Kathryn L. Venditti Mentoring Award

The Kathryn L. Venditti Mentoring Award is given annually to an academic librarian who has demonstrated excellence as a mentor to a librarian, library worker, or library science student.

This year’s recipient is Tammy J. Eschedor Voelker of Kent State University. Tammy has mentored countless practicum students and tenure-track librarian colleagues in formal mentorship programs and as a career-long supporter. She has taken on any challenge in her mentorship work to support students’ growth into the profession. Tammy extends mentorship support beyond the practicum and into the mentees’ career. A nominator recounted how Tammy was a source of support through the job search process, through publication opportunities, and through career triumphs and challenges. The nominator, who has been mentored by the recipient for over a decade attests:

Her mentorship has known absolutely no bounds, and there’s no way I could ever repay her for all that she’s given me so freely and generously…. I would not be the librarian that I am today if by some cruel twist of fate I hadn’t asked her to be my practicum supervisor.

Tammy truly embodies the enthusiastic spirit toward mentorship of this award.

Jay Ladd Distinguished Service Award

The Jay Ladd Distinguished Service Award recognizes an individual who has been an ALAO member for at least 5 years, and who has promoted academic libraries and librarianship not only on their own campus, but also within the state. The award also recognizes someone who has provided leadership in the promotion of ALAO through service such as committee membership, executive board office, or interest group office. This year’s recipient of the Jay Ladd Distinguished Service Award is Katy Kelly of the University of Dayton.

Thoughtful, creative, motivated, trustworthy, loyal, and an advocate for academic libraries are ways in which nominators described Katy. She is widely known for her advocacy, outreach, and dedication to not only ALAO, but to her own academic library and community. At the University of Dayton, she has put the library on the map with her innovative approach to outreach and engagement. A colleague attests that thanks to her hard work and dedication, “the Libraries has really become the heart of our campus community.”

During her time in ALAO, Katy has served in many roles including the Conference Planning Committee,  Member-at-Large, and Vice President/President/Past-President. In her efforts, she supported initiatives to further equity, diversity, inclusion, and access including reducing costs for event attendance and broadening grant awards for conference attendance, among others. As one nominator noted, one example of her lasting impression was developing  “a set of ‘community agreements’ to help ensure the annual conference provided space for respectful dialogue around critical issues, laying the groundwork for the future development of an ALAO code of conduct.” Katy’s service has truly made an impact on ALAO.

–Katy Mathuews, Past President, Ohio University