John Sessions Memorial Award recipient named
Contact: Eileen Hardy
Marketing Specialist
312-280-4398
For Immediate Release
February 15, 2005
John Sessions Memorial Award recipient named
CHICAGO - The Bridgeport (Conn.) Public Library's Historical Collection is the 2005 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.
"The Bridgeport Public Library Historical Collection has been committed to collect and preserve their local labor history for over twenty years," said Dan Golodner, award committee chair.
"Under Mary Witkowski's leadership the collection has been enhanced with an extensive oral history project with audio and transcripts on-line, but also a curriculum created with the help of area teachers.
The library has done a great service to the community of Bridgeport by making available a part of their working class history to the world."
Mary K. Witkowski, head of the Historical Collection, will be accepting the award on behalf of the Bridgeport Public Library.
The award will be presented at RUSA Awards Ceremony on June 27, 2005, from 3:30 to 5:30 p.m., during the ALA Annual Conference in Chicago.
