CHICAGO – Erin T. Smith and Jamie P. Kohler, both of the Westminster College McGill Library, have been named the 2013 recipients of the Association of College and Research Libraries (ACRL) College Libraries Section (CLS) ProQuest Innovation in College Librarianship Award for their work on the Westminster College library mini golf orientation. Smith is the director of library services, and Kohler is the cataloging and collection management librarian.
This annual award honors an ALA member who has demonstrated a capacity for innovation in their work with undergraduates, instructors and/or the library community.
ProQuest will present the $3,000 award and plaque at 1:30 p.m. on Saturday, June 29 during the CLS program at the 2013 ALA Annual Conference in Chicago.
Smith and Kohler prepared a mini golf program tied to a library orientation for first year students. The students left the building with a working knowledge of where to find resources and the assurance that the library staff is available, approachable and willing to do anything to help them.
"Westminster’s program was innovative, targeted to an undergraduate population and easily replicated even if some other game or technique replaced mini golf,” said award committee co-chairs Amy E. Badertscher, director of library services at Kenyon College, and Jessica O'Brien, technology and learning support librarian at Lenoir-Rhyne University. “We love the idea of bringing in students who are in the early stages of their college career to learn where things are and how things work in the library.”
Smith received her MS in information science from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. Kohler received her MLIS from the University of Pittsburgh.
For more information regarding the ACRL CLS ProQuest Innovation in College Librarianship Award, or a complete list of past recipients, please visit the ACRL awards website.
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ACRL is a division of the American Library Association, representing more than 12,000 academic and research librarians and interested individuals. ACRLis the only individual membership organization in North America that develops programs, products and services to meet the unique needs of academic and research librarians. Its initiatives enable the higher education community to understand the role that academic libraries play in the teaching, learning and research environments. ACRL is on the Web at http://www.acrl.org/, Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/ala.acrl and Twitter at @ala_acrl.
Contact:
David Free
Mktg & Comm. Specialist/Editor-in-Chief
Association of College & Research Libraries (ACRL)
dfree@ala.org1-800-545-2433 ext.2517
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