Williams receives the 2002 Melvil Dewey Medal

Contact: Cheryl Malden


312-280-3247


cmalden@ala.org

For Immediate Release


April 2002

Williams receives the 2002 Melvil Dewey Medal

James F. Williams II is the 2002 recipient of the American Library Association (ALA) Melvil Dewey Medal, which recognizes distinguished service to the profession of librarianship.

The award, a citation and medal donated by OCLC/Forest Press, Inc., is given to an individual or group for recent creative professional achievement in library management, training, cataloging and classification, and the tools and techniques of librarianship

Currently serving as dean of libraries at the University of Colorado at Boulder, Williams is a founding member and creator of SPARC the Scholarly Publishing and Academic Resources Coalition. Through his leadership, resource and consortial projects of all sorts have been emphasized and successfully implemented in the vital area of scholarly communications.

"The breadth and depth of Dean James Williams' service to librarianship prompted the jury to choose him as this year's recipient of the Melvil Dewey Medal," said Award Chair Julie G. Huiskamp. "His stellar work in leadership, management and diversity issues in libraries over a long and distinguished career warrant both recognition and celebration. The members of the jury found Jim Williams to be extremely deserving of this honor."

Williams is a noted and widely published author and has presented papers nationally and internationally. He has served on many boards of directors, including the BioOne, Center for Research Libraries, Council on Library and Information Resources, Educom, Greater Western Library Alliance, Boulder Chamber of Commerce, Boulder Community Hospital, Central Colorado Library System, Colorado Alliance of Research Libraries, Colorado Department of Education, and currently a trustee for the Denver Art Museum.

Williams is an active member in the ALA, Colorado Association of Libraries and Society for Scholarly Publishing. He served on the first ALA Spectrum Steering Committee for four years. Williams holds a bachelor's degree from Morehouse College and a master's of library science from Atlanta University.

The Melvin Dewey Medal will be presented Tuesday, June 18, during the ALA Annual Conference in Atlanta.