John Sessions Memorial Award recipient chosen

Contact: Eileen Hardy


312-280-4398


ehardy@ala.org

For Immediate Release


March 2002

John Sessions Memorial Award recipient chosen

The Web Design Group for the Allegheny County Labor Council is the 2002 recipient of the John Sessions Memorial Award presented by the Reference and User Services Association (RUSA), a division of the American Library Association (ALA).

The award is named in honor of John Sessions, former American Federation of Labor/Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO) co-chair of the AFL-CIO/ALA Joint Committee on Library Service to Labor Groups. The plaque, supported by a donation from the AFL-CIO, is given to recognize a library or library system that has made a significant effort to work with the labor community and by doing so has brought recognition to the history and contribution of the labor movement to the development of the United States.

In consultation with the Allegheny County Labor Council, a volunteer group of librarians and library staff at the University of Pittsburgh created a Web site (
www.pittsburghaflcio.org) designed to serve the needs of the council, the local labor movement and the working people in the Pittsburgh region.

The Web Design Group members for the Allegheny County Labor Council are Bonnie Chojnacki, life sciences librarian, University of Maryland-College Park; Liz Evans, associate dean of libraries, Indiana University of Pennsylvania; Marian C. Hampton, instruction librarian, University of Pittsburgh; Jamie Hannigan, reference librarian, University of Pittsburgh; Amy Knapp, coordinator of library instruction, University of Pittsburgh; Gregory P. McCormick, senior building supervisor, Hillman Library, University of Pittsburgh; Thomas Twiss, government information librarian, University of Pittsburgh; and Eve Wider, reference area supervisor, University of Pittsburgh.

"The Web Design Group, an eight-person team, in collaboration with the local labor council developed a Web site which serves to and succeeds in providing a multifaceted outreach effort to 'serve the needs of the council, of the local labor movement, and of working people in the Pittsburgh region' in addition to academic audiences by providing employment, economic, historical and political information," said Amy Tracy Wells, chair of the award committee. "The scope of this voluntary effort both in terms of content and audiences served impressed and inspired the committee."

The award will be presented at the RUSA Awards Ceremony on June 17, 2002, from 4 to 6 p.m., during the ALA Annual Conference in Atlanta.