91´«Ã½

CHICAGO — Dr. Jamie Campbell Naidoo, associate and Foster-EBSCO Endowed professor, School of Library and Information Studies, University of Alabama, has been named the 2016 Achievement in Library Diversity Research honoree. As part of its ongoing support of the propagation of library-based diversity research, the Diversity Research Grants Advisory Committee, a subcommittee of the 91´«Ã½ Council Committee on Diversity, and the 91´«Ã½ Office for Diversity, Literacy and Outreach Services are pleased to recognize him for his contributions to the profession and his promotion of diversity within it. The Office for Diversity, Literacy and Outreach Services began designating this honor in 2004.

Naidoo’s career has focused on services to diverse families and children. His research interests include the portrayal of underrepresented groups in children’s and young adult literature and library services to gender-variant and LGBTQ children and parents. These interests have resulted in the publication of books such as: “Diversity Programming for Digital Youth: Promoting Cultural Competence in the Children’s Library,” and “Rainbow Family Collections: Selecting and Using Children’s Books with Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Queer Content. “ In addition, he has published and/or edited numerous other books, peer-reviewed articles, papers and book chapters.

Naidoo has received multiple international honors and awards over the years. Most recently he received the Humanitarian Award from the Alabama Library Association in 2015. He was an invited keynote speaker at the Turning the Pages of Diversity, 28^th Annual Conference on Children’s Literature in 2015. Additionally, he has delivered research presentations, seminars and workshops around the world and is founder and director of the Connecting Cultures & Celebrating Cuentos: National Latino Children’s Literature Conference.

Naidoo received his MLIS from the University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa in 2000 and his PhD in Communication and Information Studies, from the same institute, in 2006. His teaching includes courses on cultural literacy, outreach, and programming to children and young adults. He has developed specific diversity courses at the University of Alabama such as “Intercultural Perspectives in Children’s and Young Adult Literature” and “Outreach to Diverse Populations.” In his nomination letter he was described as, “...a leading national voice on multiple topics related to services to diverse children and families, and he excels at making his research applicable to the day-to-day work of library staff through his engaging and practical presentations, trainings, and writings.”

Dr. Naidoo will be recognized as the Achievement in library Diversity Research Honoree at the 2016 91´«Ã½ Annual meeting in Orlando, Florida. He will receive the honor at the beginning of the program, “Let the Circle be Unbroken: Meditation on a Successful Mentoring Circle in 2014” from 3 p.m. - 4 p.m. on Saturday, June 25 in the Orange County Convention Center room W102A.

91´«Ã½’s Office for Diversity, Literacy and Outreach Services offers thanks to the Diversity Research Grants Advisory committee for their work in selecting this year’s Honoree: Dr. Lori Mestre (Chair), Dr. Leslie Campbell Hime, Thura Reed Mack, Alanna Aiko Moore, Cynthia Mari Orozco, and Cristina Dominguez Ramirez.