Presidential Citations

These very special awards honor Core members who make significant contributions to the division and to the profession but whose accomplishments do not fall within the criteria for Core's other awards. They are awarded by the current Core President on an annual basis.

Recipients are selected by the Core President based on achievement. Core membership is required to be eligible. The Core President notifies recipients in spring of the year received, and the awards are presented each year at the Core President's program during ALA Annual Conference.

If you would like to nominate a member for consideration, please fill out this nomination form by May 2nd, 2025.

Past Award Recipients

2024 Winners

-->

• Don Allgeier
  Organization and Bylaws Chair
  The inaugural chair for the Organization and Bylaws Committee, Don took on the massive task of reworking the minimal Core bylaws and structure written in the transitional period from the former divisions to Core. Working through the process to revise the bylaws and handbook is a lengthy and highly collaborative process, and involves a lot of careful consideration. The precedence he has set with the Organization and Bylaws committee’s work will continue to make Core a nimble and flexible organization with an open attitude to change. In addition, his good humor and teambuilding skills have built a strong committee with multiple current and future Core leaders, now with an extra dose of knowledge about Core’s structure and possibilities. We look forward to everything Don will do in the future with Core.
  
• Peter Bolek
  Buildings & Operations Awards for Buildings and Interiors Committee Chair (21-23), Past Chair (23-24)
  As a volunteer with LLAMA, one of the precursor divisions to Core, and Core’s Buildings & Operations Section for over 20 years, Peter will complete his time volunteering on the Awards for Buildings and Interiors Committee at the end of this term. Peter served as Chair from 2021-2023 and Past Chair from 2023-2024. He was instrumental in ensuring the AIA/ALA Awards and the IIDA Awards continued during the transition from LLAMA to Core. Without his perseverance these awards may have not moved forward. Peter also served on the Architecture for Public Library committee from 2002-2017 prior to joining the Awards for Buildings and Interiors Committee in 2018. As design principal and President of HBM Architects, Peter provides design leadership and insight into the firm’s projects, as well as acting as the project designer on the firm’s most significant projects and still dedicates time to Core. Peter is very generous with his volunteer time and shares his expertise on library design widely with the library community. He has led numerous presentations on library design topics throughout the years including at ALA Annual, PLA, and Core Forum. Peter remains committed to Core and its mission. He plans to continue supporting the important work of the association’s committees, ensuring that his wealth of experience and passion for library design benefits the community for years to come.
  
• Dr. Amada Click
  Core Forum 2023 Co-Chair and Chair, Leadership & Management Section (23-24)
  As a past co-chair of the Core Forum Planning Committee, Amanda provided guidance and expert planning to make the 2023 Core Forum a success. Her work included, coordinating conference programming, identifying areas for improvement within the committee, and providing guidance to the committee. Amanda's work with the committee will be carried on for years to come as the committee develops ideas she instilled during her tenure. In addition, Amanda joined the Leadership & Management Section Leaders Team. During her tenure on the leadership committee she led the efforts to establish the Section including conducting a detailed membership survey that will further guide the growth of the section.
  
• Jodie Gambill (posthumous)
  This citation is in memoriam for Jodie Gambill, who died on April 3, 2024. Jodie worked in the Library Technology and Digital Services department at Vanderbilt University since 2007, and held many leadership roles in LITA, one of the precursor divisions to Core. She was an Emerging Leader for LITA in 2012, a member and then a chair of the Web Coordinating Committee, member and then chair of the Organization and Bylaws Committee, LITA Parliamentarian, and elected to the board as LITA Councilor in 2019, continuing on as Core Councilor after the merger. She helped everyone in so many ways, and was instrumental in the formation of Core in 2020. Jodie was eager to carry on with leadership in Core, but due to her cancer diagnosis was unable to do so. She will be missed as a librarian, a technologist, a Drupal expert, an ALA governance nerd, and a leader. Her colleagues will miss her and remember her for so much more. They will remember her humor and her great laugh. They admired her attention to detail, and willingness to join in and pitch in with everything, whether it was her strength already or something she wanted to learn. She showed up, and people wanted to work with her. She was dedicated to her family, and was honest about the difficulties of balancing career and children, but was a model for how to do it. She was one of a kind, and we will miss her presence in our community.
  
