2026 ACRL Section Awards Recipients Announced

CHICAGO - The Association of College and Research Libraries (ACRL), a division of the American Library Association (ALA), is pleased to announce the recipients of its 2026 Section awards. These annual awards honor the very best in academic and research librarianship. A listing of the 2026 recipients is below, and you can see all of ACRL’s past award recipients on the ACRL website. 

Achievement and Distinguished Service Awards 

Community and Junior College Libraries Section (CJCLS) Community College Library Leadership Award 
Recipient: Nelson Santana, Associate Professor / Deputy Chief and Collection Development Librarian at Bronx Community College of the City University of New York in Bronx, NY. This award recognizes significant achievement in community college leadership. Santana was selected for his scholarly work and his extensive service to the profession through local and national organizations. Laura Mondt, Chair of the CJCLS Awards Committee, noted that Santana’s work “continues to advance the profession while centering the needs of community college libraries and their students.”

Community and Junior College Libraries Section (CJCLS) Community College Library Program Award 
Recipient: Living Law Project, an annual event from Paul H. Thompson Library at Fayetteville Technical Community College in Fayetteville, NC. This award recognizes significant achievement in outreach or academic programs in community college libraries. The Living Law Project was selected due to its community collaboration and the team’s and partners’ commitment to student success. “By bringing community members directly to students, the program created meaningful, discipline-specific opportunities for student learning,” said Laura Mondt, Chair of the CJCLS Awards Committee.

College Libraries Section (CLS) Innovation in College Libraries Award 
Recipients: Tristan MK Draper, Student Success & Engagement Librarian at Beloit College in Beloit, WI, and Mary Elizabeth Schiavone, Student Success & Engagement Librarian and Federal Depository Coordinator, also at Beloit College, for Librarians Spill the Tea Podcast. This award recognizes small to mid-sized college or university library workers who demonstrate innovation in library services related to the ACRL Plan for Excellence (revised in November 2022). “The CLS Awards Committee recognized the podcast as a unique way to connect with students and to provide information literacy education in an engaging format,” stated Kathleen Baril, chair of the CLS Awards Committee. “The Committee was also impressed with the many ways they had shared the development and implementation of their podcast through conference presentations and individual meetings with other library professionals.”

Distance and Online Learning Section (DOLS) Distance Learning Librarianship Award 
Recipient: Jodi Poe, Head of Library Services and Editor, Journal of Library & Information Services in Distance Learning at Jacksonville State University / Taylor & Francis in Jacksonville, AL. This award honors an individual who has contributed to the success of distance and online learning librarianship through a specific project or initiative related to library service in higher education. Melissa Atkinson and Michael Courtney, Co-Chairs of the DOLS Awards Committee, shared “The nominated project by Jodi Poe, editor of the Journal of Library & Information Services in Distance Learning, is illustrative of the creative support of distance library education through a publication of exemplary quality.”

Education and Behavioral Sciences Section (EBSS) Distinguished Education and Behavioral Sciences Librarian Award 
Recipient: Rachael Elrod, Ed.D., Associate Chair, Departmental Libraries & Director, Education Library at the University of Florida in Gainesville, FL. This award honors an academic librarian who has made an outstanding contribution as an education and/or behavioral sciences librarian through professional and scholarly accomplishments and service to the profession. “Dr. Rachael Elrod has made an immense and powerful impact on the library profession, notably through her work with the Diverse Book Finder https://diversebookfinder.org/ and its collection analysis tool, which is used by librarians and scholars nationally and internationally,” stated Nancy O’Brien, Chair of the EBSS Awards Committee. 

Instruction Section (IS) Innovation Award 
Recipients: Samantha LeGrand, Clinical Assistant Professor and Instruction and Design Librarian at Purdue University Libraries and School of Information Studies in West Lafayette, IN; Jing Lu, Clinical Assistant Professor at Purdue University Libraries and School of Information Studies; and Zoeanna Mayhook, Assistant Professor and Business Information Specialist at Purdue University Libraries and School of Information Studies, for the Partners for Algorithmic Literacy (PAL) project. This award recognizes a project that demonstrates creative, innovative, or unique approaches to information literacy instruction or programming. Nicole LaMoreaux, Chair of the IS Innovation Award Committee, said “The Committee was impressed by the way the initiative centered collaboration between stakeholders to establish meaningful practices in human learning with AI, while also not superseding other methods of library instruction.”

