Congratulations to the 2026 Core Career LIFT Award Recipients!

CHICAGO--
Congratulations to the 2026 recipients of the Core Career LIFT Award. The recipients are:

Irina Stanishevskaya
LIFT Award Sponsored by OCLC

Irina is an Associate Professor, Head of the Collection Management Services, Metadata Librarian for Electronic Resources, UAB Libraries, The University of Alabama at Birmingham. She holds a Master of Arts in Library Science, from the University of Alabama.

When notified he had won, Irina responded, “I am deeply grateful to receive the Core LIFT Award and extend my sincere thanks to the Core LIFT Awards Committee for this distinguished recognition. I also wish to acknowledge my colleagues at UAB Libraries, whose continued support, guidance, and encouragement have been essential to my professional growth and accomplishments.

Funding from the Core Career LIFT Award will enable me to attend the Core Forum, where I will have the opportunity to connect with leaders in technical services and metadata management. As a new Department Head, this experience will strengthen my leadership capacity by deepening my understanding of emerging trends, enhancing my ability to guide strategic decision-making, and expanding my professional network to foster collaboration with peers who share similar interests.

Thank you again for this meaningful honor.”

Maddie Sharpe
LIFT Award Sponsored by OCLC

Maddie Sharpe is the Downtown Campus Librarian at North Dakota State University. She graduated Summa Cum Laude with a Master of Library & Information Services from Emporia State University.

In response to receiving the award, Maddie said, "When I learned there was a specific division of ALA devoted to infrastructure, technology, and especially leadership and management, I could not join fast enough. I am a former director of a rural public library, so I know what it means to wear every hat in libraries. That experience particularly sparked the passion that is summed up beautifully by the mission of CORE: working to build and maintain the best spaces for my communities and staffs. I am beyond grateful to CORE for the opportunity to further my professional development by attending my first-ever ALA Annual Conference"

Members of the 2026 Core Career LIFT Award Committee are: Robin L. Ewing (chair), Kelly J. Sattler, (vice-chair) Jennifer Donner,  Amy I. Kornblau, Dana Laird, Timothy Ryan Provenzano, Marlena Rose,  Mea Warren. 

About Core
Core: Leadership, Infrastructure, Futures is the national association that advances the profession of librarians and information providers in central roles of leadership and management, collections and technical services, and technology. Our mission is to cultivate and amplify the collective expertise of library workers in core functions through community building, advocacy and learning. Core is a division of the American Library Association. Follow us on our Blog, Instagram, or LinkedIn.

About OCLC
OCLC is a global library organization that provides shared technology services, original research, and community programs for its membership and the library community at large. We are librarians, technologists, researchers, pioneers, leaders, and learners. With thousands of library members in more than 100 countries, we come together as OCLC to make information more accessible and more useful.