NJSLA's Dec. 15 Annual Meeting and Holiday Party will include presentation of three awards: the President's Award, given at the discretion of the chapter president (who happens to be me); Member of the Year Award (decided by a three-member awards committee); and the Frank H. Spaulding Student Scholarship (also decided by a committee). We'll announce the winners before the party, and they'll be invited to attend as the chapter's guests.
(Registration information for the meeting and party will be posted soon. In the mean time, I can tell you that it will be held in the evening at the Rutgers Club in New Brunswick, at a very affordable cost to members.)
It's important to honor chapter members for their contributions, and of course to encourage them to continue their good work, so I'm happy to reinstate the awards this year. I've put together a draft document listing awards given by the chapter, and at the association level to chapter members and New Jerseyans. Please let me know if you can help fill in the blanks, especially for awards given by the chapter.
New Jersey Chapter members have a long history of stepping up to the plate in leadership roles within the association and profession, and thus have been honored time and again at the association level. Many members know that John Cotton Dana, the founding president of SLA, was head of the Newark Public Library. You may not know, though, that Efren Gonzalez, who is a current New Jersey Chapter member, was association president in 1971-72, and according to the online membership directory, joined SLA in 1952. Messrs. Spaulding, Dana and Gonzalez are three of the eight New Jersey special librarians and information professionals who have served as association president. The others are listed on the aforementioned spreadsheet.
Eric Schwarz
NJSLA President