Education head librarian receives national honor
Iona Malanchuk, head of UF’s Education Library, recently received one of 10 national “I Love My Librarian” awards. Sponsored jointly by the New York Times Company, Carnegie Corporation of New York and the American Library Association, the award honors librarians for their contributions to the communities their libraries serve.
“These 10 librarians deserve applause because their professionalism has won the attention and respect of their neighbors,” says Vartan Gregorian, president of Carnegie Corp.
Librarians from the nation’s 123,000 public, school or college/university libraries were eligible, and 3,200 library users loved their librarians enough to nominate them. Linda Behar-Horenstein, COE Distinguished Teaching Scholar and professor in educational administration and policy, nominated Malanchuk, highlighting her accomplishments particularly at the P.K. Yonge and College of Education libraries, where her attention to detail helps to bring the library experience together—from teaching faculty and students how to navigate the information ocean to providing comfortable seating for library patrons. Behar-Horenstein writes, “This librarian pays attention to all details.”
After 13 years at the Indiana and Western Michigan University libraries, Malanchuk — who has master’s degrees in educational media and library science — joined the UF staff as an associate university librarian for the main library in 1980. In 1985, she became head of the Mead Library at the P.K. Yonge Developmental Research School, and took over as head of the Education Library in Norman Hall in 2002.
The librarians were honored at an awards reception and ceremony at the Times Center in New York City, and each winner received a $5,000 cash award. As a reminder, Malanchuk has a copy of the full-page New York Times ad that ran on Dec. 8 recognizing the winners.
Click on the following link for a three-minute video clip of the American Library Associate award ceremony: http://alfocus.ala.org/videos/i-love-my-librarian-award-ceremony. Malanchuk comments on her award and her mission two minutes into the clip.
