91´«Ã½

Patricia Iannuzzi

2013 Acceptance Speech:

Well now I know why they play music to nudge award winners off the stage..and why ACRL limits my remarks to three minutes. When I reflect upon all those I want to acknowledge and thank, I know from the onset that I would be hearing that music play.

One of the great joys about our profession IS the profession….being part of the community of librarians past, present and future. I love being a librarian, and every day I am grateful that I found this profession that has nourished me, intellectually and emotionally. It has provided my life with meaning and with purpose, and I KNOW I make a difference, AND that my work is a small part of a continuous chain-- building upon those who went before, and hopefully providing a foundation (and if I am lucky) inspiration for those who follow.

So the thank yous are many.

First to ACRL, that provides the space for us to grow and connect and learn together -- and who created this award so we might pause and celebrate – not just an individual – but excellence in our profession.

To YBP for supporting this award and making it possible

To the committee chair, David Oberhelman, who I still have not met – and to the committee members who I am sure had a difficult task.

And to everyone else who was in that pool with me --- as I know you are every bit as worthy to be here receiving this award.

I also want to acknowledge and thank one I consider a rising star: my associate dean Jen Fabbi, who coordinated my nomination and from whom I have learned as much as I believe she thinks she has learned from me. That is the true joy of mentorship – that the learning is reciprocal.

And I want to thank all those who wrote letters – both within our profession...Lori Goestch, Jeanne Brown, Beth Dupuis, Anne Zald, and others, as well as my colleagues in higher education – especially Carol Schneider, President of the Association of American Colleges and Universities, who has done so much to reform undergraduate education and to help place both libraries and information literacy firmly within it.

I also want to send a special thanks to the staff of the UNLV Libraries ---a wonderful group of talented professionals – all of them – who commit themselves every day to pushing the envelope in order to frame all that we do for the good of our users.

And to the UNLV Libraries advisory board - an amazing group of community members who provide the financial support and encouragement for the libraries to experiment and to create innovative programs that place the libraries at the center of student learning.

I want to thank the host of colleagues and mentors I have learned from over the past 30 years and I decided not to name names because there are truly too many.

But – there is so much yet to do and I am not done! But I am also throwing down the gauntlet to all of you. Don't be afraid to challenge the status quo -- to color outside the lines -- to lead!

In one of my early presentations at a LOEX meeting I said that that we had to invert our thinking – get off our soapbox and instead think about how we can help our campuses succeed. 20 years later I believe it more than ever, but I think about it in terms of our profession within higher education. What can libraries and librarians do to help demonstrate the added value of higher education to society?

That’s the challenge I place in front of you – to answer that question, and in doing so, to lead!

-Patricia Iannuzzi