Anna Maria Watkin (MS '96), director of the Parkland College Library, and Erika Hackman, director of the Center for Excellence in Teaching and Learning at Parkland College, will accept the 2014 ACRL Community and Junior College Libraries Section (CJCLS) EBSCO Community College Learning Resources Award on behalf of the project Scholarship at Parkland (SPARK) at the 2014 ALA Annual Conference. The $500 award and plaque, donated by EBSCO Information Services, will be presented at the CJCLS Awards Dinner on Friday, June 27.
“SPARK makes excellent academic work visible, creating a clearer picture and facilitating a deeper understanding of student success,” said award co-chairs David Wright of Surry Community College and Beth Lander of Manor College. “SPARK displayed exceptional innovation and offered promise for long-term impact. Their example helps foster the concept of institutional repositories at other community colleges, and in so doing, validates the work of students at two-year colleges as worthy of scholarly consideration.”
Originally conceived by Hackman and Sherry Cmiel, former information services librarian at Parkland College, SPARK was one of the first institutional repositories created at a community college to promote, preserve, and showcase scholarly and creative work of the college's students and faculty.
For more information regarding the the award or a complete list of past recipients, please visit the awards section of the ACRL website.