Career Achievement

The Career Achievement awards recognize distinguished librarians or staff members who are late in their career or retiring and have demonstrated continuous commitment and dedication to the library profession, through accomplishments and service to the profession.

Leader in Librarianship

This award recognizes a library administrator, who has shown leadership skills, guidance, and innovative ideas within their library.

Library of the Year

This award recognizes a LOUIS member library that demonstrates excellence in at least one of the following areas: service to their community; creativity and innovation in developing specific community programs or a dramatic increase in library usage; leadership in creating programs that can be emulated by other libraries.

Best Outreach

Outreach and social media programs require organization, planning, and an investment in time for the people dedicated to making the program happen. If successful, an outreach or social media program can lead to an increase in appreciation for, understanding of, and use of the library. The award for Best Outreach recognizes the time and hard work that a person or persons put(s) into planning and executing an event for their library.

Excellence in Library Support

The Excellence in Library Support Award recognizes a library support staff member who is a helpful leader within his or her library and within the LOUIS Consortium.

Outstanding Early Career Librarian

This award recognizes a librarian who has worked for a LOUIS member library for three (3) years or less and has less than five (5) years total professional librarian experience.

Timely Librarianship - Promoting Wellness

The Timely Librarianship Award recognizes of a librarian or group of librarians over the past year who has completed a significant achievement, contribution, project, or goal related to a theme related to the circumstances of the year leading up to LUC. The theme for this year’s award is "Promoting Wellness at Your Library." We welcome nominations of librarians or groups of librarians who have had a unique contribution to wellness in some form at their library. We use the word ‘wellness’ here to be intentionally broad; please be creative in your interpretation.

2021 Award Winners

Leader in Librarianship:
Dawn Kight, Ph.D., Southern University and A&M College

Excellence in Library Support:
Elissa Plank, Louisiana State University

Career Achievement:
Dennis Pruden, University of Louisiana at Monroe

Library of the Year:
GATOR Library, Northshore Technical Community College

Outstanding Early Career Librarian
Sarah Mazur, Louisiana State University Shreveport

Best Outreach Program
Michelle Guidry, Cindy Knight, Melissa Templeton
Northshore Technical Community College

Social Media Mastery
Debbie Huntington, Anna Tapia McDonald, Sharon Wolff
Northwestern State University