Congratulations to Grace Atkins, who received the Missouri Library Association Outstanding New Librarian Award last night at the MLA awards ceremony in St. Louis! Read her acceptance remarks below.
“Thank you so much. This is truly an honor.
I graduated from the University of Texas at Austin’s Information School in May 2015, and bright-eyed and bushy-tailed, applied for a brand new position at the University of Missouri Libraries: User Engagement Librarian. Engaging with the users in fall of 2015 was a challenge. As most of you know, that was a historically tumultuous time at Mizzou. But what I saw was students who loved their university so much that they demanded it be better. And, as we discussed in many sessions today, one of the fundamental roles of a library is to empower their communities to be better. So, we had an opportunity to step up as a library.
I would like to thank our Vice Provost of University Libraries, Ann Campion Riley, for supporting the establishment of a Student Advisory Council. I am fortunate to be the liaison between student leaders and library administration. This communication and collaboration has resulted in the libraries being better able to meet student needs. For example, when the student body demanded the main library be open longer, the council worked with student government and administrators in a transparent process to draft a fee proposal. In record voter turnout, almost 80% of students supported the fee and we now have Ellis Library open 24 hours a day, 5 days a week.
I would like to quote Rebecca Clarke who, in her awesome Parks & Rec session today, quoted Leslie Knope quoting Theodore Roosevelt: “Far and away the best prize that life has to offer is a chance to work hard at work worth doing.” And Leslie adds that “what makes work worth doing is getting to do it with people that you love.”
The students at Mizzou love their university, and that makes my work worth doing. I am very privileged to be in a position to channel their passion into positive change, and I hope to continue this work.
This award is as much the students’ as it is mine.
Thank you.”