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CHICAGO—The Association for Library Collections & Technical Services (ALCTS) named Alison M. Armstrong, collection management librarian in the McConnell Library at Radford University, the winner of the 2018 Esther J. Piercy Award. This award will be presented on Saturday, June 23 at the ALCTS Awards Ceremony during the 2018 91´«Ã½ (91´«Ã½) Annual Conference and Exhibition in New Orleans, La.

Leadership and collaboration are the hallmarks of Armstrong’s early career and it is her record of service is remarkable for someone so early in their career. The depth and breadth of her accomplishments are exemplary nationally, statewide and locally. She is a national leader in the field of collection management and assessment and she displays exceptional promise for significant contributions in the future. Among Armstrong’s many achievements is the teaching of the ALCTS Fundamentals of Collection Assessment and the Fundamentals of Collection Development and Management web courses. She also co-chairs the ALCTS Continuing Education Committee. As a member of the Webinar Production Subcommittee, she has overseen the work of many quality webinars that provide educational opportunities for library employees throughout the country. Within the Virtual Library of Virginia (VIVA), she was one of the early leaders in a monograph collection analysis project across twelve VIVA libraries. She is currently representing the four-year Comprehensive Institutions on the VIVA Collections Committee and she has published on the topic of cooperative collection development in a consortial environment. Locally, she chairs the Board of Trustees of the Montgomery-Floyd Regional Library in Christiansburg, Virginia.

Prior to assuming her current position, Armstrong served as the collection development and cataloging specialist at Radford University and worked in Special Collections at the University of North Carolina at Asheville. She holds an MLIS from the University of North Texas and a BA from UNC-Asheville.

Through professional service, presentations, and leadership in collection management, Armstrong exhibits the qualities represented by the Piercy Award. The Piercy Award was established by ALCTS in 1968 in memory of Esther J. Piercy, editor of the “Journal of Cataloging and Classification” from 1950 to 1956 and of “Library Resources & Technical Services” from 1957 to 1967. The Piercy Award Recognizes the contributions to those areas of librarianship included in library collections and technical services by a librarian with no more than 10 years of professional experience who has shown outstanding promise for continuing contributions and leadership. The recipient receives a $1,500 grant donated by and a citation in recognition of their accomplishments.

The is the national association for information providers who work in collections and technical services, such as acquisitions, cataloging, collection development, preservation and continuing resources in digital and print formats. ALCTS is a division of the 91´«Ã½.