Cunha-Swartzburg Award to Gregor Trinkaus-Randall

CHICAGO – The ALCTS PARS committee for the George Cunha and Susan Swartzburg Preservation Award has selected Gregor Trinkaus-Randall as the 2012 recipient. Mr. Trinkaus-Randall will receive a citation and an award of $1,250 sponsored by Hollinger Metal Edge.

Gregor’s accomplishments in preservation outreach, over a career of more than 30 years, are impressive and highly regarded in the library and archival profession. An important player on the national preservation scene for many, many years through his collaboration with national organizations, he currently serves as the 2011-2012 president of the Society of American Archivists. As president he was instrumentally involved in coordinating the organization’s response to Hurricane Katrina, Hurricane Rita and Hurricane Wilma. He has presented hundreds of workshops throughout Massachusetts and beyond as preservation specialist for the Massachusetts Board of Library Commissioners. He developed a program to bring environmental monitoring devices to libraries to analyze data and, along with the Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency, set up a communications network with libraries and cultural institutions to respond to area-wide emergencies. This pilot effort has gained recognition for his agency as a national model for emergency planning.

This award was created to honor these two leaders in preservation and collaboration, and Gregor is an outstanding example of just such an individual. He has extended the reach of preservation understanding across a state with many small cultural institutions from libraries to archives to museums, and has been instrumental in expanding his preservation knowledge through a wider network of like-minded colleagues across the country. He has greatly impacted the field of preservation throughout his long career.

The Preservation and Reformatting Section (PARS) of the Association for Library Collections & Technical Services (ALCTS) will present the award on Sunday, June 24th, at the ALCTS Awards Ceremony during the 2012 American Library Association Annual Conference in Anaheim, Calif.

Established in 2007, the award honors the memory of George Cunha and Susan Swartzburg, early leaders in cooperative preservation programming and strong advocates for collaboration in the field of preservation. The award acknowledges and supports cooperative preservation projects and/or rewards individuals or groups that foster collaboration for preservation goals.

ALCTS is a division of the American Library Association.