Nancy G. Faget Named 2010 FAFLRT Distinguished Service Award Winner
Some organizations are lucky enough to experience transformative moments in their history that come about as a result of the vision and passion of one of its members. Such is the fortune of FAFLRT to have as a member, Nancy G. Faget whom we were honored to recognize with the 2010 FAFLRT Distinguished Service Award.Nancy has made significant contributions to the library world since graduating Beta Phi Mu from Louisiana State University in 1998 with a Masters Degree in Library and Information Science; she holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in marketing from Louisiana State University and A&M College in Baton Rouge. She was briefly an Intern Librarian with Walt Disney Attractions Advertising, then became a Reference Librarian at Baton Rouge Community College. After 5 months she went to work for the U.S. Corps of Engineers Headquarters Library where she made major contributions as Electronic Services Librarian. Since 2005 Nancy has worked at the U.S. Government Printing Office and focused her talents and leadership skills to support the 1250 member depository library program. She is currently the Senior Program Planning Specialist of GPO’s Library Services & Content Management Division.
During her federal career Nancy has been active in FAFLRT rising with increasing responsibilities to become its President in 2008-2009. Particularly noteworthy has been her major contribution to the Careers in Federal Libraries initiative, which has had a profound positive impact on the profession of Federal Librarian. In her position as Federal Director in FAFLRT, Nancy hosted the 1st Annual “Careers in Federal Libraries” in 2007 at LC to educate job seekers about jobs in the federal sector. And as the saying goes, the rest is history. Since that time she has gone on to hold “Careers in Federal Libraries” workshops at ALA conferences in Anaheim, Chicago, Boston, and DC. She has spoken at Mini-Career events at library schools throughout the country, helped plan virtual career events and FLICC’s first job fair. Nancy also helped start the Career in Federal Libraries Google group which offers online mentoring, resume review service, and an online collaboration space for students and federal librarians. She also contributed a chapter to “A Day in the Life: Career Options in Library and Information Science”.
According to Andrea Gruhl, retired GPO Librarian and one of Nancy’s nominators, the results of Nancy’s extraordinary efforts have paid off in very tangible ways: more libraries are offering paid internships; four jobs were secured as a result of the first FLICC Career Fair; two Google Group librarians found jobs with Army Europe to be near family members; a number of Presidential Management Fellows are offering to mentor students through the Empowering Students Google group; federal agencies have created brochures specifically for federal information professions to promote opportunities; the Partnership for Public Service and ALA have requested content for their career guides and Web page; and the Careers Google Group now at almost 500 registered members is managed by two former student members (now federal librarians), new volunteers have been trained and management/ownership is being done by the third generation of NextGen Feds!
In describing Nancy’s tireless efforts to promote careers in federal libraries, Sally Bosken, Library Director at the US Naval Observatory and another of Nancy’s nominators had this to says, “Nancy has promoted federal and military librarian jobs to all the library school students – and currently unemployed librarians – who look to ALA for guidance. She was involved in the decision to make FAFLRT membership free to students and as a result FAFLRT experienced a surge in membership. She is everywhere!”
Kenneth Kozel who wrote in to nominate Nancy has experienced first hand the benefits of the Federal Careers program. Writes Ken, “I have only known Nancy Faget since 2009, but she has had a profound impact on me and the direction of my career. While in library school, I began to research internships, fellowships, and scholarships within the federal government. I met Nancy through a federal List Service/Google Group called Careers in Federal Libraries, in which she was administrator. I was seeking resume advice and was pleasantly surprised when I received much feedback and support from her concerning my curriculum vitae. Nancy suggested I try for one of the FAFLRT scholarships. I applied and to my surprise was chosen as the recipient of the 2009 Adelaide Del Frate Conference Sponsorship Award. The Award enabled me to attend my first ALA Annual in Chicago July 2009…Though small in stature, Nancy is a one woman dynamo who carries a wealth of knowledge…I am proud to call Nancy Faget both a mentor and friend.
Upon receiving the news of her selection Nancy said that she was honored to be in the company of the former Distinguished Service Award winners and was looking forward to acknowledging the power of the group assembled at the Awards Reception. “We are part of a strong, generous, talented community of Federal librarians,” said Nancy. She went on to say that “there is a cost associated with the time you spend counseling a student or reviewing a resume, yes. But it’s an incredible high to know that you have helped someone find a great job or an opportunity to prove themselves. How many moments in this lifetime can provide us such joy?”
Nancy’s leadership, vision and passion have enabled FAFLRT to reach out to a new generation of librarians in new ways thus ensuring that our service to the American people continues. It is a gift that keeps on giving.
Congratulations and thank you for all you do Nancy, priceless!
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