Carole Medal, Gail Borden Public Library Executive Director, Named Illinois "Librarian of the Year" 

Carole Medal, Executive Director of the Gail Borden Public library in Elgin Illinois, is the recipient of the 2013 Illinois Library Association Librarian of the Year Award. The award recognizes a librarian’s distinguished service and leadership in Illinois libraries. The award is sponsored by the Sikich.

Carole Medal believes libraries should be a hub in their community. Under her direction, the Gail Borden Public Library is on the cutting edge, willing to embrace change, creative, and connected with their community through collaboration. Carole has encouraged her staff to look for new ways to serve their community which have resulted in increased attendance, circulations, library card registrations, and partnerships. One of her collaborated exhibits included an opportunity for students to hold live conversations with astronauts on the International Space Station. Through her partnership with the local school district, more than 8,000 students now possess library cards and all students participate in the library’s summer reading program. Under Carole’s direction, the Gail Borden Public Library has been recognized on local, state and national levels for both grants and awards. Carole has also received many personal awards for her work in libraries.

Carole has been active in ILA, including having served as ILA President for 2009-10.  

Press Release Illinois Library Association

 

StoryTubes - the 2-minute or shorter "my favorite book" video project - has won the PLA Polaris Innovation in Technology John Iliff Award and that win couldn't have come at a better time.  The $1,000 PLA award honorarium prize will go into the project.

Alan Harkness, Director of the Piedmont Regional Library System, chaired the PLA award jury.  He said that the StoryTubes project was chosen for the prize because it "captured the essence of using technology in an innovative way to tie back into a core business function of public libraries:  sharing the joy of reading. 
 
"The StoryTubes project gave local kids a means to use technology they were interested in to talk about stories.  The way that this project brought the community together to vote on the videos the children made was quite original and easily replicated in libraries everywhere."
 
Staff members at Gail Borden Public Library, creators, and now coordinators, of the StoryTubes project, were thrilled to hear the news.  With so much economic uncertainty, support was a little harder to come by this year.
 
However, publishers did step up to support the project and the $1,000 will help ensure that coveted prizes will be available in all categories. 
 
Simon & Schuster, Scholastic, DK, Little Brown, Charlesbridge and Harper Collins are publishers that will support the project with book prizes. The Sony Corporation has provided camera prizes.
 
The PLA Polaris Innovation in Technology John Iliff Award honors the life and accomplishments of John Iliff, early adopter and champion of technology in public libraries, and recognizes the contributions of a library worker, librarian, or library that has used technology and innovative thinking as a tool to improve services to public library users. The award provides a $1,000 honorarium, a plaque and a bouquet of roses for the workplace. The award is sponsored by Polaris.