Now's the time to submit your nominations for the 2023 Ricki Brown Librarian of the Year Award, made possible thanks to the family of Ricki Brown and the Friends of the Abilene Public Library. This award was established in honor of Ricki V. Brown, former City Librarian who led the Abilene Public Library from 1998 until her untimely passing in December 2013. This award was created to honor her memory by recognizing a librarian from the community that has gone above and beyond in their duties as a librarian, helping to make a great impact in the community they serve.
All librarians are eligible to receive this award regardless of where they work in our community. Public libraries, school libraries, academic libraries, even special libraries, all librarians currently working in these fields are eligible to be nominated for this award. To submit your nomination, CLICK HERE to access the form online. Complete all sections and submit the form once you are done. All Abilene librarians, including school librarians from Wylie ISD, are eligible to be nominated, including those who wish to nominated themselves.
Nominations will be accepted until October 20. All nominations will be reviewed by the Friends' award committee, and the winner will be announced during the Friends' Annual Membership Meeting in November.
Past award recipients include:
- 2014: Teresa Ellis, Associate Professor and Theological Librarian at Hardin-Simmons University
- 2015: Kristy Compton, Librarian for the Abilene Independent School District
- 2016: Alyssa Crow, Children's Librarian for the Abilene Public Library, South Branch
- 2017: Denise Bruner, Early Childhood Librarian for the Abilene Independent School District
- 2018: Eddy Smith, Librarian and Executive Director of the Abilene Library Consortium
- 2019: Tremain Jackson, Librarian and Technology/Multimedia Manager for the Abilene Public Library
- 2020: Janis C. Test, Librarian and Information Services Manager for the Abilene Public Library
- 2021: Heather Carter, Information Services Librarian for the Abilene Public Library
- 2022: Elizabeth Pruitt, Elementary Librarian Supervisor for the Abilene Independent School District