New Voices in Sustainability Conference Stipend

"New Voices in Sustainability" in large text and "SustainRT American Library Association Annual Conference Stipend" in smaller text below.

SustainRT New Voices in Sustainability Conference Stipend

About the Award

The SustainRT New Voices in Sustainability Conference Stipend recognizes the importance of social equity to SustainRT and ALA, and works to support new and diverse members to overcome barriers to participating in the professional development and networking opportunities presented by ALA conferences and events. The Sustainability Round Table will offer a $250 conference stipend in addition to paying the full registration cost to a SustainRT member attending the 2024 ALA Annual Conference. Applicants should be new and diverse voices in library sustainability or first-time attendees. The Awards Committee will arrange for disbursement of funds with the recipient ahead of the conference. These can be used for reimbursement of fees associated with housing, meals, travel, or any other costs incurred as a result of attending the conference.

Call for Applications

Stipend applications open in December 2024 and the application must include these requirements:

  • The applicant must be a current SustainRT member (current SustainRT board members are not eligible).
  • A brief bio (up to 250 words).
  • A statement on the importance of diversity in the library’s core values of sustainability (up to 500 words).

Applications will open on December 1, 2023 and close March 1, 2024 to provide time for the stipend recipient to make travel arrangements. The winner will be recognized at the Sustain RT member meeting hosted during the ALA Annual Conference. Stipend recipients will also be eligible to serve on the SustainRT Awards Committee following the conference.

Complete the New Voices in Sustainability Conference Stipend nomination form.

Past Winners

2023

The recipient of the 2023 New Voices in Sustainability stipend is Katherine Witzig. Katherine Witzig (she/her) is devoted to libraries as an institution that preserves histories and supports communities as they grow and change. As a member of the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma and the 2SLGBTQ+ community with disabilities, she seeks to use her personal experience and connections to reveal the wisdom of and amplify the voices within underserved populations. Her current position at Oklahoma City University’s Chickasaw Nation Law Library has allowed her to develop her professional identity and engage in professional organizations, most notably with Oklahoma Library Association as the Tribal Libraries Committee Chair and Marketing Liaison to the Equity, Diversity, Inclusion and Intellectual Freedom Roundtable (EDII) and with the American Library Association’s Sustainability Roundtable.

2022

The Diversity in Sustainability Stipend was awarded to sourav guha, a current MLIS student at San José State’s iSchool. Their academic background includes training in natural resources and environmental policy and leadership, and they have published research on social justice and sustainability in higher education. sourav shared that, “as community anchors, libraries are well placed to gather and disseminate relevant information and opportunities responsive to local needs and desires. Libraries can cultivate spaces that invite and nourish a diversity of both approaches and sensitivities to advancing sustainability initiatives within and beyond the routine work of libraries themselves.”