The Manitoba Library Association is very pleased to announce that the winners of the 2008 Library Innovation of the Year Award are the Winnipeg Public Library’s Booked teen website, and the Info Long Term Care current awareness service maintained by Laurie Blanchard of the J.W. Crane Memorial Library, Deer Lodge Centre.

BOOKED teen website
Winnipeg Public Library

The Winnipeg Public Library’s new teen website BOOKED was launched on February 25, 2008, with a focus on providing an engaging and relevant online destination for youth that will contribute to increased Library use by teens. The website is an interactive place for teens to contribute their own original content, book reviews, photography, top-10 lists and poll ideas. The project was undertaken in partnership with members of the Library’s Youth Advisory Council consisting of teens recruited from areas throughout Winnipeg. Since the launch on February 25, BOOKED has received visits from 3,340 unique visitors: nearly 1,000 more visits than for all of 2007!


Info Long Term Care Current Awareness Service
Laurie Blanchard, Outreach Librarian, Long Term Care
J. W. Crane Memorial Library, Deer Lodge Centre, University of Manitoba Health Sciences Libraries

The Info Long Term Care current awareness service alerts healthcare professionals working in geriatrics to relevant and useful websites, resources, journal literature, and new books available through the J.W. Crane Memorial Library. The J.W. Crane Memorial Library has been a long-standing provider of information on aging and long-term care, and Laurie Blanchard set out to devise a new way of delivering that information beyond its primary clientele. Through the use of a weblog interface, RSS and social bookmarking tools, Laurie has created a rich and authoritative ‘portal’ with targeted content from evidence-based sources for users around the world seeking information on geriatrics and long-term care. Since its launch in October 2007, Info Long Term Care has received in excess of 4,000 visitors with an average of 90 visits per week.

We would like to draw your attention to our call for nominations for the annual Manitoba Library Association Awards - for Service and Innovation. As the Chair of the Awards sub-committee, Michael Dudley (MLA's Academic Libraries Director) will be working with other members of the MLA Executive to review nominations and select award recipients. The awards are as follows:

Manitoba Library Service Awards (deadline: April 1)

The service awards honour people - librarians, library workers, trustees, volunteers - who have made an important contribution to the development of libraries and library services in our province. Each year the winner will be presented with the award at the Annual General Meeting or Manitoba Libraries Conference.

Anyone may make a nomination, on their own behalf or on behalf of an organization. Nominations should be submitted in the form of a letter of not more than two pages, naming the person and detailing the work they have accomplished for libraries. A Committee chosen by the MLA Executive will consider the nominations and choose the winner. We all know people who have significantly contributed to our field; now is the time to give them the credit they deserve! Nominations are accepted by email at manitobalibrary@gmail.com.

Library Innovation of the Year Award (deadline: April 1)

The Manitoba Library Association's Library Innovation of the Year Award is given to libraries who through innovative thinking have created or demonstrated improvements in library services. Winners are presented their awards at the Annual General Meeting or Manitoba Libraries Conference. Visit our news area to find the winners of last year's Library Innovation of the Year and celebrate innovation in Manitoba libraries! Nominations are accepted by email at manitobalibrary@gmail.com. Anyone can make a nomination.
 
For full information on the awards please visit the MLA website at http://mla.mb.ca/awards-bursaries 
 
We look forward to hearing from you. Thank you!

The Scholarships & Awards Committee is very pleased to announce the recipients of the Jean Thorunn Law and John Edwin Bissett Scholarships for 2009:

Jean Thorunn Law Scholarship: Marian Ramage
John Edwin Bissett Scholarship: Alix-Rae Stefanko and Carla Epp

Congratulations on your achievements and best wishes for your continued success!