Pfahler and Kruse crowned best of 2001

by Anna Jackson

Carrie Kruse and Sandy Pfahler at the Librarians' Assembly awards presentation.

Sandy Pfahler and Carrie Kruse have been named the 2001 Librarians-of-the-Year by their peers in the University of Wisconsin-Madison Librarians' Assembly. The awards are given annually to recognize outstanding contributions to campus library services by two unclassified staff members of the General Library System. One award is given to someone who has worked for the system more than 10 years and another to someone who has been on the staff 10 years or less. The Librarians' Assembly created the awards in 1989.

Pfahler is deputy director and associate director for member libraries in the General Library System. She has worked in the General Library System for more than 30 years, starting as a student assistant in 1969 while earning her master's degree in library science. During her tenure, Pfahler has also worked in technical services and in the budget and personnel departments. She received the Librarian-of-the-Year award for her work with member libraries.

Pfahler and Elsa Althen, head of the Biology Library, recently began a program to recruit a new library school graduate to work in the Biology Library as a research intern for two years. This program helps the intern "get his or her feet wet" and encourages an interest in the science library field. Recently the program expanded beyond the sciences.

According to colleagues who nominated Pfahler for the award, she is "an administrator who pays attention to the myriad of details of running a library and an administrative director who finds ways to meet with each and every person she supervises." Nominators also used adjectives such as honest, straightforward, compassionate, and supportive to describe Pfahler.

Kruse, who joined the UW-Madison Libraries staff as a student assistant in 1989, currently serves as the library instruction coordinator in College Library. Her professional career started in 1996 when she became a public services librarian in College Library.

In 1997, Kruse assumed responsibility for the Computerized Library User Education (CLUE) library instruction tutorial. She has helped to redesign the content and technical aspects of the program and make CLUE Web-accessible. Kruse is also a long-standing member of the Bibliographic Instruction Coordinators Committee, where she has taken an active role in instructional planning and implementation. She also mentors SLIS students in the BI Field Project Program and serves on several campuswide committees, including the Library Portals Committee.

Colleagues recommending Kruse for this award describe her as, "a person who is ubiquitously involved in library activities."