Rolling Prairie Library System has established four awards to recognize outstanding achievements and contributions made by the member libraries and their staffs. The annual awards are: Professional Staff of the Year, Support Staff of the Year and Library of the Year. The fourth award is Life Time Achievement. Nominations are open to all members of Rolling Prairie and their staff. Any library or staff member may submit a nomination, self-nominations are allowed. The awards committee will consist of five members, four from the RPLS Advisory committee representing each type of library and one RPLS Board member. One RPLS staff member will be a non-voting member of the committee to coordinate the nominations. All awards are given at the discretion of the awards committee. Winners of the Library, professional staff and support staff awards will again be eligible for an award after a period of five years. Below are the criteria for each award.

Nomination Form (please return by December 15, 2005)

The nominee for this award should have—

Made a significant contribution to Rolling Prairie Library System and/or the library field.

Be at or near the end of their career.

Served in a leadership/support capacity for Rolling Prairie Library System. (committees, Board, etc.

Served in a leadership/support capacity for the Illinois State Library or a Professional Library Association

By past actions/accomplishments served as a model or inspiration for Rolling Prairie Librarians.

When making your nomination list the specific achievements by the nominee that directly benefited the system. Give a detailed explanation of how these achievements fulfilled the award criteria listed. Please list the libraries where the nominee served and their length of service, membership on committees and other positions of leadership with the length of term.

Nomination Form  (please return by December 15, 2005)

The nominee, through the combined efforts of the board/administration, staff and volunteers, should be--

Considered to be a leader and/or impact agency in their community or RPLS.

Symbolizes the ideal of the library as provider of information, and supporter of education.

Embrace the ideas, philosophies, and technologies present in the field of library science.

Most closely adhere to the goals of meeting their community of users needs in information, education, and recreation.

When making your nomination, tell us who directly benefited from the Library’s service, i.e., a particular group, community as a whole, children, teens, adults, etc. Was there a particular innovation or project or was this a combination of several accomplishments. Please explain the exact accomplishment, who benefited and how.

Nomination Form  (please return by December 15, 2005)

This award is open to any staff person with the responsibility of being the director or designated head librarian of a library or department of a library, which is a member of RPLS.

The nominee for this award should have—

When making your nomination, tell us what the nominee has accomplished to be deserving of the professional staff award? Give examples of the nominee’s commitment to customer service or aspects of the library program they have implemented. How has this person shown leadership in RPLS? Has a major accomplishment been made or have many smaller (but important) contributions been achieved?

Nomination Form  (please return by December 15, 2005)

This award is open to any staff member of a Rolling Prairie Library System working at a clerical or technician level in a support position to a library director or department head.

The nominee for this award should have—

When making your nomination, tell us what the nominee has accomplished to be deserving of the Support Staff Award. Give examples of the outstanding service they have given to the library’s users. How have they demonstrated leadership? What service have they given to the library community?