A librarian at Lane Community College has won a national honor for outstanding public service. The "I love My Librarian Award" was bestowed to only ten librarians in the country.
Reference and Instruction Librarian Claire Dannenbaum has been at LCC for 14 years. Standing in the library stacks, she described her multi-faceted job.
“As a faculty librarian, my role is really teaching and supporting learning," she said. "But I also do a lot of other work outside the library. I’ve been a participant and an organizer in the Democracy Conversation series. I also did a sabbatical that focused on research for library services for refugees.”
Dannenbaum said she had no idea she’d been nominated by Lane faculty and students for the prestigious American Library Association award. As honoree, she’ll receive a $5,000 cash prize.
The American Library Association award recognizes the “lifelong impacts Dannenbaum makes through her engagement with students.”
At a time when much of the talk about libraries is fixated on book censorship, Dannenbaum said the job of a librarian is to support, not limit people’s self-expression.
“Book-banning and book challenges are not so much a feature of academic libraries. We have very clear policies. We collect information across a spectrum of views,” she said. “If there is not something that offends you in the library—I would say that is probably our short coming.”
Dannenbaum, who holds two master’s degrees, said librarianship has allowed her to incorporate her interests in the visual arts, anthropology and democratic values –all in one place.
She said the "I Love My Librarian" award win feels like a “big hug of appreciation” for librarians.
Lane Community College holds the license for KLCC.
