Presented by Reaching Forward North, a professional development conference for library support staff in honor of Tobi Oberman and Tom Rich, who were instrumental in developing the Reaching Forward North Conference for library support staff.
We are no longer accepting nominations for this award.
This award recognizes the contributions of a support staff member to the library community and the role of support staff in libraries.
Eligibility
Open to support staff working in all types of libraries, including but not limited to, public, university, law, and medical, who may nominate themselves or others. Please note, staff working in smaller and/or rural libraries with limited budgets for staff development and training are strongly encouraged to apply.
Criteria
Submit a statement, one page or less, in response to the phrase “Why I (or my nominee) deserves to attend Reaching Forward." Please share examples of the nominee’s outstanding work and how the community is served.
Award Recipient
Recipient(s) will receive free registration to the current year's Reaching Forward North Conference, an overnight stay at the Reaching Forward conference hotel, $50 for expenses, and a framed certificate.
Nomination Deadline
March 31
Sponsor Contact
Illinois Library Association
Reaching Forward North Committee
560 W Washington Blvd., Suite 330
Chicago, IL 60661
phone: (312) 644-1896
fax: (312) 644-1899
ila@ila.org
Previous Oberman and Rich Reaching Forward Conference Grant for Support Staff Award Recipients
1995 Claudia Race and Rosemary Boenig
1996 Nancy L. Sergel and Darlene G. Ward
1997-98 Rosa Palomino and Debbie Rosen
1999 Lawrence Szymanski, Pamela H. Carlson, Mary Jayne Nash, Nadine Horn
2000 Charles Hoover and Sheryl M. Czulno
2001 Jorge Arroyo and Shirley Novotny
2002 Patricia Lewis and Delores Johnson
2003 Sharon Gums and Ruth Hart
2004 Vida Baleckaitis and Mickie Beckman
2005 Tamela James, Sue Altmann, Jan Colwell, and Jose Negrete
2006 Felicia Crumpton, Jennifer Heyden, and Jessica Bertola
2007 Fay Hutchings and Danny Van Dusen
2008 Lori J. Wilcox and Robert Wise
2009 Heidi Knuth and Patrick Rossi, Sr.
2010 Ann Kleinschmidt, Lawrence Bullman, and Char Vice
2011 Rhonda Szewczyk
2012 Claire Osada
2013 Cynthia Rauscher
2014 Zachariah Terrill
2015 Brian Valesh
2016 Georgia Pichinos-Anderson
2017 Noelle McDonough
2018 Carla Lasky
2019 Jessi Baker
2020 William Pleas
2021 Adrian Clark and Christine Steck
2022 Aisha Din
2023 Joshua Wirth
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