Paula T. Kaufman, Juanita J. and Robert E. Simpson Dean of Libraries and university librarian and GSLIS affiliated faculty member at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, is the 2012 Association of College and Research Libraries' (ACRL) Academic/Research Librarian of the Year. The award, sponsored by YBP Library Services, recognizes an outstanding member of the library profession who has made a significant national or international contribution to academic/research librarianship and library development.
Kaufman will receive a $5,000 award at 10:30 a.m. on Monday, June 25, 2012, during the joint ACRL/ALCTS President's Program at the ALA Annual Conference in Anaheim.
"Paula Kaufman's record of accomplishments is exemplary in many ways," said John M. Budd, chair of the ACRL Academic/Research Librarian of the Year Award Committee and professor in the University of Missouri School of Information Science and Learning Technologies. "She has been a distinct leader at several organizations and has been influential in every venue in which she has worked. Nominees and supporters uniformly extol her abilities to build consensus, to develop multi-institutional groups and to work with diverse and sometimes opposing bodies. She also has an outstanding record of publications and presentations through which she clearly communicated managerial, organizational and development topics."
"News of having won this award came as a total surprise," said Kaufman. "Being recognized by my colleagues is the greatest honor I can imagine. In turn, I must recognize that any success I have achieved is due to the privilege I've had to work with talented and caring people. I am very humbled to be joining the list of my many outstanding colleagues who have received this prestigious award in the past."
Over the course of her career, Kaufman has made a significant impact on the profession through her extraordinary leadership abilities, vision and strategic thinking for the future of libraries, along with the generosity with which she shares her inspirations and insights. Her leadership of some of the largest academic research libraries in the United States has positioned her to engage directly with a wide range of issues facing libraries of all sizes and missions. Her positive and energetic approach to problem solving has benefited not only the libraries in which she has worked, but also the larger library community.
The full text of the press release can be found on the ACRL website.