The New York Times Announces Winners of the 2003 Librarian Awards; 27 Librarians From Around the Country are Recognized.

Business Editors

NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Dec. 10, 2003

The New York Times announced today the names of the 27 winners of the 2003 New York Times Librarian Awards. Now in its third year, the program has moved beyond New York City and the tri-state area to honor librarians from around the country who have provided outstanding public service. This year's winners represent 14 states, including Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Georgia, Massachusetts, Michigan, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Texas, Vermont and Washington. Nominations from the general public were accepted from April through June 2003 and totaled nearly 2,000, with nominations coming from 46 states, including Alaska and Hawaii.

In recognition of the program's origins in New York City and the local history of the awards, 15 awards will go to librarians from New York City, New York State, New Jersey and Connecticut. The remaining 12 will go to exemplary librarians from six regions around the nation: the Northeast, the Southeast, the Midwest and Great Lakes, the Mountain and Plains States, the Southwest and the West.

The Times will hold a reception in honor of the winners on December 16 at which each winner will be given $2,500 from The Times. A commemorative plaque featuring the winner's name and title will also be sent to the library where each winner works.

"We are delighted to recognize librarians from around the country in 2003," said Alyse Myers, vice president, marketing services, The New York Times. "The terrific response this program has received from practically every state in the nation is evidence of the enormous impact librarians have on library patrons. Whether they're helping children discover the joys of reading or easing the transition of immigrants to this country, librarians are improving people's lives in meaningful ways. The Times is proud to support those efforts in libraries, large and small, all over the country."

The 2003 winners of the Librarian Awards are:

New York City

-- Mark Consani, supervising branch librarian, Riverdale Branch

of The New York Public Library 

-- E. Patricia Eshun, branch library manager, Queens Borough

Public Library, South Hollis Branch

-- Jeanne Lamb, head, central children's room, Donnell Library

Center, The New York Public Library

-- Boniface Ndemping Wewe, senior librarian, children's services,

Brooklyn Public Library, Saratoga Branch

-- Andrew Wilson, supervising librarian, The New York Public

Library, St. George Library Center, CLASP

New York State

-- Marian Crawford, director, Wayland Free Library, Wayland

-- Polly Hartman, youth services librarian, Bethlehem Public

Library, Delmar

-- Sharon Hodges, director, Petersburgh Public Library,

Petersburgh

-- Loretta E. Kelleher, reference librarian, East Meadow Public

Library, East Meadow

New Jersey

-- Richard Bryce, children's librarian, West Milford Township

Public Library, West Milford

-- Lin Flores, senior librarian, Camden County Library, South

County Regional Branch, Atco

-- Ann C. Sparanese, head of adult & young adult services,

Englewood Public Library, Englewood

-- Sara K. Weissman, reference librarian, Morris County Library,

Whippany

Connecticut

-- Cathy Nelson, assistant director, Berlin-Peck Memorial

Library, Berlin

-- Bridget Quinn-Carey, Essex Library, Essex

Northeast

-- Louis Herbert Battalen, director, Arms Library Association,

Shelburne Falls, Mass.

-- Ellen Boyer, director, Mark Skinner Library, Manchester, Vt.

Southeast

-- Silvia Bunn, branch manager, Mildred L. Terry Branch, CVRLS,

Columbus, Ga.

-- Gail Terwilliger, public services manager, Cumberland County

Public Library and Information Center, Fayetteville, N.C.

Midwest and Great Lakes

-- Sarah Mackey, youth services librarian, Columbus Metropolitan

Library, Northside Branch, Columbus, Ohio

-- Margaret Wolfe, librarian coordinator, Washtenaw County

Library for the Blind and Physically Disabled, Ann Arbor,

Mich.

Mountain and Plains States

-- Susan V. Oakes, coordinator of the Begin with Books Program,

Arapahoe Library District, Centennial, Colo.

-- Terry Zarsky, business services librarian, Pikes Peak Library

District, Colorado Springs, Colo.

Southwest

-- Kathleen Le Fevre Birtciel, librarian III, branch manager,

Phoenix Public Library, Phoenix, Ariz.

-- Joanna Nigrelli, Wired for Youth librarian, Terrazas Branch,

Austin Public Library, Austin, Tex.

West

-- Guadalupe Canales, senior librarian, Los Angeles Public

Library, Sun Valley Branch, Sun Valley, Calif.

-- Aimee Hirschel, director, Lopez Island Library, Lopez Island,

Wash.

A selection committee composed of leading library professionals from Arizona, California, Connecticut, Michigan, New Jersey and New York chose the winners. Committee members included representatives from The Times as well as the following individuals:

-- Mary Beth Beidl, assistant director, Nassau Library System

-- Mary Rinato Berman, deputy director, Westchester Library

System

-- Norma E. Blake, New Jersey State Librarian

-- Ginnie Cooper, executive director, Brooklyn Public Library

-- Francine Fialkoff, editor, Library Journal

-- Toni Garvey, city librarian, Phoenix Public Library

-- Christine Lind Hage, library director, Clinton-Macomb Public

Library (Clinton Township, Mich.)

-- Robert Hubsher, director, Ramapo Catskill Library System

-- Susan Lehman Keitel, executive director, New York Library

Association

-- Susan Kent, city librarian, Los Angeles Public Library 

-- Valerie Kilmartin, director of branch libraries, Queens

Borough Public Library

-- Jerry Nichols, director, Suffolk Cooperative Library System

-- Marie L. Radford, acting dean, Pratt Institute School of

Information & Library Science

-- Jackie Thresher, director, Nassau Library System

-- Deborah Trepp, manager, branch libraries bibliographic

service, New York Public Library

-- Pat Tumulty, executive director, New Jersey Library

Association

-- Janet Martin Welch, New York State Librarian and Assistant

Commissioner of Education

-- Kendall F. Wiggin, Connecticut State Librarian

In 2003, Baruch College and Thomson Gale sponsored the Librarian Awards. For information about the Librarian Awards, please visit www.nytimes-community.com.

About The New York Times Company

The New York Times Company (NYSE:NYT), a leading media company with 2002 revenues of $3.1 billion, includes The New York Times, The International Herald Tribune, The Boston Globe, 16 other newspapers, eight network-affiliated television stations, two New York City radio stations and more than 40 Web sites, including NYTimes.com and Boston.com. For the third consecutive year, the Company was ranked No. 1 in the publishing industry in Fortune's 2002 list of America's Most Admired Companies. In 2003 the Company was named by Fortune as one of the 100 Best Companies to Work For. The Company's core purpose is to enhance society by creating, collecting and distributing high-quality news, information and entertainment.

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