GLA Awards

Do you know someone whose contributions to Georgia libraries and/or GLA should be recognized with a GLA award? Take the time to nominate a deserving individual today.

Each year the Georgia Library Association seeks to honor outstanding librarians, library staff members, and library advocates through the following awards:

Nix Jones Award

Nominee must be a practicing librarian in Georgia who has made substantial contributions to the library profession, such as stimulation of library development, leadership in library programs, unusual and imaginative services, or outstanding support of Georgia's libraries.

McJenkin-Rheay Award

This award is given to a young librarian who has made outstanding contributions to the Georgia Library Association. The nominee must be a graduate of an American Library Association library school or an NCATE approved Masters program in media education and must have completed their degree within the last 10 years, must be currently employed in a Georgia library and have been employed in a Georgia library for at least three years, must currently be a member and have been a member of the Georgia Library Association for at least three years.

Bob Richardson Award

Nominee must be a GLA member who has made a significant contribution to the organization through their time and effort. The award is not limited to professional librarians or even to library employees. Previous GLA award winners may be considered for the Richardson Award. The nomination for the award may come from a GLA Division, Committee or an individual member. All nominations will be considered with equal weight.

Nora Symmers Paraprofessional Award

This award is given to an individual who has been employed in a paraprofessional position in a Georgia library for at least three years. The award recipient must be a member of GLA and must have been a member of GLA for at least three years. The Nora Symmers Paraprofessional Award recognizes an individual's contribution to GLA and the Paraprofessional Division through their efforts to promote and support the Paraprofessional Division and to encourage paraprofessional participation in GLA.

Charles Beard Library Advocacy Award

This award is designed to honor someone not employed in a library that has made outstanding contributions to libraries.

Library Support Services Award

This award recognizes someone employed in a library support profession who has furthered library development or who has made outstanding contributions to Georgia libraries as part of his or her job or business. The award winner could be a vendor employee, an employee of an office or department that supports library services, or an employee of an individual institution.

Honorary Memberships

These memberships go to retired members of the Georgia Library Association who have contributed significantly to the association by holding office or rendering outstanding service to sections, committees, roundtables, etc.

For more detail about GLA awards, see p.82-85 of the GLA Handbook at: http://gla.georgialibraries.org/handbook_handbook.pdf

While a completed nomination form and a letter supporting the nomination are the only requirements of the nominator, feel free to provide additional documentation about the nominee’s contributions to libraries and/or the Georgia Library Association.