Congratulations to the winners!

A few 2022 Camp ER&L winners shared information about themselves and their libraries. See the full list of winners.

Bethany Arsenault
Edmonton Public Library

FIRST TIMER AWARD

Bethany Arsenault received her Master’s of Library and Information Studies degree from the University of Alberta, where she successfully defended her Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council-funded thesis on Young Adult literature and digital affinity spaces. In her current role as Digital Discovery Librarian at Edmonton Public Library, she manages the lifecycle of the digital collection through resource license review and renewals, provides eResource troubleshooting, maintains stable authentication and access to the collection, and increases discoverability of the collection for library customers. Bethany loves working with people and technology, and is so excited to be working in the digital literacy, Discovery, and eResource field.

Carol Hannan
Arkansas Tech University

AMIGOS LIBRARY SERVICES PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT AWARD

Carol Hanan has worked in libraries for many years, and she is still amazed by how awesome they are. Having previously worked in circulation, interlibrary loan, and cataloging, she has found her place as the Electronic and Continuing Resources Librarian at Arkansas Tech University. She is excited to attend ER&L because of the many learning opportunities it will provide in a field that is constantly changing.

Arkansas Tech University is a medium-sized, public institution located in Russellville, Arkansas, in the heart of the Arkansas River Valley and the foothills of the Ozark Mountains. The Ross Pendergraft Library provides access to over 380 databases, nearly 600,000 ebooks, as well as 157,000 physical volumes to nearly 10,000 undergraduate and graduate students. The library hosts an online research repository for faculty & student publications and digital collections, supports student creativity with a video and audio recording studio, and provides excellent support for learning, research, and discovery through face-to-face and online services. To learn more about the Ross Pendergraft Library, visit our website.

Sara Huber
University of Oklahoma Libraries

AMIGOS LIBRARY SERVICES PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT AWARD

Sara Huber has served as Acquisitions Librarian at OU Libraries since spring of 2018. Prior to this, she was OU Libraries’ Interlibrary Loan department manager for seven years. As the Acquisitions Librarian, she leads the monographic unit of acquisitions and also manages the libraries’ streaming videos and more than 300 databases. Sara also works with the Scholarly Communication and Resources department as a member of OU Libraries’ Scholarly Publishing team. In this role, she assists OU faculty in creating open access, library published journals.

Jess Huffman
University of Oklahoma Libraries

AMIGOS LIBRARY SERVICES PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT AWARD

Jess Huffman leads the serials team in our acquisitions department by coordinating the workflow for over 5,500 journals and other serials. They support the end-to-end process of the serials records from coordinating with librarians regarding title subscriptions to binding collections for retention.

The University of Oklahoma Libraries is the largest research library in Oklahoma. They provide services within six locations including special collections in Western history, the history of science, and Chinese literature translation along with their branch libraries for fine arts, architecture, and geology. 

Mayezana Madida
University of the Western Cape, South Africa

STUDENT AWARD

Mayezana  Madida is an information management specialist with over 10 years experience working in academic libraries in South Africa. She has held positions as an information service librarian, subject librarian, including managing an academic site library. Her extensive repertoire of skills and experience are noteworthy in the areas of Research in academic libraries, the use of print and electronic materials as information resources and functions relating to the library’s circulation department. This is underpinned by her research interests in information literacy, knowledge management and digital libraries. In addition, a proficiency in English communication complements her role as a freelance copy editor and English tutor.

Mayezana’s commitment and dedication to her profession has seen her receive the LIASA Conference Attendance Grant and the SALI Trust Grant. She is an avid reader of material on a wide array of topics and enjoys traveling.

Samantha Perkins
Missouri Valley College

AMIGOS LIBRARY SERVICES PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT AWARD

Samantha Perkins is the Acquisitions, Collection Development & Interlibrary Loan Librarian forat Missouri Valley College. She started in her position in August of 2021. Prior to starting her position with Missouri Valley College, she lived in South Carolina where she worked for the Beaufort County Library in the Beaufort District Collection as a Preservation Associate. She obtained her Bachelor’s of Art History Degree in 2017 from the University of North Carolina Wilmington, and her Master’s of Library and Information Studies Degree in 2019 from the University of North Carolina Greensboro.

Murrell Library and The Commons provide our students, staff, and faculty with online and print access to over 23 million books, e-books, and articles. We are housed in two separate buildings; Murrell Library was constructed in 1928 and the Technology Center, which houses our library annex called The Commons, was constructed in 2002. We have a small staff of two faculty members (myself included), three full-time staff members, one part-time staff member, and one graduate assistant.

Erica Pye
Abilene Christian University

AMIGOS LIBRARY SERVICES PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT AWARD

Erica Pye is currently the Scholarly Communications Librarian at Abilene Christian University. She specializes in open access, institutional repositories, and research instruction. She has worked at the ACU Library for over 4 years, and graduated with a Masters in Library Science from Texas Woman’s University in December of 2019. Prior to working in libraries, Erica worked as an elementary school teacher in the areas of reading and language arts.

Charles Seymour
University of Texas
Medical Branch

AMIGOS LIBRARY SERVICES PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT AWARD

Charles Seymour has been an academic librarian since 2002 and has worked in collection development, reference, and instruction. In August 2021 he started his current position as Discovery Services Librarian at the University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston. He’s responsible for maintaining access to and discovery of the library’s electronic resources through Alma and Primo. He’s also the library webmaster and has concurrent duties in reference and instruction. The library supports the university’s academic and clinical departments by providing information resources and research assistance for the health sciences.

Kelly Stormking
St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, Biomedical Library

FIRST TIMER AWARD

Kelly Stormking is a library specialist at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital’s Biomedical Library, responsible for ILS maintenance, author support services, and maintenance of both print and electronic collections. The Biomedical Library at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital is a resource available to St. Jude faculty, staff, and students to support the non-profit’s landmark research, education, and exceptional patient care. By providing employees with a welcoming space, technology, researcher resources, and innovative training, the library supports the St. Jude mission to “find cures for children with cancer and other catastrophic diseases through research and treatment.” Employees not only have access to a print collection of journals, books, and historical displays but have a comfortable space to both work and relax with computers, lounge chairs, and study rooms. Online collections provide access to numerous electronic resources and research guides. Through collaborating with the St. Jude Gradual School of Biomedical Sciences and various departments across campus, the Biomedical Library provides invaluable researcher support united by the goal of finding cures, saving children.