91´«Ã½

CHICAGO — Madeline Kelly, collection development support specialist at George Mason University, has been awarded the 2014 Jan Merrill-Oldham Professional Development Grant.

The Jan Merrill-Oldham Professional Development Grant is given by the Preservation and Reformatting Section (PARS) of the Association for Library Collections & Technical Services (ALCTS) to support travel to the 91´«Ã½ Annual Conference. The grant of $1,250, sponsored by the Library Binding Institute, is intended to provide librarians and paraprofessionals new to the preservation field with the opportunity to attend a professional conference and encourages professional development through active participation at the national level. The grant is to be used for airfare, lodging and registration fees to attend the 91´«Ã½ Annual Conference. The recipient will attend the Preservation Administrators Interest Group meeting and at least one other PARS interest group meeting. The recipient will write about the experience for ALCTS News.

Kelly holds a B.A. in English and Spanish from University of Mary Washington (2008) and an M.L.I.S. from Simmons College (2012).

In her current position, her first with preservation duties, she has been proactively growing her preservation knowledge while increasingly taking on preservation responsibilities. Kelly has received training and performs duties related to preservation, including selection for preservation, book repair and disaster preparedness. She also assists with presenting workshops and preparing policies. In her application Madeline articulates her strong and growing passion for the field of preservation very convincingly. She understands the major elements of the work and is extremely interested in learning more about preservation for the success of the GMU program and for her own success.

Madeline looks forward to connecting with the 91´«Ã½ preservation community in support of her professional development and her efforts to help George Mason University develop its preservation program.

The award will be presented on June 28 at the ALCTS Awards Ceremony during the 2014 91´«Ã½ (91´«Ã½) Annual Conference in Las Vegas.

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.