Addison librarian wins Young Adult Librarian of the Year Award
Elizabeth Lynch of the Addison Public Library is the 2018 recipient of the Illinois Library Association's Young Adult Librarian of the Year Award.
The award, presented by ILA and the Young Adult Services Forum, recognizes an Illinois Young Adult Librarian who is making an outstanding local contribution in library services to young adults in his/her community by creating and implementing library programs and services that identify and meet the needs of the teens in their community.
The award is sponsored by Sourcebooks and honors the positive impact Sharon Ball has had on Illinois librarians and teens.
"Elizabeth is a leader and an innovator in transforming what a library and its staff can contribute to a community," said Nadja Millare of Access Community Health Network.
Lynch's expertise is responding to the evolving needs of the community by collaborating with local organizations to develop programming that works to address those needs. In 2016 upon learning that Addison had the highest rate of teen pregnancy in their county, she worked with the Health Department to pilot an evidence based sex education class for their teens. The success of this program helped convince a local junior high to add sex education to their curriculum.
Further data from the 2016 American Library Association (ALA) Diversity Research Grant found that there was a need to increase resources for the Spanish speaking teens in Addison. With programming like As You Are and Talking en la Cocina, Lynch has given teens a chance to learn and practice vocabulary that would help them communicate issues they may be experiencing.
Lynch has also worked with local schools to develop initiatives such as Hive Lab that allows participating students to earn classroom credit for the STEM work they do at the library. Close to 400 students have participated in the program each year. She is also responsible for KickStart, a program that helps prevent summer slide by attending programs that deal with writing, health, science, coding, history, and social-emotional skills. Students who have attended the program also receive classroom credit and more than 75 percent of them stated that they felt more prepared for the following school year.
The Young Adult Librarian of the Year Award will be presented at the Awards Luncheon to be held on Tuesday, Oct. 9, during the 2018 Illinois Library Association Annual Conference in Peoria. The luncheon starts at noon. For further information, contact the Illinois Library Association.