Library History Round Table Awards
Donald G. Davis Article Award
Biennial Award
The Donald G. Davis Article Award is presented by the Library History Round Table of the American Library Association every second year to recognize the best published article written in English in the field of United States and Canadian library history. The award honors Donald G. Davis, longtime professor at the School of Information at the University of Texas and editor of Libraries & Culture (formerly Journal of Library History, Philosophy, and Comparative Librarianship). A major contributor to the field, Dr. Davis has authored numerous historical articles, advised many notable Ph.D. dissertations, compiled important bibliographies, and edited both the Encyclopedia of Library History (with Wayne Wiegand) and the Dictionary of American Library Biography, Second Supplement. Articles published during the two preceding calendar years are eligible; e.g., articles published January 1, 2022-December 31, 2023 were nominated for the 2024 award.
Deadline: TBD
Roster:
Donald G. Davis Award Committee
Justin Winsor Library History Essay Award
Annual Award
The Justin Winsor Library History Essay Award is presented by the Library History Round Table of the American Library Association annually to recognize the best essay written in English on library history. The award is named in honor of the distinguished nineteenth-century librarian, historian, and bibliographer who was also ALA's first president. It consists of a certificate and a $500 cash award, as well as an invitation to have the winner's essay considered for publication in Libraries: Culture, History, and Society.
Deadline: TBD
Roster:
Justin Winsor Library History Essay Award Committee
Innovation and Advocacy in Library History Award
Annual Award
The Innovation and Advocacy in Library History Award is presented by the Library History Round Table of the American Library Association as a “best of year” achievement award. This non-monetary award enables the Library History Round Table to acknowledge individuals or organizations that have made recent, substantive contributions to the Library History Round Table or to the wider library history community. The intention of the award is to recognize efforts that are ineligible for other Library History Round Table prizes.
Deadline: TBD
Distinguished Service in Library History Award
Annual Award
The Distinguished Service in Library History Award is presented by the Library History Round Table of the American Library Association annually and 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 intended to be 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 Library History Round Table or on the library history community at large. The intention of the award is to recognize service.
Deadline: TBD
Phyllis Dain Library History Dissertation Award
Biennial Award
The Phyllis Dain Library History Dissertation Award is presented by the Library History Round Table of the American Library Association every second year and is named in honor of a library historian widely known as a supportive advisor and mentor as well as a rigorous scholar and thinker. It recognizes outstanding dissertations in English in the general area of library history. Dissertations must be original research on a significant topic relating to the history of libraries during any period, in any region of the world. The author of the selected dissertation will receive a certificate and five hundred dollars. The biennial award is given in odd-numbered years. Dissertations completed and accepted during the preceding two academic years are eligible; e.g., dissertations from 2021 and 2022 competed for the award in 2023.
Deadline: TBD
Roster:
Phyllis Dain Library History Dissertation Award
Eliza Atkins Gleason Book Award
Triennial Award
The Eliza Atkins Gleason Book Award is presented by the Library History Round Table of the American Library Association every third year to recognize the best book written in English in the field of library history. The award bears the name of Eliza Atkins Gleason, the first African American to receive a Ph.D. in Library Science, from University of Chicago in 1940. Her book, The Southern Negro and the Public Library (Chicago, Ill.: University of Chicago Press, 1941), traced the history of library service to African Americans up to that time and laid the foundation for all subsequent scholarship on that aspect of library history.
Deadline: TBD
