The Tennessee Resource Sharing Award may be presented annually to any person, institution or organization in Tennessee that has done outstanding work in promoting resource sharing within and among Tennessee Libraries and other information agencies.
The recipient will be recognized based on efforts to make available shared library and/or information resources that benefit the organizations involved and the patrons they serve, and that would not be available to them without cooperative efforts.
The award recipient will receive a plaque, and in their honor $100 will be given to a library or other institution of the recipient’s choice that provides resource sharing among Tennessee libraries, with the money being earmarked for resource-sharing services.
Previous recipients:
- 2021 No award presented
- 2020 No award presented
- 2019 Elizabeth Rivera, Lipscomb University, for her leadership in the collaboration between Lipscomb, Fisk University, and Meharry Medical College Archives
- 2018 Memphis Area Independent Schools Library Information Consortium
- 2017 Carolun Runyon, UT Chattanooga; and Mark Baggett, UT Knoxville
- 2016 Memphis Area Library Council
- 2015 No award presented
- 2014 Marion Bryant
- 2013 Charles “Chuck” Sherrill
- 2012 David Atkins
- 2011 Limitless Libraries
- 2010 Mary Ellen Pozzebon
- 2009 Peter Nerzak
- 2008 Tracy Luna
- 2007 No award presented
- 2006 Jennifer Cowan-Henderson
- 2005 Tricia Bengel
- 2004 Aubrey Mitchell
- 2003 Jack Stacy
- 2002 Cathy Evans
- 2001 Betsy Fisher and Willa Reister
- 2000 Jud Barry and Watauga Regional Library
- 1999 Annelle R. Huggins
- 1998 Linda Phillips
2018 – Memphis Area Independent Schools Library Information Consortium
The Memphis Area Independent Schools Library Information Consortium (MAISLIC) was honored with the Tennessee Resource Sharing Award at Tenn-Share’s Fall Conference on Friday, September 28, 2018. The Tenn-Share Nominating Committee selected MAISLIC, the Memphis Association of Independent Schools Library Information Consortium, a group of four independent school libraries that have collaborated since 1981, from the nominees for the Tennessee Resource Sharing Award. MAISLIC, comprised of Memphis University School, St. Mary’s Episcopal School, Lausanne Collegiate School, St. Agnes Academy-St. Dominic School, jointly became the first independent school member of SOLINET/OCLC in 1981. The schools maintain a shared catalog which allows them to borrow from each other, but they also share their collections with libraries across the state and the nation, sending out an average of 100 interlibrary loans per year since 1990. They loan more books than they borrow almost every year (28 to 124 items), sending most of the books and articles to other universities and colleges throughout the state of Tennessee. They have loaned books to libraries as far away as Syracuse University, California State University, and the University of Miami.
The MAISLIC librarians meet several times a year, work together to provide excellent services to their own communities, and stay up to date with the technical training required to maintain their OCLC membership and WorldCat holdings. This group is exemplary of the mission of the Resource Sharing Award
2017 – Carolyn Runyon and Mark Baggett
Carolyn Runyon, Assistant Head of Collection Services and Director of Special Collections, University of Tennessee, Chattanooga; and Mark Baggett, Head of Digital Initiatives, University of Tennessee, Knoxville; for their exemplary leadership of the Digital Library of Tennessee Committee.
Both Mark and Carolyn are members of the Digital Library of Tennessee (DLTN) committee. Carolyn served as the first chair and Mark currently serves as co-chair. Both have gone above and beyond the call of duty to get this initiative off the ground, and it is thanks to their hard work that DLTN has contributed over 165,000 records to the Digital Public Library of America (DP.LA). Mark works tirelessly behind the scenes to ensure that our OAI feed is spotless and ready for ingestion. Meanwhile, Carolyn has worked with new contributors like the Country Music Hall of Fame on metadata remediation. And both Carolyn and Mark communicate patiently and expertly with contributors on how to participate — their passion and commitment inspires the whole committee.
Mark and Carolyn donated the $100 that accompanies the award to the Governor’s Books from Birth Foundation.
