10 librarians honored for community service

NEW YORK (AP) — This year’s winners of the I Love My Librarian Award were honored for more than recommending books.

Julie Bill of the Los Angeles-based Musicians Institute was cited for helping catalog music and building an online database. Rosemary Cooper, director of the Albert Wisner Public Library in Warwick, N.Y., was praised for making an underfunded facility a vital community center. Marcia Kochel of the Druid Hills Middle School in Decatur, Ga., is known for her work with immigrants.

Ten librarians are each receiving $5,000, The American Library Association said. The awards are based on submissions by colleagues and patrons and are sponsored by the Carnegie Corp. of New York, the New York Public Library and The New York Times.

“This year’s I Love My Librarian Award recipients are true leaders who are inspiring and implementing strategies to better their communities,”said Jim Neal, president of the American Library Association.

Winners include Natalia Fernandez of Oregon State University, Rita Platt of the Wisconsin-based St. Croix Falls Elementary and Sheikla Blount of Alabama’s Columbiana Middle School. The other recipients are Annie Cipolla of the Los Angeles Public Library; Laurie Doan of the Tredyffrin Public Library in Strafford, Pa.; Mary Jo Fayoyin of Savannah State University in Georgia; and Timothy Ryan of New York’s Rochester Public Library.