Bogle-Pratt International Library Travel Fund winner announced

CHICAGO — Sara Zettervall is the 2017 recipient of the American Library Association (ALA) International Relations Committee's "Bogle-Pratt International Library Travel Fund."

An award of $1,000 is given to an ALA member to attend their first international conference. The Bogle Memorial Fund and the Pratt Institute School of Information and Library Science will provide a $1,000 cash award for Ms. Zettervall to attend her first international conference in Zagreb, Croatia.

The award is in recognition of Sarah Comly Norris Bogle, a prominent U.S. librarian who made notable contributions to children’s librarianship, international library service and library education.

Sara Zettervall is an adult services librarian at Henneping County Library – Nokomis in Minneapolis, Minnesota and the founder of Whole Person Librarianship (WPL), which serves each patron based on the context of their lives and the social systems surrounding them. WPL has been nationally recognized through an invitational piece in Public Libraries Magazine and presentations at ALA Annual Conferences.

Bogle Pratt committee members remarked: “We found Sara Zettervall's application compelling. The concept of "Whole Person Librarianship" is intriguing and creative, and her experience within the local and national library community is impressive. It is obvious that she would be able to take the information from the conference (ICSD) and apply it to her community. Additionally, the close partnerships she has built will be exemplary for an international audience to hear.”

Zettervall is attending the International Consortium for Social Development International Symposium in Zagreb, Croatia in July. “Along with a social work faculty partner, Mary Nienow, I’m developing expertise in the growing field of library-social work collaboration, known as Whole Person Librarianship (WPL). Our accepted proposal for the ICSD International Symposium, “Seeking Refuge in the Library,” is significant for librarianship and our project in several ways. North America is at the forefront of library-social work collaboration, so this conference is an opportunity to share our groundbreaking work internationally. It’s also an opportunity to bring social workers up to speed on WPL, which has not yet been presented at a major social work conference.”

Sara Zettervall will be recognized during the International Librarians Reception at the 2017 American Library Association Annual Conference in Chicago, Illinois.