2016 – Memphis Area Library Council (MALC)
In the fall of 2013, Memphis Area Library Council began its Reciprocal Borrowing Program for students, faculty, and staff of thirteen Memphis college and university libraries to borrow print material from any participating library, which includes nearly every college and university library in the Memphis area.
The MALC Reciprocal Borrowing Program has greatly expanded access to library materials for over 50,000 students enrolled in Memphis area colleges and universities as well as the several thousand faculty and staff employed at those institutions. Smaller colleges supply access to specialized collections and larger universities supply access to research collections.
2014 – Marion Bryant
Marion Bryant, Director of the Buffalo River Regional Library, is the principal person responsible for providing the R.E.A.D.S. program to four million Tennesseans served by the regional library system. The Regional Ebook and Audiobook Download System offers thousands of digital ebooks and audiobooks to these readers through their public libraries. R.E.A.D.S. began in 2005 as a project of the State Library and Archives. For many years Marion managed the entire program on her own.
Marion also designed and implemented the “Gadget Zoo” program now used across the regional system, training staff to download R.E.A.D.S. titles on various devices so that they can assist patrons individually or offer local training. Use of R.E.A.D.S. has grown exponentially, and her nominator gave her credit as “the best R.E.A.D.S. librarian we could wish for.”
2013 – Charles Sherrill
Chuck has been integral to many Tenn-Share initiatives, and served as President in 2009. As the State LIbrarian at the Tennessee State Library and Archives, he was influential in Secretary of State Tre Hargett’s decision to involve 180 regional and local libraries in the Firefly courier service. These libraries continue to share materials via Interlibrary Loan, and now have access to the collections of dozens of academic and metropolitan public libraries.
2012 – David Atkins
David Atkins, Head of the Resources Sharing and Document Delivery department at the University of Tennessee John C. Hodges Library, was recognized for his leadership in the launch of Firefly, Tenn-Share’s courier. David was awarded the Tenn-Share Tennessee Resource Sharing Award for this work, but he has been a leader in state-wide, national and international resource-sharing endeavors. Tenn-Share thanks EBSCO for its sponsorship of the award.
David has led a variety of projects to develop and promote resource sharing between various types of libraries for many years. One such project is the Auto-Graphics-to-ILLiad Bridge, which enables borrowing requests to move between Tennessee’s public library and academic library computer systems. David also developed Info-to-Go, providing Knox County Public Schools with materials on loan from Knox County Public Library and the University of Tennessee, Knoxville libraries. He gives presentations at many conferences and is a leader in the American Library Association on resource sharing and access issues. Hundreds of Tennessee library staff have waited a long time to be able to easily and cheaply ship items between academic, public, school, and special library collections statewide. Thanks to David’s hard work, the Firefly courier is a reality and patrons in libraries across the state can gain access to a wealth of materials.
2011 – Limitless Libraries
The recipient of the 2011 Tennessee Resource Sharing Award is Limited Libraries, a unique partnership between Nashville Public Library (NPL) and Metro Nashville Public Schools (MNPS) that combines the purchasing power and resources of both entities to facilitate students’ access to library resources wherever they are in the city. Students can borrow resources from Nashville Public Library for delivery to their school library; NPL has started purchasing resources for MNPS and the two institutions have started buying e-resources together.
Accepting the award presented by Tricia Bengel, Tenn-Share President, at the Tenn-Share Conference on October 28, was Danielle Mezera, Director for the Mayor’s Office of Youth and Children. Ms Mezera and Nashville Mayor Karl Dean conceived of the program; it was led by Ms Mezera.
2010 – Mary Ellen Pozzebon
Mary Ellen Pozzebon, Electronic Resources Librarian at Middle Tennessee State University, is the 2010 recipient of the Tennessee Resource Sharing Award.
In his nomination, Scott Cohen, Library Director at Jackson State Community College wrote
Mary Ellen Pozzebon convened a group of librarians from throughout the state and from all types of libraries to discuss resource sharing using Lyrasis as an agent for brokering discounts. She moderated the meeting and arranged for future deliberations.
From this initial meeting, a great groundswell of interest ensued which has resulted in the Tennessee Consortial Purchase Project through Tenn-Share. Mary Ellen has continued with her work in resource sharing as the Tennessee Academic Library representative for the Consortial Project. It is through her initial effort and continued work that the Project has moved forward.
