Hayward Librarian Receives American Library Association Award

Castro Valley CA

13 January, 2021

2:08 PM

Description

Press release from the City of Hayward: Jan. 13, 2021 Jayanti Addleman, director of library services for the Hayward Public Library, is a winner of this year's I Love My Librarian Award. Recognized by the American Library Association (ALA) for her inspiring leadership during the COVID-19 pandemic and beyond, she was selected from 1,865 nominations from library users across the country. Addleman has made a powerful impact since joining Hayward Public Library (HPL) in January 2019. In her eventful two-year tenure, Addleman oversaw a major move to a new branch, adapted library services to an unprecedented public health crisis and led efforts to abolish overdue fines for patrons. Nominators say she has navigated these changes with exceptional expertise and enthusiasm. During the COVID-19 pandemic, Addleman took swift action to ensure HPL could continue serving community members in need. She worked with staff to streamline the process for registering for a library card online, taking care to eliminate barriers for undocumented individuals. She also oversaw efforts to distribute hundreds of tablets, hotspots and other devices to help bridge the digital divide. She also secured funding for a new bookmobile to deliver resources to residents whose transportation challenges prevent them from participating in curbside pick-up at the library. "Ms. Addleman is HPL's biggest cheerleader and is always there to help in any way that she can," her nominators wrote. "She tirelessly reminds the community of the services the library has to offer, keeping services relevant and impactful." Addleman and this year's nine other honorees will each receive a $5,000 cash prize, a $750 donation to their library, and complimentary registration to ALA's 2021 Virtual Midwinter Meeting & Exhibits. The virtual award ceremony will take place during the conference at 12:30 p.m. on Saturday, Jan. 23, 2021 and will be available to stream live athttps://www.youtube.com/user/AmLibraryAssociation. Since the award's inception in 2008, library users have shared more than 20,000 nominations detailing how librarians have gone above and beyond to promote literacy, expand access to technology and support diversity and inclusion in their communities. Information regarding previous award winners can be found on the I Love My Librarian website athttp://www.ilovelibraries.org/lovemylibrarian. Carnegie Corporation of New York generously sponsors the I Love My Librarian Award. The New York Public Library also supports the award. ALA administers the award through its Communications and Marketing Office, which promotes the value of libraries and librarians. This press release was produced by the City of Hayward. The views expressed here are the author's own.