Public Libraries Feature Article Contest
Each year Public Libraries, the official magazine of the Public Library Association, hosts a Feature Article Contest. The winning articles, chosen for their excellence in content and contribution, are selected by members of the Public Libraries Advisory Committee and exemplify the dedication and innovation within the public library community. All submissions published in the previous year are considered and two winning contributors are awarded $500.
Criteria include:
- Author(s) must be a public library employee(s) at the time the manuscript is submitted.
- Articles must have been submitted or published in the previous volume year.
- Articles must be feature length.
Congratulations to our 2024 recipients for articles published in 2023!
- Heath Umbreit, Adult Services Librarian, Morrill (MA) Memorial Library, for their enlightening piece, “Making Your Library a Gender-Inclusive Space,” featured in the July/August 2023 issue of Public Libraries magazine
- Summer Boismier, Teen Initiatives Project Manager; Jackson Gomes, Young Adult Internship Coordinator; Nick Higgins, Chief Librarian; Leigh Hurwitz, Collections Manager, Customer Experience; Karen Keys, Young Adult Services Coordinator; and Amy Mikel, Director, Customer Experience, Brooklyn Public Library, for their collaborative work, “Read Whatever You Want-Brooklyn Public Library’s Books Unbanned,” showcased in the March/April 2023 issue of Public Libraries magazine
Past Recipients
2023 Recipients (Chosen from 2022 Volume Year)
Winner: Jennifer Brown, Executive Director, and Nora Mulligan, Head of Adult Services, The Field Library, Peekskill, N.Y., “When First Amendment Auditors Visit Your Library”
Honorable Mention: Jenn McKague, Outreach Services Librarian, Salt Lake County (Utah) Library, “Strengthening Communities—Outreach Services to Persons Who Are Incarcerated and Those Re-entering Society"
2022 Recipients (Chosen from 2021 Volume Year)
Winner: Katie Horner, Head of Circulation & Reference, Lake Bluff (Ill.) Public Library, “We Can Do Better – Best (and Worst) Practices for Manager Responding to Sexual Harassment Claims”
Honorable Mention: Tamar Kirschner, Library Technology Program Lead and Instructor, Job Skills for Library Careers: Access & Technical Services in Libraries, Diablo Valley College, Pleasant Hill, Calif., “We All Win—Training and Advancement for Non-MLIS Library Workers”
2021 Recipients (Chosen from 2020 Volume Year)
Winner: Mary Jo Finch, “Learning From Our Statistics – Twelve Simple Rules for Understanding and Using Our Numbers Better”
Honorable Mention: Marissa Bucci, Jay Janoski, Nicole Scherer, “Define & Design: The Bookstore Model of Customer Service”
2020 Recipients (Chosen from 2019 Volume Year)
Winner: Amy An, “The Mission-Informed Library – Internal Marketing to Improve the Organizational Climate in the Public Library”
Honorable Mention: Rhiannon B. Eades, “Implementing a Trauma-Informed Approach”
2019 Recipients (Chosen from 2018 Volume Year)
Winner: Jane Holt, “Constructive Confrontation: Being Decisive Rather than Nice”
Honorable Mention: Karen Pundsack, “Ransomware at the Library”
To learn more about writing for Public Libraries visit http://www.ala.org/pla/resources/publications/publiclibraries/writeforpl, or email Public Libraries Editor Kathleen Hughes at khughes@ala.org.
