MLA Awards and Grants…Nominate Your Colleagues!

‘Tis the season to be nominating your deserving colleagues for the various MLA Awards and applying for the grants.  Some of these awards  and grants have had no winners in the past.  I know there are great people out there so get out there and start nominating people or applying for them.  They can’t award it if they have no submissions. 

And if you read through these awards and grants and nobody still nobody is coming to mind, go to the MLA Awards Ceremony at the Annual Meeting.  At that ceremony you will hear about all of the things that the winners did to win these awards and perhaps that will jump start your mind into thinking of somebody who did something similar but sort of different who deserves that award.

Awards: For more information on the following awards go to http://www.mlanet.org/awards/honors/ Double check the application due dates, but it appears most of them are due November 1st.

  • The Virginia L. and William K. Beatty Medical Library Association Volunteer Service Award recognizes a medical librarian who has demonstrated outstanding, sustained service to MLA and the health sciences library profession.  The recipient will receive a certificate and $1,000.
  • The Louise Darling Medal, awarded annually by MLA, recognizes an individual, institution, or group which has made an outstanding contribution in health sciences collection development.   
  • The MLA Estelle Brodman Award recognizes a mid-career academic medical librarian, who demonstrates a significant achievement, the potential for leadership and continuing excellence. Recipients receive a certificate and a cash award of $500. 
  • Lois Ann Colaianni Award for Excellence and Achievement in Hospital Librarianship -Nominate a dynamic and exceptional hospital librarian, a visionary who deserves recognition for his or her outstanding service in hospital librarianship.   Self-nominations are welcome! 
  • 2011 Janet Doe Lectureship— Nominate a colleague who can share insights on the history and philosophy of medical librarianship through an informative yet entertaining presentation as the Janet Doe lecturer at MLA. The Doe lecturer receives a certificate, a $250 honorarium, travel expenses for the meeting, and publication of the lecture in JMLA.
  • The MLA Ida & George Eliot Prize is presented annually for a work published in the preceding calendar year which has been judged most effective in furthering medical librarianship.   The recipient receives a cash reward of $200 and a certificate at the annual meeting. 
  • Nominate a Colleague to be an MLA Fellow or Recognize a Dedicate Supporter of MLA! — For over 50 years, the Medical Library Association has recognized those who have made sustained, outstanding contributions to medical librarianship as Fellows, elected by the Board of Directors. Nominees must have been a regular member of MLA for at least fifteen years prior to nomination and have at least ten years of professional experience in health information science. 
  • MLA/Majors Chapter Project of the Year Award—Does your chapter have a project deserving recognition?  If so, consider applying for the Majors/MLA Chapter Project of the Year Award.  The $500 award and a certificate are presented to the project demonstrating advocacy, service, or innovation that contributes to the advancement of health sciences librarianship.
  • MLA Section Project of the Year Award— Has your Section completed a project in the last three years that has significantly improved the field of health sciences librarianship? Would your Section like to be memorialized as the FIRST recipient of the MLA Project of the Year Award?  
  • The Carla J. Funk Governmental Relations Award recognizes a medical librarian who has furthered the goal of providing quality information for improved health by demonstrating outstanding leadership in the area of governmental relations at the federal, state, or local level.  Nominate a colleague who contributed to information policy, increased awareness of legislative agendas or otherwise enhanced the Association’s governmental relations network. 
  •  The Murray Gottlieb Prize is awarded annually for the best unpublished essay on the history of medicine and allied sciences written by a health sciences librarian or archivist.  The recipient receives a cash award of $100 and a certificate at the Annual Meeting.
  • T. Mark Hodges Award– Established in 2007, The Hodges International Service Award recognizes outstanding individual achievement in the promotion, enablement, or improvement in the quality of health information internationally. 
  • MLA Section Project of the Year Award— Has your Section completed a project in the last three years that has significantly improved the field of health sciences librarianship? Would your Section like to be memorialized as the FIRST recipient of the MLA Project of the Year Award? 
  • The Lucretia W. McClure Excellence in Education Award honors an outstanding practicing librarian or library educator in the field of health sciences librarianship and informatics demonstrating skills in one or more of the following areas: teaching, curriculum development, mentoring, research, or leadership in education at local, regional, or national levels.
  • The Marcia C. Noyes Award is the highest professional distinction of the Medical Library Association, and recognizes a career that has resulted in lasting, outstanding contributions to medical librarianship.  The award jury considers sustained, notable achievement, and distinguished service and leadership. 
  • The Rittenhouse Award, established in 1967 by the Rittenhouse Medical Bookstore, is presented annually for the best unpublished paper or Web-based project on medical librarianship or medical informatics written by a student in an ALA-accredited school of library and information studies or a trainee in an internship in health sciences librarianship or medical informatics. The winner receives a cash award of $500, a certificate, and student Annual Meeting registration.  
  •  The Thomson Reuters/Frank Bradway Rogers Information Advancement Award recognizes outstanding contributions in the use of technology to deliver health science information, in the science of information, or in the facilitation of the delivery of health science information.  The recipient receives a cash award of $500 and recognition at the 2011 Annual MLA Meeting. 

 Grants: For more information on the following grants go to http://www.mlanet.org/awards/grants/ Double check the application deadline but it appears they are due December 1st.

  • Continuing Education Award – MLA members my submit applications for awards of $100-$500 to develop their knowledge of theoretical, administrative, or technical aspects of librarianship.  More than one CE award may be offered in a year and may be used either for MLA courses or other CE activities.
  • Cunningham Memorial International Fellowship – A fellowship for health science librarians from other countries outside of the United States and Canada.  The award provides for attendance at MLA Annual Meeting and observation and supervised work in one or more medical libraries in the United States and Canada.
  • EBSCO/MLA Annual Meeting Grant – Enables MLA members to attend the annual meeting.  Awards of up to $1,000 for travel and conference related expenses will be given to four librarians who would otherwise be unable to attend the meeting. 
  • Hospital Libraries Section/MLA Professional Development Grants provides librarians working in hospitals and similar clinical settings with the support needed for educational or research activities.  Up to two awards may be granted each year.
  • David A. Kronick Traveling Fellowship, one $2,000 fellowship is awarded to cover the expenses involved in traveling to three or more medical libraries in the United States and Canada for the purposes of studying a specific aspect of health information management.
  • Donald A. B. Lindberg Research Fellowship (Application Deadline November 15th) – provides a $10,000 grant annually to fund research aimed at expanding the research knowledgebase, linking the information services provided by librarians to improved health care and advances in biomedical research.
  • Medical Informatics Section/MLA Career Development Grant provides one individual $1500 to support a career development activity that will contribute to the advancement in the field of medical informatics.
  • MLA Research, Development and Demonstration Project Grant is to provide support for research, development, or demonstration of projects that will help to promote excellence in the filed of health sciences librarianship and information sciences.  Grants range from $100 to $1,000.
  • MLA Scholarship is $5,000 for a student who is entering a Masters program at an ALA accredited library school or who has yet to finish at least one half of the program’s requirements in the year following the granting of the scholarship.
  • MLA Scholarship for Minority Students  is $5,000 for a minority student entering a Masters program at an ALA accredited library school or who has yet to finish at least one half of the program’s requirements in the year following the granting of the scholarship.
  • MLA/NLM Spectrum Scholarship is to support minority students in their goals to become health sciences information professionals.
  • Thomson Reuters/MLA doctoral Fellowship is for $2,000 to foster and encourage superior students to conduct doctoral work in an area of health sciences librarianship or information sciences and provide support to individuals who have been admitted to candidacy.