2026 Beta Phi Mu Award Winner- Dr. Laura Saunders

CHICAGO — Dr. Laura Saunders, Associate Dean and Professor of the Simmons University’s School of Library and Information Science in Boston, Massachusetts and Director of the Simmons Center for Information Literacy has been selected as the 2026 recipient of the American Library Association's Beta Phi Mu Award. This is given in recognition of the achievement of a library school faculty member or another individual for distinguished service to education for librarianship. This annual award consists of $1,000 and a citation of achievement and is sponsored by the Beta Phi Mu International Library Science Honor Society.

Saunders holds a Bachelor of Arts in English Literature from Boston University and both a Master's and PhD from the Simmons University. She also was the winner of the Jean Tague-Sutcliffe Award for Doctoral Research. She has an extensive record of scholarship and has left a lasting impression as a professor and colleague.

Saunders and Melissa Wong co-founded the LIS Pedagogy Chat Series, which creates a community of practice for faculty and practitioners who teach in library and information science. This space has been very active since March of 2020 and covers many topics critical to enhancing LIS instruction.

In addition to the chat series, she has taught a variety of courses over her 22-year career as a professor and implemented the Simmons SLIS Library Fellows program, which currently supports nine Fellows by minimizing research-identified barriers to entry in librarianship to increase and retain a diverse profession. Saunders is spoken highly of as a professor and mentor. She has been nominated for the Association for Library and Information Science Educators (ALISE) Teaching Award and won the 2024 ALISE Professional Contribution to Library and Information Science Education Award. She supports research in the field through her work with ALISE as manuscript reviewer and was the inaugural Book Review Editor for the Journal of Education for Library and Information Science. She also supports student scholarship as a past Co-Chair the Jean Tague Sutcliffe Doctoral Poster Contest, being a reviewer for the Beta Phi Mu Eugene Garfield Dissertation Award, and through both presenting and publishing with students. Saunders has an impressive record of research, grants, and scholarships and is looked up to in the field by her students and colleagues. She coauthored the book Instruction in Libraries and Information Settings: An Introduction that has had wide adoption as a textbook and it was published open access to reduce financial barrier for LIS students again reaffirming her commitment to students and future library professionals.

Saunders currently serves as the Director of the Simmons Center for Information Literacy (the Center), which champions the fundamental right to both access and understand information. Through the Center, Saunders coordinated a service-learning project on community engagement for four SLIS students with the Boston Public Library and supports the Center being an international partner on a large grant with Yonsei University’s Research Institute for Academic Library Development on The AI Era, A Knowledge Platform for All: Libraries as a Social Operating System for Sustainable Growth.

The jury was impressed by Dr. Laura Saunders’ support of not only students, but LIS instructors through her scholarship contributions and service to the profession as well as the positive recommendation from colleagues within her institution and practitioners from graduate programs across the US.

The 2026 Beta Phi Mu Award will be presented at the ALA Awards Ceremony on Sunday, June 28, during the 2026 ALA Annual Conference in Chicago.

The 2026 Beta Phi Mu Award Jury is comprised of Aparajita Ghosh, Broward County Library, Coral Springs, Florida; Sheena Kelly, Thompson School District, Loveland, Colorado; Stephanie Murphy, St. Joseph County Public Library, South bend, Indiana; John Venecek, University of Central Florida, Orlando, Florida; and Cara M. Calabrese, Jury Chair, IU-Bloomington, Bloomington, Indiana.

More information about the Beta Phi Mu Award, including how to submit a nomination, is available at the ALA website, www.ala.org.

About the American Library Association
The American Library Association is the largest non-partisan, nonprofit organization dedicated to America’s libraries. The ALA mission is to empower and advocate for all libraries and library workers to ensure equitable access to information for all. For 150 years, ALA has provided resources for information professionals to transform their communities through essential programs and services. For more information, visit www.ala.org.