ALA Medal of Excellence

About the ALA Medal of Excellence
An annual award consisting of a bronzed medal and a 24k gold-framed citation of achievement for recent creative leadership of high order, particularly in the fields of library management, library training, cataloging and classification, and the tools and techniques of librarianship.

Award name changed in 2020, from the Melvil Dewey Medal to the ALA Medal of Excellence. 

Administered by:

American Library Association logo

2022 Winner(s)

Judith Cannan, Chief of Policy, Training and Cooperative Programs Division has been awarded the ALA Medal of Excellence Award.

“The jury for the 2022 Medal of Excellence award is delighted to honor Judith Cannan for her many accomplishments during a long, varied and distinguished career as a pioneer in cataloging and the training of catalogers at the national and international levels, said  Winston Tabb, chair of the Medal of Excellence jury.”  “Among the achievements specifically noted by the Medal of Excellence jury and the many colleagues and admirers from around the world who wrote in support of this award are Judith Cannan’s outstanding service to the profession through her creative and collegial leadership in spearheading: the transition from AACR2 to RDA (Resource Description and Access), the more recent move from the original RDA to the new Tool Kit, and the transition from MARC to linked data, the most monumental achievements in cataloging in recent decades.”