Regents Advisory Council on Libraries

The Joseph F. Shubert Library Excellence Award

The New York State Regents Advisory Council on Libraries
and EBSCO Information Services

The Joseph F. Shubert Library Excellence Award recognizes achievements by New York State libraries and library consortia of all sizes and types.  Named after Joseph F. Shubert, former State Librarian, the Award is given to individual libraries and to library consortia to recognize achievements that improve the quality of library service to their users. The Joseph F. Shubert Library Excellence Award recognizes that attainment of excellence often happens in small steps; is a process, not a final product; and focuses on meeting user needs.  Yet, the result of the process assures a comprehensive approach to excellence in libraries and information services.

The New York State Regents Advisory Council is pleased to sponsor the Joseph F. Shubert Library Excellence Award.  Members of the 2008 Award Committee are Samuel L. Simon (Chair), Ellen Bach, and Mary Lou Caskey. This year's award to an individual library or library consortia will include a gift of $1,000 supplied by EBSCO Information Services, this year's co-sponsor for the honor.Other notable projects may also be recognized and honored for their achievements.

Eligibility:

• individual (single) library
• library consortia (a library system, or two or more libraries of any type, or a combination of a library or libraries and community organizations or business entities)
• all libraries and library consortia in New York State, with the exception of  a library or library consortium that received this award within the past 3 years.

Application for 2008 Joseph F. Shubert Library Excellence Award

2007 Award

The 2007 Joseph F. Shubert Library Excellence Award went to Galway Public Library in Galway, New York, for their project entitled “Story Quilt.” As explained in their application by Project Director Mary Cuffe-Perez, the Story Quilt is a “one-of-a-kind literary, social history project of the Galway Public Library to gather stories from the community and turn them into one-page narrative poems that capture the images, people and times of the town of Galway, New York. Each poem represents a 'patch' of the Story Quilt.”

These poems incorporate personal experiences and/or interviews of the people of Galway, a town with a population of 3,589. As a result of the project, a book of the 216 poems was published in April 2007. The project received supportive grants in 2005 and 2006. The concept emanated from a writer’s community in Galway that was meeting at the public library. It was enthusiastically received by the people of Galway and “took off” from there.

The 2007 Shubert Award Committee (consisting of Karen Patricia Smith, Chair; Irving Toliver and Mary Lou Caskey, members) was enthusiastic in its decision to honor Galway Public Library’s submission as an excellent example of “the spirit of the Shubert award.” The award was presented by Mary Lou Caskey to Ms. Cuffe-Perez at NYLA’s Annual Conference and Awards Banquet in Buffalo, October 19th, and recognized in a subsequent ceremony and visit by Ms. Caskey to the Galway Public Library on Oct. 29th, with members of the Galway community and Story Quilt Committee in attendance. The Galway Public Library was also presented with a $1,000 award, made possible by EBSCO Information Services, to recognize their outstanding project.

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.]

Last modified on February 19, 2008 -- asm
For more information, contact Mary Woodward
URL: http://www.nysl.nysed.gov/libdev/adviscns/rac/award/index.html