ILA RA Service Award Announcement

As I have mentioned before on this blog, ARRT is a sponsor of the Illinois Library Association’s Readers’ Advisory Service Award. Last year, in our first year of the award, we gave it to the Downers Grove Public Library.

The 2016 award winners were just announced and I am beyond excited and proud to share them with you because the winners are two of my former students-- Mike and Tracy!

When I heard who won from my ARRT colleagues on the subcommittee who pick the winner, I was literally bursting with joy. Mike and Tracy are wonderful people, but they have always had the RA knack. A few years ago when I found out they ended up at the same library, I was so happy for them and the community they were serving.  I am proud to have taught them the RA basics, but even more proud of what they ultimately have done with that knowledge.

Here is the official press release with details about why they won:

Illinois Library Association 33 W. Grand Ave., Suite 401 Chicago, IL 60654-6799
Press Release
Phone: 312.644.1896 Fax: 312.644.1899 E-mail: ila@ila.org

Mike Hominick and Tracy Gossage of the Northbrook Public Library are the recipients of the Illinois Library Association Readers’ Advisory Service Award. The award, presented by the Adult Reading Round Table and the ILA Reference Services Forum, recognizes excellence in the planning, development and delivery of readers’ advisory service to adults and teens. The award is sponsored by the Adult Reading Round Table.

Mike Hominick and Tracy Gossage have taken the Northbrook Public Library’s readers’ advisory services to the virtual streets with their Twitter campaign. Tweeting book reviews and recommendations with their Watch This, Read That campaign, Mike and Tracy are attracting new users to the library by connecting their recommendations to pop culture, new movies and the latest television shows. 

Their Watch This, Read That campaign helps connect Northbrook Public Library patrons to books they may like based on their favorite TV shows and movies. Mike and Tracy collaborate to create posts that feature nostalgic TV shows, Oscar-nominated films, and other trending movies and television shows. Each post provides an intriguing list of reading recommendations, an engaging summary of each title listed, as well as a link to each book in the library’s catalog so patrons can easily access the books they discover. 

To a patron who may prefer TV or film to books, the Watch This, Read That campaign exposes them to new library offerings they may not have previously considered.
Mike and Tracy have enriched the library’s social media presence, helping the Northbrook Public Library reach a larger audience within its community. Their Watch This, Read That posts are consistently the library’s most successful posts on its Tumblr, Facebook and Twitter pages. 

The Readers’ Advisory Award will be presented at the Awards Luncheon held on Tuesday, October 18th, during the 2016 Illinois Library Association Annual Conference in Rosemont. 

For further information, contact the Illinois Library Association. 

Mike and Tracy are a shining example of how the basic concept of RA Service can be expanded and used to help patrons in ways they didn’t even know they could be assisted.

Thanks to everyone who submitted nominees.  We had many to choose from.  If you did not win this year, please don’t be discouraged. We will be accepting nominations again next year and would love to see repeat nominees.

Click here for info on all of the ILA award winners.