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For Immediate Release

May 7, 2004

Joyce Latham named 2004 winner of Justin Winsor Prize

CHICAGO - Joyce M. Latham is the 2004 winner of the Justin Winsor Prize presented by the American Library Association (ALA) Library History Round Table (LHRT).   The award, $500 and a certificate, is presented annually to the author of an outstanding essay embodying original historical research on a significant subject of library history.  The author also is invited to publish the essay in Libraries & Culture, a journal of library history published by University of Texas Press.

A doctoral candidate in the Graduate School of Library and Information Science at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Latham won the prize for her essay, "Clergy of the Mind: William S. Learned, the Carnegie Corporation and the American Library Association."

"Latham explored conflicts that influenced both the role of public libraries in American society and culture and the direction of education for librarians in a striking scholarly paper with true critical quality.   Her work will surely encourage additional historical research on related topics," said Toni Samek, chair of the prize committee. "She has broad themes of interest that transcend the time and space of the topic and are grounded in a convincing theoretical framework.   Latham also presents keen analysis of well-chosen primary source documentation through traditional historical footnotes, complemented by helpful content and bibliographic notes."

Latham holds a B.A. in English from the College of Notre Dame of Maryland, and an M.L.S. from the College of Library and Information Science at the University of Maryland. Her current research involves an investigation of the impact of public library affiliation with the left-led unions of the 1930s and 1940s.

The Library History Round Table will present the award during the ALA Annual Conference in Orlando, Fla.