Instruction Section (IS) Miriam Dudley Instruction Librarian Award 
Recipient: Dr. Kristina Clement, Assistant Director of Academic Engagement and Instruction, Collegiate Librarians at Kennesaw State University Libraries in Kennesaw, GA. This award recognizes an individual academic or research librarian who has built a record of contributions that have advanced the pursuit of teaching and learning. The award honors Miriam Dudley, whose pioneering efforts led to the formation of the ACRL Instruction Section (formerly ACRL Bibliographic Instruction Section). Margaret C. Bates, Chair of the IS Miriam Dudley Instruction Librarian Award Committee shared that Dr. Clement was selected “because of her consistent record of Instruction Literacy teaching contributions and mentorship to other librarians,” as well as her “national service on committees dedicated to teaching and learning and developing teaching librarians.”

Politics, Policy and International Relations Section (PPIRS) Marta Lange Award 
Recipient: Jenny McBurney, Government Publications Librarian and Regional Depository Coordinator at the University of Minnesota Libraries in Minneapolis, MN. This annual award recognizes an academic or law library workers who, through research, service to the profession, or other creative activity, makes distinguished contributions to bibliography and information service in law or political science. This award honors Marta Lange, 1990-91 Law and Political Science Section (LPSS) Chair, whose exceptional talents as a leader were enhanced by a wonderful collegial spirit. The PPIRS Marta Lange Award Committee shared that McBurney’s “impactful leadership and strategic action to preserve and track government information exemplify the valuable contributions librarians can make to the civic good. This work is ongoing and expanding as she and skilled collaborators continue to educate about the importance of preserving public information through sites like Tracking Gov Info and Save Our Signs.” 

University Libraries Section (ULS) Outstanding Professional Development Award 
Recipients: Matthew Kibbee, Evidence Synthesis Coordinator at Cornell University Library in Ithaca, NY; Megan Kocher, Science & Evidence Synthesis Librarian at University of Minnesota Libraries in Minneapolis, MN; Amy Riegelman, Social Sciences & Evidence Synthesis Librarian at University of Minnesota Libraries in Minneapolis, MN; and Sarah Young, Social Sciences Librarian and Director, Evidence Synthesis Program at Carnegie Mellon University Libraries in Pittsburgh, PA, for the Evidence Synthesis Institute program. This award recognizes library, archives, or museum workers whose contributions to providing professional development opportunities for academic libraries have been especially noteworthy or influential. Moushumi (Mou) Chakraborty, Chair of the ULS Awards Committee, stated that “the committee was extremely impressed with the breadth and depth of the measurable impact the ESI has contributed to the field of scholarly research and academic librarianship.”

Publication Awards

Instruction Section (IS) Ilene F Rockman Instruction Publication of the Year Award 
Recipient: Darren Ilett, Associate Professor / Teaching & Learning Librarian at the University of Northern Colorado in Greeley, CO, for “Academic Libraries, Counter-Storytelling, and Minoritized Students’ Scholarly Identity Development” (Portal: Libraries and the Academy 24, no 4, (October 2024): 765-87, https://doi.org/10.1353/pla.2024.a938742). This award recognizes an outstanding publication related to instruction in a library environment published in the preceding two years. The award honors Ilene F. Rockman’s professional contributions to academic librarianship in the area of information literacy. Ilett’s article “illustrates the creative support of information literacy education through a publication of exemplary quality and continued excellence in information literacy instruction,” shared Michael Courtney, Chair of the IS Ilene F. Rockman Instruction Publication of the Year Award Committee. 

The ACRL Awards program was on hiatus from 2022-2025, and recently relaunched. For more information regarding the award, or a complete list of past recipients, please visit the awards section of the ACRL website. 

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The Association of College & Research Libraries (ACRL) is the higher education association for academic libraries and library workers. Representing more than 8,000 individuals and libraries, ACRL (a division of the American Library Association) develops programs, products, and services to help those working in academic and research libraries learn, innovate, and lead within the academic community. Founded in 1940, ACRL is committed to advancing learning, transforming scholarship, and creating diverse and inclusive communities. Find ACRL on the web, Facebook, Twitter, Bluesky, Instagram, LinkedIn, Threads, and YouTube.