Library Staff Service Awards recognize 6 Staff members
Six library staff members received awards at a ceremony Tuesday, May 3, for excellence in service. This is the first year the campus-wide awards have been given, honoring staff members — student, classified, and academic — from any campus library. UW-Madison Provost Peter Spear presented each award recipient with a certificate during the ceremony.
The awards recognize one classified staff member, one academic staff member and four student staff members who:
- demonstrate exemplary working relationships with colleagues or other people in the libraries
- contribute to a welcome learning and researching environment
- exhibit high productivity along with teamwork, leadership and cooperation
- show creativity, initiative and independence that positively influence library services
Award recipients must be nominated by three other library staff members. A monetary award for the recipients was made possible by the General Library System and the Friends of the UW-Madison Libraries.
Richard West, senior academic librarian at Wendt Library, received the Academic Staff Service Award. West has worked at Wendt since 1975. One of his nominators wrote, "his knowledge of technical services combined with his encyclopedic knowledge of our collections and his innate helpfulness, assure that users of Wendt Library receive excellent help with their reference questions."
Lois Milton of Central Technical Services received the Classified Staff Service Award. Milton has worked for the libraries since 1985 and has become the host of the unit’s candy bowl, a symbol of the "zest and cheer she brings to her job and to her relations with her co-workers," according to one nominator. Another nominator wrote that Lois "may be invisible to library patrons, but her consistently high performance and positive attitude contribute to the high level of library service that patrons expect and deserve."
Four Student Staff Service Awards were given to Timothy Cole of Wendt Library, Anna Palmer of the School of Library and Information Studies Library and College Library, Elizabeth Baker of UW Digital Collections, and Amy Fibich from the bindery.
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Cole has worked at Wendt library since the fall of 2000 and, according to nominators, has been instrumental in stack maintenance and searching for missing books. In fact, nominators pointed out that significantly fewer books go missing and also fewer books stay missing, thanks to Cole. |
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Palmer works in the SLIS Library and College Library. Nominators pointed out that Palmer provides stellar service as part of the SLIS Library’s front desk team. Palmer also took the initiative to plan, advertise and facilitate book discussions and even created a mini-series of workshops on Microsoft Excel as a useful formatting tool. |
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Baker, who has worked with UW Digital Collections for two years, has become the primary student staff responsible for HTML and Web site development work, according to others in UW Digital Collections. One nominator wrote, "Elizabeth has demonstrated considerable skills both in artistic and technical aspects of her work. This bears stressing, as I’ve found few people who are so good in both areas." |
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Working in the bindery for a year, Fibich has proven she can work quickly and efficiently. According to nominators, she has been instrumental in eliminating the backlog of work, processing 3250 volumes since she began. Equally important, one nominator commented, "In addition to her extensive capabilities, she has also fit nicely into the rather staid middle aged culture of the Binding Unit, not always an easy situation for younger people. She is well-liked and well-respected by all Binding Unit staff." |