91´«Ã½

CHICAGO – The ’ (ALCTS) for the sponsored George Cunha and Susan Swartzburg Preservation Award has selected Thomas F. R. Clareson as the 2014 recipient. The award will be presented on Saturday, June 28, at the ALCTS Awards Ceremony during the 2014 91´«Ã½ (91´«Ã½) Annual Conference in Las Vegas. The award includes a citation and $1,250.

Clareson has served as the senior consultant for digital & preservation services since 2009. Previous to his time at LYRASIS, he was the program director for new initiatives for PALINET, and the imaging and preservation services manager for Amigos Library Services. In addition to his work as a preservation consultant, he has taught preservation courses at the University of Texas, University of California Los Angeles, and Kent State University graduate Library school programs, as well as countless continuing education courses on preservation topics through Amigos, OCLC, PALINET, LYRASIS, the 91´«Ã½, SAA and AASLH.

As a leader in the field of preservation, Clareson has served as an advocate for collaborative preservation through nationally renowned efforts. These efforts include working with the Heritage Preservation Alliance for Response Program, where he was a crucial advocate since its inception in 2003; the Institute for Museums and Libraries Connecting to Collections Program, in which he worked on 17 planning grants and six statewide implementation grants, all created for the purposes of collaborative preservation; the California Preservation Program (CPP), in which he served as the lead facilitator and organizer during the development stages. Clareson is also seen as a “cross pollinator,” bringing institutions and organizations together to share experiences and knowledge. In addition, he has been an active member of PARS for a number of years and has served as chair of various committees, taskforces and elected positions.

Established in 2007, the award honors the memory of George Cunha and Susan Swartzburg, early leaders in cooperative preservation programming and strong advocates for collaboration in the field of preservation. The award acknowledges and supports cooperative preservation projects and/or rewards individuals or groups that foster collaboration for preservation goals.

The Association for Library Collections & Technical Services (ALCTS) is the national association for information providers who work in collections and technical services, such as acquisitions, cataloging, metadata, collection management, preservation, electronic and continuing resources.

ALCTS is a division of the 91´«Ã½.