Each year the Public Libraries Advisory Committee chooses the best article written by a public librarian or public library worker and published in the previous volume year. Two prizes are awarded each year. The winner receives $500 and the article chosen for honorable mention receives $300.
Criteria include:
- Author(s) must be a public library employee(s) at the time the manuscript is submitted.
- Articles must have been submitted or published in 2022.
- Articles must be feature length. Verso and Perspectives contributions will not be considered.
Congratulations to our 2023 recipients for articles published in 2022!
Winner: Jennifer Brown, Executive Director, and Nora Mulligan, Head of Adult Services, The Field Library, Peekskill, N.Y., “When First Amendment Auditors Visit Your Library”
Honorable Mention: Jenn McKague, Outreach Services Librarian, Salt Lake County (Utah) Library, “Strengthening Communities—Outreach Services to Persons Who Are Incarcerated and Those Re-entering Society"
Past Recipients
2022 Recipients (Chosen from 2021 Volume Year)
Winner: Katie Horner, Head of Circulation & Reference, Lake Bluff (Ill.) Public Library, “We Can Do Better – Best (and Worst) Practices for Manager Responding to Sexual Harassment Claims”
Honorable Mention: Tamar Kirschner, Library Technology Program Lead and Instructor, Job Skills for Library Careers: Access & Technical Services in Libraries, Diablo Valley College, Pleasant Hill, Calif., “We All Win—Training and Advancement for Non-MLIS Library Workers”
2021 Recipients (Chosen from 2020 Volume Year)
Winner: Mary Jo Finch, “Learning From Our Statistics – Twelve Simple Rules for Understanding and Using Our Numbers Better”
Honorable Mention: Marissa Bucci, Jay Janoski, Nicole Scherer, “Define & Design: The Bookstore Model of Customer Service”
2020 Recipients (Chosen from 2019 Volume Year)
Winner: Amy An, “The Mission-Informed Library – Internal Marketing to Improve the Organizational Climate in the Public Library”
Honorable Mention: Rhiannon B. Eades, “Implementing a Trauma-Informed Approach”
2019 Recipients (Chosen from 2018 Volume Year)
Winner: Jane Holt, “Constructive Confrontation: Being Decisive Rather than Nice”
Honorable Mention: Karen Pundsack, “Ransomware at the Library”
To learn more about writing for Public Libraries visit http://www.ala.org/pla/resources/publications/publiclibraries/writeforpl, or email Public Libraries Editor Kathleen Hughes at khughes@ala.org.