Stewart Brower, Professor, Director of the OU-Tulsa Schusterman Library, receives the Distinguished Service Award (DSA) at the annual meeting of the South Central Chapter (SCC) of the Medical Library Association (MLA) (Oct 2024)
Professor Brower was recognized for his unwavering commitment to raising the intellectual standard of the profession of Library and Information Sciences and empowering others to do the same.
Here is an excerpt from the presentation of the award:
Throughout their career, our honoree has been more than a participant, they’ve been a catalyst. I’m talking about the kind of person who doesn’t just attend conferences but leaves a trail of inspired colleagues and encourages them to always do their best.
One of the most profound contributions of this remarkable individual has been their relentless dedication to fostering research and publication within our chapter. They have an extensive record of publication, but they aren’t just writing themselves into the record books; they’re pulling the rest of us up with them. Through their mentorship, our honoree has empowered many to embark on careers of intellectual curiosity and scholarly output. And by fostering this spirit, our honoree has set a standard for excellence that we should all strive to emulate.
They have transformed our chapter into one that is known across the national MLA network, for its dedication to intellectual rigor and member development. We are grateful for their decades of service, countless contributions, and tireless efforts to lift every member of this organization. They have not only written articles and chapters but, in many ways, helped to write the history of SCC/MLA itself.
Last but not least this individual has been the heartbeat behind one of our chapter’s most lauded initiatives: the SCC/MLA Writing Retreat. Not only did our honoree help create this program, but also managed it with such passion and dedication that it won the MLA Chapter Project of the Year award in 2013. More importantly, this retreat has helped countless aspiring writers find their voice, sharpen their research, and see their names in print, an achievement that our chapter proudly claims as its own.
Joy Summers-Ables, Professor and Chair, Director of the Robert M. Bird Health Sciences Library, is serving as a mentor for the Leadership Fellows Program (LFP) sponsored by the National Library of Medicine (NLM)/American Association of Health Sciences Libraries (AAHSL).
The NLM/AAHSL Leadership Fellows Program prepares emerging leaders for the position of library director in academic health sciences libraries. Professor Summers-Ables, is one of five mentors chosen to pair with a fellow for the year-long program (Sept 2024-Sep 2025).
Fellows develop their knowledge and skills in a variety of learning settings, including exposure to leadership in another environment. They are paired with mentors who are academic health sciences library directors. The program takes advantage of flexible scheduling and an online learning community to minimize disruption to professional and personal schedules. The sponsors, NLM and AAHSL, will provide financial support for a small cohort of fellows and will underwrite travel and meeting expenses.
The NLM/AAHSL Leadership Fellows Program is designed for librarians with prior management experience. In most cases, a minimum of three to five years of experience is the baseline for candidates to be given consideration. Applicants should have a strong interest in pursuing a directorship in academic health sciences libraries, regardless of the type of library background or current setting. In its commitment to diversity and inclusion, the program actively seeks applicants from racially and ethnically diverse backgrounds.