91´«Ã½

CHICAGO – Dr. Beth M. Paskoff, director, Louisiana State University School of Library and Information Science, Baton Rouge, La., is the 2014 recipient of the Beta Phi Mu Award. This award is given annually to a library school faculty member or to an individual for distinguished service to education for librarianship and consists of a 24 K gold-framed citation and $1,000 contributed by Beta Phi Mu, the library and information studies honor society.

“The 2014 Beta Phi Mu Award Jury chose to honor Beth M. Paskoff for her leadership of the LSU School of Library and Information Science during times of challenge and adversity and her longtime commitment to education in librarianship,” said John A. Moorman, jury chair.

Throughout her career, Dr. Paskoff has maintained a service agenda connected to library education, recruitment for the profession and professional associations. She is a past president of the Louisiana Library Association; has served Beta Phi Mu as a director, vice-president, president and past president; has been named as a Distinguished Member of the Academy of Health Professionals by the Medical Library Association; was awarded the Dorothy B. Skau Award for Excellence; received the Special Achievement Citation by the Louisiana/Southern Mississippi Chapter of the Special Libraries Association, the Lucy B. Foote Award by the Louisiana Library Association and last week she received a special award from the Louisiana Library Association “for service and dedication to libraries and the Louisiana Library Association.”

During her career at LSU Dr. Paskoff has taught more than nine different courses on the graduate level, developing six of them; served on more than one hundred graduate committees and chaired 149; and published numerous book chapters, refereed articles and reports.

Dr. Paskoff’s biggest challenge at LSU was the proposed closure of the LSU School of Information and Library Science in 2009. Adroitly navigating the politics of the university, she negotiated firmly insisting that the school not be disbanded. With her calm leadership and the assistance of alumni, students and the Louisiana library community the school was saved and is now a part of the College of Human Sciences and Education.

Members of the 2014 Beta Phi Mu Award Jury are: John A. Moorman, Chair, Williamsburg, Va.; Elizabeth S. Aversa, Tuscaloosa, Ala.; Roberto Carlos Delgadillo, University of California – Davis, Woodland, Calif.; Carol Pitts Diedrichs, Ohio State University, Cincinnati, Ohio; and Neely Tang, Cornell University, Ithaca, N.Y.

The 91´«Ã½ Beta Phi Mu Award will be presented on Sunday, June 29, at the 91´«Ã½ Annual Conference in Las Vegas.

More information about the including how to submit a nomination is available on the 91´«Ã½ website.