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YBP Library Services Congratulates 2011 Miles Blackwell Outstanding Academic Librarian Award Winner
OTTAWA, ONTARIO– June 16, 2011 – The Canadian Library Association (CLA) and the Canadian Association of College and University Libraries (CACUL) announced Melody Burton, Chief Librarian at the University of British Columbia Okanagan, as the recipient of the 2011 Miles Blackwell Outstanding Academic Librarian Award on May 4.
Melody is recognized for her tireless service to the profession, unwavering commitment to mentorship and excellent leadership within various libraries. Nominators described her as a "natural leader," "a woman of insight" and "an advocate and an activist." She is "truly a librarian's librarian."
Throughout her career of more than 20 years, Melody has made an impact at many academic libraries: Concordia College in Edmonton, University of Alberta, York University, University of Windsor, Queen's University and now the University of British Columbia Okanagan (UBCO), where she has been Chief Librarian since 2005. At UBCO, she is known as an inspiring leader with an imaginative approach to problem solving. Through her vision and determination, the library has grown from one serving 2,400 undergraduate students to one that serves more than 6,000 students as well as faculty. The library's open hours have been greatly extended, the collection expanded, staff numbers increased, space redeveloped, contracts negotiated and strategic plans developed.
At Queen's University, she participated in planning their first Learning Commons, developing a team structure that aligned Queen's Library staff with the principles of a learning organization, negotiating the first collective agreement to recognize librarians at Queen's as faculty and designing the Ontario Information Infrastructure, which later became the Ontario Scholar's Portal.
Melody's service to the profession has taken her from the Greater Edmonton Library Association through the Ontario Council of University Libraries to the International Federation of Library Associations, where she now holds a position on the Academic and Research Libraries committee. With CLA, she was involved in planning the annual conference during the 1980s and has been co-Chair of the conference program committee since 2008. She served an elected four-year term on the CACUL Executive as Vice President and Past President; participated in the selection committee for CLA executive director in 1997-1998; and recently worked on the President's special committee on restructuring the association.
Mentorship is one of Melody's many professional passions. For seven years, she convened the CLA Standing Committee on Nominations, and successfully brought forward the names of younger professionals for consideration for elected office in the Association. In 2010, she was invited to serve as a mentor at the Northern Exposure to Leadership Institute. She approached this role thoughtfully and with a great deal of reflection, willingly embracing the deep commitment to mentoring. She is also known for "mentoring the mentors"; that is, encouraging others to mentor new librarians by supervising practicums and offering job shadowing opportunities.
The Miles Blackwell Award for Outstanding Academic Librarian is sponsored by Baker & Taylor and YBP Library Services. Since 1987, CACUL has recognized leaders, mentors, thinkers and champions of academic librarianship through this award. The award was presented to Melody at the Annual General Meeting on Friday, May 27, during the CLA National Conference in Halifax, Nova Scotia.
About YBP Library Services
YBP Library Services, a Baker & Taylor company, provides books and supporting collection management and technical services to academic, research and special
libraries in the Americas, Asia, Australia and the Pacific Rim. GOBI, YBP Library Services’ online, interactive bibliographic information service, provides access to 4 million titles in an English language database. YBP Library Services’ headquarters is in Contoocook, N.H., USA. For more on the company, go to www.ybp.com.
About Baker & Taylor (www.baker-taylor.com)
Baker & Taylor is the world's largest distributor of books, digital content and entertainment products. The company leverages its unsurpassed worldwide distribution network to deliver rich content in multiple formats, anytime and anywhere. Baker & Taylor offers cutting-edge digital media services and innovative technology platforms to thousands of publishers, libraries and retailers worldwide. Baker & Taylor also offers industry-leading customized library services and retail merchandising solutions. Baker & Taylor is proud to power Blio (blioreader.com), the world's most flexible, engaging and revolutionary ereading application. Charlotte, N.C.-based Baker & Taylor is majority owned by Castle Harlan Partners IV. L.P., an institutional private equity investment fund managed by Castle Harlan, Inc., a leading private equity investment firm.
Baker & Taylor and YBP Library Services and the Baker & Taylor and YBP logos are trademarks of Baker & Taylor Inc. Blio is a trademark of K-NFB Reading Technology, Inc. Other company and product names mentioned for identification purposes may be trademarks of their respective owners.
About CACUL
The Canadian Association of College and University Libraries (CACUL) is a division of the Canadian Library Association (CLA). CLA is a national association representing the interests of public, academic, school and special libraries, professional librarians, library workers, and all those concerned about enhancing the quality of life for Canadians through information and literacy. For details, visit www.cla.ca.
Business Contacts:
Mark Kendall
Senior Vice President of Sales
YBP Library Services
mkendall@ybp.com
+1 603-746-3102
Amy Baldwin George
Communications Manager
Baker & Taylor
amy.baldwin@baker-taylor.com
+1 704-998-3136
Wendy Rodgers
CACUL Director of Awards and Chair
CACUL
wrodgers@mun.ca
+1 709-737-4439
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