2009 – Peter Nerzak
Peter Nerzak is the recipient of the 2009 Tenn-Share Resource Sharing Award.
Peter Nerzak has been a leader of library resource sharing among Tennessee community colleges, the Tennessee Board of Regents (TBR) system and the state as a whole. While serving as the library director of the Pellissippi State Community College Library, he has been a catalyst for resource sharing among Tennessee Board of Regents colleges and universities.
He has coordinated several group purchases of electronic resources including coordinating the TBR library’s subscription to the AGent federated engine. These group purchases have enabled the TBR colleges and universities to save money and expand the number and range of database access across the system. During the acquisition of AGent he coordinated the selection of databases and training sessions for TBR librarians. He and his fellow TBR library directors have worked with the TBR Office of General Counsel to arrange for TBR and state wide licenses which have resulted in greatly reduced prices and saved institutions many hours of duplicative contract negotiation and renewal.
Peter has coordinated the joint licensing of the following library databases for TBR and RODP using a variety of pricing or price-sharing models. Students in the TBR universities and community colleges have benefitted from Peter’s work by having access to 19 different databases.
With the advent of the Regents Online Degree (RODP) program, Peter volunteered to serve as the TBR libraries’ liaison with the RODP director and staff. He led the development of the RODP Virtual Library. He and his Pellissippi staff developed the Virtual Library’s website and coordinated with the other TBR libraries to update electronic links and access information each fall. He personally coordinated with RODP faculty from all the TBR institutions to promote the use of library resources. In support of the Regents Online Degree Program and local online courses, he coordinated a series of training sessions for librarians to learn how to insert themselves in online courses as “embedded librarians” in support of the online faculty. Peter also worked with the director and staff of the Regents Online Degree program to obtain RODP funding for several databases which were made available to the 18,000 RODP students and all the TBR institutions as well. He has worked to develop tools for assessment and outcome evaluations for research and library resources which are embedded in each RODP course. These tools evaluate both faculty and student outcomes.
Peter has also been active in many statewide library organizations. Peter served as an Academic Library Representative on the Tenn-Share Board for 2004-2006. He was on the Collection Development Committee which is now the Electronic Resources Committee. He also served on the 2006 Fall Conference Committee. Even before his official service on the Board, Peter was one of Tenn-Share’s ‘go-to-guys’ for advice on electronic resources. He has been at the forefront of online resources from the beginning and has contributed his expertise to the benefit of all the Tenn-Share institutions.
Peter is a pleasure to work with. He has a great understanding of the technology required to deliver high quality online library resources and services. He is visionary and pragmatic – a highly desirable, but unlikely combination. He has a terrific sense of humor, but doesn’t diverge from his goal. He can identify the issues preventing consensus and help those disagreeing find the points of agreement so the group can move forward. We just can’t say enough complimentary things about one of our favorite professional colleagues, Peter Nerzak.
2008 – Tracy Luna
Tracy Luna, Lending Supervisor at the University of Tennessee Libraries in Knoxville, was the recipient of the 2008 Tennessee Resource Sharing Award.
A “veteran” of UT’s interlibrary loan department, Tracy has been key in making One-Step Access To Library Materials, one of Tenn-Share’s TEL Phase II initiatives, closer to a reality.
David Atkins, Head of Resource Sharing and Document Delivery Services at UTK, had this to say about Tracy in his nomination:
“While UT has long served the state as a library lender, Tracy was not content with how things were done. In 2003, to better connect public libraries with our collections, Tracy initiated the Tennessee Public Library Registration project. Working with Tennessee State Library and Archive’s Jack Stacy, Tracy created over 300 web-based borrowing accounts for each of the state’s public libraries. With these accounts, any interlibrary loan department in the state could request loans and copies from our collections via the web. Gone were the days of faxes, phone calls and email requests. Then, Tracy supported the state’s librarians with on-site training and congenial telephone conversations. For first-time users, Tracy would walk each librarian step-by-step through this new method for ordering loans. The result? Borrowing and lending became easier for everyone involved in resource sharing.
