Advocate Health – Midwest Library is proud to announce that two of our teammates were honored by the Midwest Chapter of the Medical Library Association during the October 18 business meeting. Karen Hanus, Library Director, received the Distinguished Librarian of the Year Award for her outstanding service to the chapter, and Brenda Fay, Library Manager, received the Jean Williams Sayre Innovation Award for her work on the organizing committee of the inaugural 2021 Medical Institutional Repositories in Libraries Symposium.
The Midwest Chapter/MLA is a regional, professional association for those working in and interested in librarianship in the health sciences. The chapter’s region spans 9 states.
Karen has been a familiar and consistent presence in the Midwest Chapter for decades. She has served in numerous leadership roles including president, treasurer, parliamentarian, and was co-chair of the 2023 virtual conference organizing committee. She is also seen as the authority on chapter bylaws, procedures, and history. Here are some of the ways that Karen was described in her nomination:
We can’t agree more that “recognition of Karen’s contributions to the chapter is deserving and very overdue!”
The organizing committee of the inaugural 2021 Medical Institutional Repositories in Libraries Symposium (MIRL) received the Jean Williams Sayre Innovation Award. This award recognizes creative approaches to the delivery and management of health information. Brenda and five other medical librarians from Midwest and East Coast institutions planned a platform-neutral symposium to bring together institutional repository managers from hospitals, academic medical centers, and other health settings to share ideas and best practices.
The importance of the work done by Brenda and the rest of the organizing committee was expressed in the nomination by writing that
“Their work in creating a much-needed space for information sharing, learning, and networking amongst information professionals doing institutional repository work in health science settings is the type of innovation that has rippling effects throughout the profession and the organizations in which we work….Connecting with Brenda Fay and learning about her work at Advocate Aurora Health was invaluable and really showed how essential it is to be able to see examples in our own field.”
We’re thrilled to see Karen and Brenda’s hard work and dedication recognized by fellow medical librarians and our professional association. We’re incredibly lucky to work with both of you!
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