LIASA - Sabinet Influential Library Leader Award 2023

The Influential Library Leader Award is aimed at recognising the captains of the LIS profession; the powerhouses who are currently inspiring and building a legacy, not only for themselves but also for all LIS practitioners. 

Nominations are being invited for the Influential Library Leader Award. This individual should have made an extensive contribution to the profession in the LIS sector with a minimum of 15 years’ experience. Their contribution can be at any level of the profession, including operational, management or academic. Such individuals must have a proven track record of mentorship as well as strong evidence of leadership.

It is aimed at later career librarians and information workers, therefore nominees are expected to be older than 50 years (50 + 1 day) at the time of nomination.

Timeline:

1. Call for nominations: 05 July 2023
2. Closing of nominations: 13 August 2023
3. Shortlisting of finalists: 14-18 August 2023
4. Online interviews: 04-06 September 2023
5. Announcement of Top 3 finalists: 08 September 2023
6. Finalist interviews: 11 October 2023
7. Announcement of winners: 12 October 2023 during the Conference Dinner at the LIASA 2023 Conference at the Lord Charles Hotel, Cape Town.

Selection Criteria

All nominees will be evaluated on the following criteria. The nominee should:

• Be a current LIASA individual, paid-up member for a minimum of 10 consecutive years
• Have a recognised LIS qualification
• Currently be engaged in the LIS sector with a minimum of 15 years in the LIS field
• Be older than 50 years (50 + 1 day) of age at the time of nomination
• Have made an extensive contribution in the LIS sector
• Have a proven track record of mentorship
• Display strong evidence of leadership
• Must act as an ambassador for LIASA and Sabinet, the sponsor, during their year of reign
• LIASA and Sabinet reserve the right not to confer an award

Eligibility

The following groups of people are not eligible for this award:

• LIASA Executive Committee members,
• LIASA staff,
• sponsoring companies’ staff,
• past winners of this award
• any person who has won any LIASA award in the past 7 years.

The following groups of people are eligible for this award:

• Members of the Representative Council, other than members of the LIASA Executive Committee
• Branch and Interest Group Executive Committees
• All other paid-up LIASA members who meet the criteria.

Nomination

The nomination must include:

• Nomination form to be completed and signed by the nominator and the nominee
• A motivation statement of a maximum of 500 words (1.5 spacing, 12 point font) by the nominator indicating the motivation for the nomination, with emphasis on the nominees mentorship and leadership roles in the sector
• A profile of the nominee not exceeding 500 words (1.5 spacing, 12 point font)
• A motivational statement by the nominee, not exceeding 500 words (1.5 spacing, 12 point font) which opines on:
  • The importance and impact of leadership and mentorship on the profession
• A clear, colour, digital, head and shoulder photo (in .jpg, .jpeg, or .png) that will be used for promotional purposes. The National Office reserves the right to not use photos of inferior quality.

Additional requirements

• All finalists must attend virtual interviews during the week of 4-6 September 2023.
• All finalists must attend the LIASA 2023 Conference in Somerset West in person.
• It will be required from all shortlisted candidates to make a presentation during the interview using any media to illustrate:
  • The importance and impact of leadership and mentorship on the profession,
  • And should you win, how would you use the award money to develop leadership in LIASA and the profession
• Important things to note for the successful awardee(s)
  • The award winner will need to submit a detailed proposal and budget for consideration by LIASA and Sabinet on the use of the award money
  • Upon approval of the proposal by LIASA and Sabinet the award money will be deposited into her/his account
  • Within six weeks after the completion of the awardee’s project, they will submit a formal report to LIASA and Sabinet
  • It will be required from the winner to submit an abstract and present a paper at the following year’s conference
  • The winner will act as an ambassador for LIASA and the sponsor as and when needed
  • The winner should mentor and coach emerging librarians
  • The winner must submit articles on topics related to your field of interest for each of the 4 issues of the LIASA-in-Touch for the Awards column.

Downloads:

• Call for nominations
  
• Nomination Form
  

 Send the completed nomination form and all the required documents to awards@liasa.org.za