Presented by the Reaching Forward Forum for Library Support Staff.

This award was established in 1995, sponsored by the Reaching Forward Conference of Library Assistants, in honor of Tobi Oberman and Tom Rich, who were instrumental in developing the Reaching Forward Conference for library support staff.

Rationale
The award recognizes the contributions of a support staff member to the library community and to the role of support staff in libraries.

Eligibility
Open to support staff working in all types of libraries.  Persons may nominate themselves or others.

Selection Process
Letters of nomination will be accepted until March 30, 2007.  A panel of judges will be selected from the Reaching Forward Committee and will be responsible for choosing the recipient.  The panel must work with the nominations received in accordance with the established timetable; in the event that no deserving nominations are received, panel members may not then nominate a recipient.

Criteria
A letter, one page or shorter, completing the statement, "Why I would like to attend Reaching Forward" or "Why I think___________ deserves to attend Reaching Forward," should be submitted to the selection committee.

Award
The recipient(s) will receive free registration to Reaching Forward, $50 for expenses and a framed certificate.

Previous Award Winners
1995 — Claudia Race and Rosemary Boenig
1996 — Nancy L. Sergel and Darlene G. Ward
1997-98 — Rosa Palomino and Debbie Rosen
1999 — Lawrence Szymanski, Pamela H. Carlson, Mary Jayne Nash, Nadine Horn
2000 — Charles Hoover and Sheryl M. Czulno
2001 — Jorge Arroyo and Shirley Novotny
2002 — Patricia Lewis and Delores Johnson
2003 — Sharon Gums and Ruth Hart
2004 — Vida Baleckaitis and Mickie Beckman
2005 — Tamela James, Sue Altmann, Jan Colwell, and Jose Negrete
2006 — Jessica Bertola, Felicia Crumpton, and Jennifer Heyden

Click here for Oberman and Rich Award nomination form

Printable PDF version

Please send e-mail letters of recommendation to Denise Zielinski at dzielins@dupagels.lib.il.us.