2024 Distinguished Service in Library History Award presented to Wayne Wiegand

CHICAGO - The Library History Round Table of the American Library Association is pleased to announce it has bestowed the Distinguished Service in Library History Award to Wayne Wiegand. This award honors the career of a person who has a lifetime of scholarship and service in the field of library history. This non-monetary award is given to an individual who has a record of contributions; who demonstrates length, breadth, and depth of involvement in library history; and who has had a significant impact on the work of the ALA Library History Round Table or on the library history community at large.

Wayne Wiegand is F. William Summers Professor of Library and Information Studies Emeritus at Florida State University.

Wiegand is perhaps best known for his extensive corpus of writings in library history: more than 75 scholarly articles and nine monographs (several with co-authors), most of which received awards. His works have popularized research based on the ideas of “the library as place” and “the library in the life of the user.” However, he has also contributed in numerous capacities within the Library History Round Table, including serving a term as chair in 1987–1988; playing a leading role in creating awards for the best essays, articles, books, and dissertations in library history; and helping to endow the Edward G. Holley Lecture.

Colleagues and students have remarked upon Dr. Wiegand’s eagerness to mentor new researchers, both informally and in his capacity as a professor of Library and Information Studies. In addition, he tirelessly worked to provide new venues for the publication of library history, by working with university presses, establishing the Phi Beta Mu Monograph Series, and encouraging the submission of library history articles during his time as editor of "The Library Quarterly."

As a recommendation letter for this award assessed his impact, “Through the enduring effects of his dedicated service actions combined with his exceptional research, [Dr. Wiegand] continues to exercise a beneficial influence over both the content and methods of library history that is without parallel.”

About the Library History Round Table

The Library History Round Table of the American Library Association exists to facilitate communication among scholars and students of library history, to support research in library history, and to be active in issues, such as preservation, that concern library historians. The Round Table sponsors conferences, publishes a newsletter, and presents the Justin Winsor Prize and the Phyllis Dain Dissertation Award to promote excellence in library history research. In 1999, LHRT marked its 50th year of library history scholarship and activism.