• Jenny Levine
  Core Deputy Executive Director for Advocacy, Connections and Engagement (20-24)
  In recognition of Jenny Levine for her 17 years at ALA, and especially for her work as the Core Deputy Executive Director for Advocacy, Connections and Engagement. Core would not be what it is today without Jenny's passion for innovation, dedication to members, and drive to build Core into the division it was envisioned to be. The creation of Core: Leadership, Infrastructure, Futures in 2020 was the largest ALA division restructuring in 40 years. In championing the new division, we partnered with the three Boards of Directors and dozens of committees to build a shared vision of the future and to align different missions, structures, and cultures. Jenny's legacy will continue to live on as Core continues to build on the services she helped to create, such as the unique access to the WMS Sandbox which is a major value add to members. From 2006 to 2015, Jenny served as a Strategy Guide within the Information Technology & Telecommunications (ITTS) unit at ALA. From 2015 - 2020, Jenny served as the Executive Director of LITA, one of the precursor divisions to Core. Jenny will be missed, most of all, by her Core staff family and Core Community. She has been a mentor, advocate, and friend to all of us. We wish her the best in this next stage and plan to carry Core forward with Jenny's passion, ingenuity, and generosity always in mind.
  
• Peter Musser
  Artificial Intelligence/Machine Learning Interest Group Co-Chair (23-24)
  His contributions to Core have stood out this year when member engagement has been low. Peter’s enthusiasm and willingness to commit his time to engage Core members in developments in AI is outstanding. He organized a popular AI discussion during Interest Group Week, planned an AI panel with phenomenal speakers for the 2024 ALA Annual in San Diego, volunteered his expertise to be part of a potential AI Project team, and he and his co-chair also are guest editors for ITAL’s AI special issue. His service to ALA and Core is very appreciated.
  
• Frank Skornia
  Core Web Committee Chair (23-4) and Core Representative to the ALA Information Technology Advisory Committee (23-25)
  Frank has demonstrated exceptional dedication and leadership as the Chair of the Core Web Committee (23-24). He has been an invaluable asset to Core staff during the web migration. Frank has spent countless hours answering questions, providing input, and fixing issues found on the Core website post-migration. In addition, Frank has personally built the Core Forum 2022, 2023, and 2024 websites. In addition he serves as the Core Representative to the ALA Information Technology Advisory Committee. His tireless efforts and dedication have significantly enhanced the efficiency and functionality of the Core web presence, greatly benefiting the entire community.
  
• Joseph Yue
  Chair, Fundraising & Sponsorship Committee (22-24) and RUSA President (23-24)
  Joseph has done a wonderful job chairing the Core Fundraising & Sponsorships Committee. Under his leadership, the committee has developed and implemented standard procedures, documentation, and outreach materials that have helped establish relationships with several new sponsors for Core events and activities, while also supporting innovative fundraising efforts like targeted campaigns for Open Access Week. He has brought to his work as chair organizational rigor, openness to new ideas, and an engaging and collegial style of communication. Core's success depends on bringing in revenue from fundraising and sponsorships, and we recognize Joseph for his contributions to this vital part of Core's work. His leadership term has helped set this important committee up for even greater success in the future. And he did this all while also serving as the President of RUSA.
  

2023 Winners

-->

• Debra Andreadis
  LibGuides Project Team Chair
  When Core put out the call for a volunteer to chair our LibGuides Project Team, Debra answered. The previous ALCTS and LLAMA divisions had a wide variety of resources hosted in multiple LibGuides installations. Debra led a group of volunteers that inventoried the content on the various sites, created a new structure for the Core LibGuides site, migrated the content, and designed a user-friendly interface. The Team’s work will allow Core’s committees, interest groups, and sections to easily add and maintain information and resources for Core members and the profession as a whole.
  
• Tom Ferren
  Core Professional Development Program Officer
  The Core Board recognizes Tom's dedication to Core, his management and planning a myriad of Core continuing education events, his support and work managing Annual Conference events and planning Core Forum, and his commitment to make all Core events a success. Behind that calm and positive exterior lies a strong desire to make Core a better and stronger organization and create an environment that benefits all Core members.
  
• Lynn Hoffman
  Leadership & Management Section Chair
  As a former president in LLAMA and key person in the Core planning process, Lynn Hoffman stepped in again to work with the members of the Leadership and Management Section Leadership Team to help restart this critical section of Core. Her ability to bring people together, collaborate on solutions, and move tasks forward has been a hallmark of her service in both LLAMA and Core.
  