Between 2005 and 2006, the project really took off. We migrated from our UT-hosted system to the state’s AutoGraphics public library system. This move made it even easier for public libraries to borrow from UT. UT’s Tennessee lending volume and therefore Tracy’s Tennessee workload increased over 30% in the first year. A new system also meant that Tracy re-instructed many state libraries on how to borrow from UT. Building on the success of this implementation, Tracy made UT’s participation in a new project, InfoToGo, possible. InfoToGo does for Knox County School Libraries what AutoGraphics did for the state’s public libraries. During FY07 UT partnered with Knox Co. Public Libraries and the State Library to launch interlibrary lending for Knox County Schools. In the first year, Tracy and her staff processed 199 loans to Knox County School students, teachers, and administrators. In September 2008, we’ve started our third year with InfoToGo. With every step we take to improve our state’s resource sharing operations, Tracy Luna always provides critical, enthusiastic, and animated support. Even when the workload increases, Tracy’s there. As Jack Stacy attests: “Tracy has been incredibly supportive to libraries involved in the Hodges Library/Tennessee Public Library/Knox County Schools resource sharing project. Even though this project has increased her workload, she maintains an affable and enthusiastic manner when dealing with her new group of interlibrary loan customers.”
2006 – Jennifer Cowan-Henderson
Jennifer Cowan-Henderson is the recipient of the Tennessee Resource Sharing Award for 2006.
Jennifer has served as the Tennessee State Library and Archives’ Public Library E-Rate Coordinator since 2002. E-Rate is the program that provides discounts to assist most schools and libraries in the United States to obtain affordable telecommunications and Internet access. As coordinator of the program in Tennessee, Jennifer has assisted Tennessee public and school libraries in receiving nearly $46 million in E-Rate assistance. The process for libraries to apply for E-Rate and to have continued funding is quite lengthy and can be confusing. Without Jennifer’s knowledgeable and patient guidance, many libraries would get lost in the process.
An MLS graduate of the University of Tennessee, Jennifer is the Director of the Upper Cumberland Regional Library in Cookeville and has also served as Assistant Director of the Reelfoot Regional Library in Martin.
2005 – Tricia Bengel
Tricia Bengel, Special Projects Coordinator, Tennessee State Library and Archives, is the 2005 recipient of the Tennessee Resource Sharing Award.
Tricia has made a definite difference in the free access of information for Tennesseans through her very successful work on behalf of the Tennessee Electronic Library (TEL). She has trained many teachers and librarians throughout the state, providing pathfinders, teaching materials and public relations materials. As an active member of TLA and TENN-SHARE, she has put her heart into promoting libraries and the sharing of information resources in Tennessee.
2004 – Aubrey Mitchell
Aubrey Mitchell, Associate Dean, University of Tennessee Libraries, is the recipient of the 2004 Tennessee Resource Sharing Award.
Aubrey has served library needs of the University and the state for over 43 years. His long and distinguished career and service has recently deepened in contribution through his work as co-chair of the TEL Phase II Steering Committee. Aubrey’s leadership and dedication to the success and advancement of TEL, TEL Phase II, TENN-SHARE and, more recently, Volunteer Voices, is extraordinary. He has tirelessly moved these projects forward without bringing any attention to himself but ensuring that many librarians from UT and from around the state are involved and leading various efforts. However, without Aubrey’s leadership many of these efforts, particularly the TEL Phase II strategic planning process and Volunteer Voices would not have reached the maturity that they now have.
Aubrey has made sure that UT, the largest publicly supported library in the state, is firmly behind these efforts providing significant expertise and funding for the benefit of the state. He has diplomatically and successfully encouraged the active participation of key libraries, public, private, and state-run, to these efforts. He has been a key player in lobbying state officials such as the Secretary of State and the Commissioner of Education as well as state legislators to the benefits of state resource sharing and the TEL projects in particular. He is an outstanding individual, librarian, and public servant of the state of Tennessee.
2003 – Jack Stacy
Jack Stacy, Coordinator of Bibliographic Services & the Tennessee Electronic Library (TEL), Tennessee State Library & Archives, is the 2003 recipient of the Tennessee Resource Sharing Award, presented at the Tennessee Library Association Conference, March 18, 2004, at the Knoxville Convention Center.
