91´«Ã½

CHICAGO—Shelby Strommer, Preservation Processing Coordinator Librarian at the University of Iowa Libraries, will receive the Jan Merrill-Oldham Professional Development Grant for 2019 at the 91´«Ã½ (91´«Ã½) Annual Conference & Exhibition during the Association for Library Collections & Technical Services (ALCTS) Awards Ceremony on June 22, 2019 in Washington, D.C.

Each year, the Jan Merrill-Oldham Professional Development Grant is awarded by the of ALCTS to support an early-career staff member’s travel to the 91´«Ã½ (91´«Ã½) Annual Conference & Exhibition. The $1,250 grant, sponsored by, encourages professional development through active participation at the national level by covering airfare, lodging and registration fees to attend the 91´«Ã½ Annual Conference. Strommer has demonstrated her professional commitment to preservation as a field with a deliberate focus on student mentorship. As the award recipient, she will attend the Preservation Administrators Interest Group meeting and at least one other PARS interest group meeting. She will record her conference experience for ALCTS News.

For nearly three years, Strommer has worked in the Preservation & Conservation department at the University of Iowa Libraries, first as a Library Assistant IV and now as a Librarian since October 2018. She coordinates workflows for daily marking procedures, which includes directly supervising 6 to 15 student staff. She frequently collaborates with staff across library departments on special projects. For one project, she coordinated the assessment of 425,000 volumes and relocation of about 33,000 items within a two-month deadline. This success was made possible by her effectiveness as a supervisor, mentor and motivator of student staff.

Strommer actively participates in regional library organizations such as the Iowa Library Association (ILA), Iowa Conservation and Preservation Consortium (ICPC) and Upper Midwest User Group of ELUNA (Ex Libris Users of North America), but she is ready to bring her dedication to service and enthusiasm for preservation to the national scene.

“This grant would allow me to expand my professional development activities to the national level, and continue to cultivate my skills to become a more effective mentor to my students and well-informed caretaker of our collections,” Strommer states.

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.