Award fever continues

The John Ames Humphry / OCLC / Forest Press Award, for significant contribution to international librarianship, was established in 1987 in honor of Mr. Humphry, the executive director of Forest Press from 1977 to 1985. John Ames Humphry was a tireless promoter of the DDC internationally, overseeing its publication in Arabic, French, Hindi, Italian, and Spanish. This year’s awardee is Dr. Marianna Tax Choldin (center in photo), professor and director emerita of the Mortenson Center for International Library Programs at the University Library of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Dr. Choldin was the Center’s first director, and by the time she retired (in 2002) librarians from more than 75 countries had participated in the programs she created. DDC editor-in-chief Joan S. Mitchell (right in photo) presented the award to Dr. Choldin at the ALA Annual Conference in Chicago on June 27, 2005, immediately preceding the program on “Becoming a global librarian: Making connections and developing travel plans,” organized by ALA’s International Relations Round Table (IRRT). In her remarks, jury chair Nancy R. John (associate professor emerita, University of Illinois at Chicago; left in photo) quoted from one of the nominating letters: “I cannot think of a more deserving recipient of this award. She has brought knowledge and enlightenment to hundreds of librarians and information specialists from around the globe.”