Affiliated faculty member Clara Chu is the recipient of the 2015 Chinese American Librarians Association (CALA) Distinguished Service Award. This award is given annually to a CALA member demonstrating outstanding leadership and achievement in library and information service at the national or international level. It is the association's highest honor.
Chu will be recognized at the CALA Awards Banquet on June 26 in Orlando, Florida.
In their announcement, the CALA Awards Committee cited Chu’s leadership at the University of Illinois, where she is director and distinguished professor of the Mortenson Center for International Library Programs. Chu also has held leadership roles with CALA and the International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions, and she was the 2014-2015 president of the Association for Library and Information Science Education.
The committee also pointed to Chu’s scholarly achievements and contributions to the field:
Dr. Clara M. Chu is a prolific writer. She has published thirty-seven peer-reviewed articles and chapters, and a book entitled, “Change and Progress in LIS Education.” She has been dedicated to diversity, multiculturalism, and library education through her numerous research activities, over two hundred scholarly presentations, and many professional consultations.
Dr. Chu’s contributions to librarianship, particularly to Chinese American librarianship, are immense. She has been active in IFLA, ALA, CALA, ALISE, and other organizations….Dr. Chu has also been recognized both nationally and internationally and received twenty-six awards and honors for her commitment to excellence in the profession, including the 2012 CALA President’s Recognition Award.
As a dedicated library and information educator and advocator for diversity and multiculturalism, Dr. Chu has applied for many grants, of which fifty-one have been granted.
Chu’s research interests include multicultural library and information services, information seeking behavior, critical information studies, international and comparative librarianship, and LIS education. She holds a bachelor’s degree from the University of British Columbia and master’s and doctoral degrees in library science from the University of Western Ontario.