Jack’s nomination reads:
Jack Stacy has served a vital role in resource sharing in Tennessee. He has probably trained more librarians to use TEL than anyone else in the state. As manager of the Impact network, he has helped libraries to provide materials to their patrons from all over the state. He has represented the State Library on the TENN-SHARE board, contributing ideas that have helped TENN-SHARE grow and prosper.
2002 – Cathy Evans
Cathy Evans, director of libraries at St. Mary’s Episcopal School in Memphis and past-president of TENN-SHARE, is the recipient of the 2002 Tennessee Resource Sharing Award sponsored by TLA and TENN-SHARE. The award will be presented at the Honors and Awards Luncheon during TLA annual conference at noon on Thursday, April 3, 2003, at the Marriott Hotel, the conference hotel in Chattanooga.
The Tennessee Resource Sharing Award recognizes any person, institution, or organization in Tennessee who has done outstanding work in promoting resource sharing within and among Tennessee libraries. Cathy will receive a plaque and $100 provided by TENN-SHARE. The monetary award will be given to a library or other institution of her choice that provides resource sharing among Tennessee libraries, with the money being earmarked for resource sharing services.
The award committee, made up of past recipients of this award, had this to say about their decision:
Cathy has demonstrated sustained contributions to resource sharing in Tennessee, as her nominators describe. We were impressed that she received several nominations. She is clearly a resource-sharing LEADER in Tennessee. Among her TENN-SHARE accomplishments have been inception of the instruction programming, and since her presidency began, TEL Phase II has gotten off the ground thanks to Cathy. We also note Cathy’s participation in the Tennessee Advisory Council on Libraries, and her service on the TEL database selection committee. As a librarian in a private school, her involvement in resource sharing goes well beyond what gains her organization might receive. She has developed and encouraged resource sharing as a service to all the citizens of Tennessee.”
2001 – Betsy Fisher and Willa Reister
Betsy Fisher, Senior Researcher, Nashville Public Library, and Willa Reister, Reference Librarian, Knox County Public Library, are the winners of the 2001 Tennessee Resource Sharing Award, given by the Tennessee Library Association and sponsored by TENN-SHARE.
Betsy Fisher and Willa Reister are pioneers in resource sharing in Tennessee. Between them they have 50 years of resource sharing experience. This shared experience has resulted in many advancements in resource sharing throughout the state, not least among them the founding of TENN-SHARE.
Willa earned her MLS at the State University of New York at Buffalo. Her first professional job was at the Clinton Public Library in the Clinch-Powell region. Willa claims, “There is nothing like moving from a large library to a small library to convince you of the importance of resource sharing.” Willa came to Knox County Public Library in 1980 as Coordinator of the Tennessee Resource Center. In 1996 she became Coordinator of the statewide Tennessee Resource Center. She works now in the Interlibrary Loan and Reference departments at Knox County PL.
Betsy started her library career with Nashville Public Library in 1972. During the next four years, she worked full-time while going part-time to Peabody College to get her MLS. In 1976 she transferred from Circulation to the Nashville Area Resource Center in 1976 and served as its Coordinator from 1981 to 1997, providing interlibrary loan and reference service to over 50 public libraries in 26 counties. She has continued to oversee the Nashville Public Library ILL office since 1997.
Betsy and Willa helped draft the provisions of the Tennessee Resource Sharing Agreement, which made it possible for all Tennessee public libraries to receive free photocopies from the majority of academic libraries in the state. In addition, Betsy was part of the committee that drafted the first document for the Tennessee Electronic Library.
Betsy oversaw the design and development of the delivery procedures for the Nashville Area Library Alliance Athena Project, including a method to incorporate the public schools into the project. This also involved training nearly 100 public school media specialists to use Project Athena.
Betsy and Willa are both founding members of TENN-SHARE and have served on its Board in many capacities. They are both members of TLA and of their local, regional library associations. Both in their professional jobs and in their volunteer jobs Betsy and Willa have made resource sharing in this state a reality. It is in no small part their contributions that have made TENN-SHARE the vital organization that it is today.