Beile named 2010 ACRL/EBSS Distinguished Librarian
Contact: Megan Griffin
ACRL Program Coordinator
(312) 280-2514
mgriffin@ala.org
NEWS
For Immediate Release
February 9, 2010
CHICAGO – Penny Minton Beile, interim department head for reference services and department head of the Curriculum Materials Center at the University of Central Florida (UCF) Libraries and adjunct instructor in the University South Florida School of Library and Information Science, is the recipient of the 2010 Association of College and Research Libraries (ACRL) Education and Behavioral Sciences Section (EBSS) Distinguished Education and Behavioral Sciences Librarian Award.
This award honors a distinguished academic librarian who has made an outstanding contribution as an education or behavioral sciences librarian through accomplishments and service to the profession. A prize of $2,000 and a plaque, donated by John Wiley & Sons, Inc., will be presented to Beile at the EBSS program at 1:30 p.m. on Saturday, June 26, during the 2010 ALA Annual Conference in Washington D.C.
“Penny Beile is highly regarded by all of her peers – education faculty and librarians at the University of Central Florida as well as her colleagues within EBSS, ACRL, ALA and the American Educational Research Association,” said award committee chair Judy Walker, education/curriculum materials librarian at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. “She works tirelessly to promote effective teaching through research and practice, challenging many of us to rethink how we teach and do research. She has truly been a transformative leader who takes time to mentor those around her. And she does so with extraordinary energy, grace and patience.”
Beile has been extensively active in EBSS, including serving a term as chair from 2007-2008. During her time on the EBSS Executive Committee, Beile was instrumental in establishing the American Psychological Association’s research award for librarians. She has also been a strong advocate for enhancing library research, chairing the first EBSS Research Committee and, with others in the section, encouraged ACRL to reform the association’s Research Committee into a coordinating committee focused on encouraging high quality research in the field of academic and research librarianship.
Her commitment to excellence in education is also demonstrated by her involvement in the K-12 education community. In 2007, Beile was a member of the National Forum on Information Literacy’s ICT Policy Council, which recommended passing scores for Education Testing Service’s information and communications technology iSkills assessment. In 2008, she was part of a team established to review standards and evidence for Teaching Assisting Academy for Career and Technical Education Industry Certification for the Brevard County (Fla.) Public Schools. She has also served on accreditation review teams for the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS).
Beile received her Master’s in Library Science from the University of Kentucky in 1992 and earned a doctorate in Curriculum and Instruction from the UCF in 2005. Her dissertation work involved developing an information literacy test for education students, the Beile Test of Information Literacy for Education (B-TILED).
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ACRL is a division of the American Library Association, representing more than 12,500 academic and research librarians and interested individuals. ACRL is the only individual membership organization in North America that develops programs, products and services to meet the unique needs of academic and research librarians. Its initiatives enable the higher education community to understand the role that academic libraries play in the teaching, learning and research environments.
