Nominations accepted for the John Sessions Memorial Award
Nominations are now being accepted for the 2011 John Sessions Memorial Award offered by
the Reference and User Services Association (RUSA)<http://www.ala.org/rusa>.
Established in 1980, the award is named in honor of John Sessions, former American
Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO) co-chair of the
AFL-CIO/ALA Joint Committee on Library Service to Labor Groups. The John Sessions
Memorial Award recognizes a library or library system which 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. Such
efforts may include outreach projects to local labor unions; establishment of, or
significant expansion of, special labor collections; initiation of programs of special
interest to the labor community; or other library activities that serve the labor community.
The Murray-Green Library at Roosevelt University, Chicago, was the 2010 recipient of the
award. Through its development of resources such as the "Oral History Project in Labor
History<http://www2.roosevelt.edu/library/oralhistory/oralhistory.htm>," the Murray-Green
Library has made an ongoing commitment to preserving and increasing the public's
accessibility to labor history. In particular, the "Oral History Project" contains a
multitude of interviews and transcripts with Chicago-area labor movement participants
conducted by Elizabeth Balanoff in the 1970s. The interview transcripts were recently
digitized by Roosevelt University Librarians Michael Gabriel and David Green thanks to a
grant from the Illinois State Library. William Green, former leader of the American
Federation of Labor (ALF), and Philip Murray, leader of the Congress of Industrial
Organizations, are both namesakes of the library and served on the university's original
Board of Advisers.
The 2011 award will presented at the RUSA Awards Reception during the ALA Annual
Conference, June 23-28, 2011, in New Orleans, Louisiana.
To nominate a library or library system, download and complete the nomination
form<http://www.ala.org/ala/mgrps/divs/rusa/awards/sessions/sessions2011.pdf> (PDF
format), and follow the submission instructions therein. Questions should be directed to
the committee
chair<http://ala.org/ala/mgrps/divs/rusa/contact/rosters/roster.cfm?committee=rus-awsessions>.
The deadline for nominations is December 15.
Sincerely,
Susan Hurst On behalf of the Committee Jannie Cobb Joseph Gremillion
Susan Hurst, Business Librarian
Miami University
203 King Library
Oxford, OH 45056
513-529-4144
hurstsj_at_muohio.edu
Received on Sat Sep 18 2010 - 03:13:16 EDT