The Joseph F. Shubert Library Excellence Award
The New York State Regents Advisory Council on Libraries, Friends of the New York State Library
2013: Announcement; Application | 2012 and Previous Recipients | 2013 Award Committee |
The 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.
2012 Award
The New York State Regents Advisory Council on Libraries is pleased to announce that the 2012 Joseph F. Shubert Library Excellence Award has been awarded to the Greece Public Library
for their expansion of programming space.
In recent years, community programs had become so popular at the Greece Public Library that staffers frequently had to turn away interested parties. Bernadette Foster, Director of the Greece Public Library, said, “We needed to expand our program space, but we couldn’t afford to expand the library.” By taking advantage of tools from the Monroe County library system that keep track of which books and materials patrons are actually using, Greece library staff were able to scale down their collection of books and open up enough space to triple the size of the program room. “We were able to identify what people in this community wanted from their library collection and were able to delete a lot of things that were just sitting there not being used and we were able to buy things that people really want,” said Foster.
See their application: .PDF 
[966k]
The redistribution of the materials budget in response to collection analysis resulted in an immediate increase in availability of best-selling titles and a reduction in the length of waiting time for items of interest. The more focused patron driven purchasing methods also contributed to an increase in first visit customer satisfaction. As Ms Foster noted, “It was an earthquake in the philosophical environment of librarianship at the Greece Public Library, but the ambition of improving the quality of service and increasing the number of satisfied patrons resulted in a full recovery.”
The award will be officially presented in November at the 2012 New York Library Association Conference in Saratoga Springs. As the 2012 Shubert Award winner, the Greece Public Library will receive $1,000, which is graciously donated by the Friends of the New York State Library, and a plaque.
Members of the Regents Advisory Council on Libraries 2012 Shubert Award Committee are Mary Muller, Chair; Steve Manning; and Sharon Orienter. The Committee was uniformly enthusiastic in its decision to honor the Greece Public Library submission as an excellent example of the “spirit of the Shubert award.”
2012 Awards Press Release .PDF [19k]
Previous Award Recipients
[Click on the links below to view their applications for the Award and/or links to more information about the project.]
2011 |
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2010 |
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2009 |
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2008 |
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2007 |
Story Quilt, a "one-of-a-kind literary, social history project of the Galway Public Library...."
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2006 |
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2005 |
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2004 |
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2002 |
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2001 |
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2000 |
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1999 |
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1998 |
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1996 |
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1995 |
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