• Elisabeth Martin, FAIA
  Core Library Interiors & Furniture Committee Co-chair
  After nearly 30 years volunteering with ALA in some capacity, Elisabeth is moving into the Past Chair Role of LIFE and will be ending her term on the committee after Core Forum 2023, where she will co-present Furniture & Materials: Tried, True, and What’s New! Throughout the years she has volunteered in LLAMA and now the Core Buildings & Operations Section, including the Architecture for Public Libraries Committee, Functional Space Requirements Past Committee Chair, Buildings & Operations Executive Committee, and the Library Interiors & Furniture Committee & Chair 2011- 2023. She has led numerous Core preconference tours, including co-leading the 2023 Merchandise Mart Furniture Showrooms and Factory Tour. Throughout her career, she has given more than 30 presentations on library design topics and has specialized in the planning and design of libraries, including serving as the Director of Planning, Design, and Facilities for Brooklyn Public Library (BPL) from 1996 to 2003 and Program Director for the Libraries Unit of the NYC Department of Design and Construction (DDC). As a recognized library design specialist, her experience includes working on over 300 library facilities. We thank Elisabeth for her dedication to Core, ALA, and the library and design profession.
  
• Elizabeth Nelson
  Library Leadership & Management (LL&M) Journal Editor
  The editors of the three Core journals have worked collaboratively to establish a road forward for the journals through creating and reviewing a request for proposals for hosting the journals on a unified platform, standardizing workflows, and making them all open access. While much work remains in the migration and for establishing cost sustainability, the Core Board is grateful to the journal editors for this immense undertaking on top of their normal responsibilities.
  
• Kelly Sattler
  Technology Section Chair, Web Committee Chair
  Chairing the Technology section is a big job in itself, so the Core Board is grateful that Kelly was additionally willing to chair the Web Committee this year to cover for a colleague who was diagnosed with a major illness. Both the Technology Section and the Web Committee are well set for future years of work thanks to Kelly’s leadership. In addition, Core has adopted a new template for committee descriptions based on Kelly and the Technology Section’s work.
  
• Rachel Scott
  Library Resources & Technical Services (LRTS) Journal Editor
  The editors of the three Core journals have worked collaboratively to establish a road forward for the journals through creating and reviewing a request for proposals for hosting the journals on a unified platform, standardizing workflows, and making them all open access. While much work remains in the migration and for establishing cost sustainability, the Core Board is grateful to the journal editors for this immense undertaking on top of their normal responsibilities.
  
• Amanda Sprochi
  Committee on Cataloging: Description and Access (CC:DA) Chair
  The Cataloging Description and Access Committee is critical to the library profession, but over these last years has suffered from a vacuum in leadership. This year Amanda jumped in to serve as chair without much notice and was able to lead this committee back to strength. The Core Board is grateful for her leadership.
  
• Ken Varnum
  Information Technology & Libraries (ITAL) Journal Editor
  The editors of the three Core journals have worked collaboratively to establish a road forward for the journals through creating and reviewing a request for proposals for hosting the journals on a unified platform, standardizing workflows, and making them all open access. While much work remains in the migration and for establishing cost sustainability, the Core Board is grateful to the journal editors for this immense undertaking on top of their normal responsibilities.
  
• Dennelle Wrightson
  Core Library Interiors & Furniture Committee Co-chair
  After nearly 35 years volunteering with ALA in some capacity, Denelle will be retiring after Core Forum 2023 where she will co-present Furniture & Materials: Tried, True, and What’s New! Throughout the years she has volunteered in LLAMA and now the Core Buildings & Operations Section, including the Architecture for Public Libraries Committee, Functional Space Requirements Past Committee Chair, Buildings & Operations Executive Committee, IFLA - ALA Building & Equipment Section Representative 2015-2019, and the Library Interiors & Furniture Committee & Chair 2011- 22023. She has led numerous Core preconference tours, including co-leading the 2023 Merchandise Mart Furniture Showrooms and Factory Tour. Throughout her career, she has given more than 50 presentations on library design topics and has specialized in the planning and design of libraries. As a recognized library design specialist, her experience includes more than 260 library facilities. We thank Denelle for her dedication to Core, ALA, and the library and design profession.