The Joseph F. Shubert Library Excellence Award

The New York State Regents Advisory Council on Libraries, Friends of the New York State Library

Information | 2011 Recipients | Previous Award Recipients || 2012 Award Committee

image of Joseph F. Shubert; click on the image to see a larger versionThe Joseph F. Shubert Library Excellence Award is given annually to recognize the achievements of small, medium and large libraries and library consortia in New York State. Named after the late Joseph F. Shubert, former State Librarian, the Award honors libraries or library consortia that have taken significant steps within the past two years to improve the quality of library service to users.

The New York State Regents Advisory Council is pleased to sponsor the Joseph F. Shubert Library Excellence Award.  The award includes a gift of $1,000 supplied by the Friends of the New York State Library. Other notable projects may also be recognized and honored for their achievements.

2011 Award

The 2011 Joseph F. Shubert Library Excellence Award has been awarded to The New York Public Library (NYPL) for their project entitled Homework NYC.  This award-winning  project provides homework help with an interactive Dial-A-Teacher App. The project was funded by a three-year federal National Leadership Grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) and was headed by Shauntee Burns, Outreach Specialist. Ms. Burns worked closely with youth services staff in NYPL, Brooklyn and Queens libraries, as well as the New York City Department of Education, to produce a high-quality web presence for students, teachers and parents.

Four nights a week, the online program connects students and teachers in real time through a secure digital whiteboard. A student types his/her question, uses a mouse or stylus to draw a math problem (for instance) on the screen or imports documents such as a scanned page of homework to the whiteboard. A teacher instantly sees the problem and provides feedback by typing a suggestion, adding to the drawing or pointing the student to other web sites.

Students played a role in the creation of the App, providing librarians with information about their homework needs and practices and made suggestions about how libraries could better support them. Focus groups of teens were held in all five boroughs and students were encouraged to complete online and paper surveys.

The Homework NYC web site provides information for librarians, teachers, parents and students. Information on Homework NYC is also available on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and TeacherTube. Ms. Burns has demonstrated the project at schools, libraries and community centers across New York City.

See their application: .PDF PDF file [634k]

Runner-up for the 2011 Shubert Award is the is the Genesee Valley Educational Partnership (BOCES) School Library System. created a regional school library system union catalog -- FiveSystems.org -- for the five school library systems of the greater Rochester area. The 5 Systems site was developed by the School Library System of the Genesee Valley Educational Partnership in 2010 in collaboration with the other four school library systems and the Rochester Regional Library Council. Local development and open source software allowed the five systems to provide a regional catalog to support resource sharing while at the same time lowering costs.

This new regional school library union catalog holds about four million records from some 356 school libraries in the greater Rochester region, facilitating 16,763 point-to-point interlibrary loans annually. The new interface is user-friendly for students and teachers as well as librarians with easy navigation and simplified searching.

Members of the Regents Advisory Council on Libraries 2011 Shubert Award Committee are Sara Kelly Johns, Chair; Louise Sherby and Mary Muller. The Committee was uniformly enthusiastic in its decision to honor The New York Public Library’s submission as an excellent example of the “spirit of the Shubert award.”   

The awards were officially presented in November at the 2011 New York Library Association Conference in Saratoga Springs. As the 2011 Shubert Award winner, The New York Public Library received $1,000, which is graciously donated by the Friends of the New York State Library.  As the 2011 Shubert Award runner-up, The Genesee Valley Educational Partnership received a plaque.

2011 Awards Press Release .PDF PDF file [19k]

Previous Award Recipients

[Click on the links below to view their applications for the Award. Some pages also have links to more information about the project.]

2010

2009

2008

2007

Story Quilt, a "one-of-a-kind literary, social history project of the Galway Public Library...."

Story quilt cover; Galway Public Library; click to enlarge the image.Left: cover of Story Quilt: Poems of a Place by the People Who Live Here; A project of the Galway Public Library. See Galway's application for more information and pictures.

2006
  • Southeastern New York Library Resources Council: "The Hudson River Valley Heritage (HRVH) Service," providing online access to historical materials from New York State's Hudson River Valley to researchers, students and the general public.
  • Albany Public Library: Bookmobile service, coordinated by the Library's Outreach Department, providing day-to-day programs and services so that "[e]very City of Albany resident shall have regular and equitable access to the information, educational, and recreational resources and programs of the Albany Public Library."

2005
  • Southern Adirondack Library System: "Statewide Performer Database," a unique project that supports statewide youth library service by compiling programming and performer information from all across New York.
  • Mid-York Library System: The "Regional Read" project promoted literacy and community involvement by encouraging people to read Ray Bradbury's Fahrenheit 451 and to participate in programs related to the book.

2004

  • Rochester Regional Library Council: "CLIC-on-Health" project, an outstanding approach to providing the people of the greater Rochester area with high-quality healthcare information and resources.
  • Cortland Junior/Senior High School Library: "Parent-Child Book Club" project, an exceptional approach to promoting literacy by bringing together eighth graders and their parents for literary discussions and author presentations.

2002

  • Albany Public Library: "First Stop/The Next Step" project, a unique approach to addressing the needs of those in the community who are in the process of making the transition from incarceration to employment.

2001

  • Crandall Public Library, Glen Falls: Unique approach to addressing specific consumer health needs of patrons.
  • Four County Library System, Vestal: Exemplary approach to providing Internet resources to a rural community via a Cybermobile project.

2000

  • Buffalo & Erie County Public Library
  • Lincoln High School Media Center

1999

  • Kendall Jr. High School Library
  • Mohawk Valley Library System

1998

  • Brooklyn Public Library
  • Queens Borough Public Library
  • North Country Reference and Research Resources Council

1997

  • Port Washington Public Library
  • Science, Industry & Business Library
  • Potsdam Public Library
  • Reading Room Association of Gouverneur
  • Finger Lakes Library System & Project Partners
  • University Libraries, SUNY at Buffalo University
  • Southern Westchester BOCES School Library System
  • Suffolk Cooperative Library System

1996

  • New York Academy of Medicine Library
  • The New York Public Library – The Branch Libraries
  • Lawville Free Library
  • Mohawk Valley Library Association
  • Nassau School Library System
  • Fairport Library Council

1995

  • Brooklyn Public Library
  • Queens Borough Public Library
  • Buffalo & Erie County Public Library
  • Mid-York Library System
  • Honorable Mention:
    • Voorheesville Public Library
    • Woodward Memorial Library
Last Updated: January 20, 2012