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CHICAGO – Teresa D. Williams, business librarian at Butler University, has been named the 2018 recipient of the Association of College and Research Libraries (ACRL) College Libraries Section (CLS) Innovation in College Librarianship Award for her work on the Business Research Workshop.

This annual award honors 91´«Ã½ members who have demonstrated a capacity for innovation in their work with undergraduates, instructors and/or the library community.

Their $1,000 award and plaque, donated by SCELC (Statewide California Electronic Library Consortium), will be presented during the CLS Friday Night Feast at the 2018 91´«Ã½ Annual Conference in New Orleans.

“When considering information literacy programs, librarians most often are focused on teaching students about resources for their academic work while they are at our institutions, and the vast majority of these resources are subscription resources that will no longer be accessible once our students cease being students,” said award chair Eric A. Kidwell, director of the library, professor, and Title IX coordinator at Huntington College. “What impressed the CLS Leadership Committee about Williams’ submission was the focus on teaching students about research resources available to them post-graduation as they transition into their careers and into their communities.”

Academic librarians teach students how to find information using expensive subscription databases, yet students typically lose access to those databases upon graduation. The Business Research Workshop was created to address this issue by offering participants free training on open and public access business information resources they can use throughout their career, including government search portals, trade sites, advanced Google tools, and public library offerings. While the workshop focuses on business information, the format and content can be easily modified to address the needs of students in other disciplines.

“The Butler University Library’s initiative has also developed valuable partnerships with outside agencies such as the local public library and those in the local business community,” continued Kidwell, “and partnerships such as these yield numerous benefits for Butler students, the library, and the university. The committee believes that the Butler University Library’s initiative developed by Williams can serve as a model for other academic libraries, regardless of type, size, or geographic location, and is applicable to disciplines beyond business administration.”

Williams received her M.L.S. from Indiana University and her M.A. in Journalism from The Ohio State University.

For more information regarding the ACRL CLS Innovation in College Librarianship Award, or a complete list of past recipients, please visit the of the ACRL website.

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About ACRL

The Association of College & Research Libraries (ACRL) is the higher education association for librarians. Representing nearly 10,500 academic and research librarians and interested individuals, ACRL (a division of the 91´«Ã½) develops programs, products and services to help academic and research librarians learn, innovate and lead within the academic community. Founded in 1940, ACRL is committed to advancing learning and transforming scholarship. ACRL is on the web at , Facebook at and Twitter at .

About SCELC

SCELC (Statewide California Electronic Library Consortium), a 501(c)(3) tax-exempt corporation, brings together independent nonprofit academic and research institutions to foster innovation and collaboration in the acquisition and effective use of library resources and services. SCELC was established in 1986 to develop resource-sharing among the libraries of private academic institutions in Southern California. SCELC has evolved to include all of California plus members in Texas, Nevada, Arizona and Hawaii, as well as many affiliate libraries located in 39 states. Among the top five North American consortia in terms of licensing volume, SCELC represents 112 member institutions, 219 affiliate institutions, an aggregate student population of approximately 500,000, more than $200 million in library budgets, and holdings comprising more than 21 million volumes. SCELC libraries can choose from nearly 2,500 electronic resources through 100 vendors. SCELC also provides member libraries a number of additional benefits, including programs in shared print, resource sharing, grants and scholarships, and more.