™, a nationwide celebration every June and the Stonewall Book Award, the oldest award honoring LGBTQIA+ books.  RRT is committed to encouraging and supporting the free and necessary access to all information, as reflected by the missions of the American Library Association and democratic institutions.

About the Governments Documents Round Tables 

The Government Documents Round Table provides a forum for the discussion of problems and concerns and for the exchange of ideas by librarians working with government documents. It provides a nexus for initiating and supporting programs to increase the availability, use and bibliographic control of documents and increases communication between documents librarians and the larger community of information professionals, and contributes to the education and training of documents librarians.

About the American Library Association
The American Library Association (ALA) is the foremost national organization providing resources to inspire library and information professionals to transform their communities through essential programs and services. For more than 140 years, the ALA has been the trusted voice for academic, public, school, government and special libraries, advocating for the profession and the library’s role in enhancing learning and ensuring access to information for all. For more information, visit www.ala.org.