Background
Hugh Durbin spent his career engaged in providing quality library media programs and resources to students from pre-kindergarten children to adults in prison. He supported the professional growth of his colleagues through his leadership in OELMA and by sharing his vision for the future of school library media programs in articles and presentations. Hugh’s professionalism and personal commitment serve as an example for all of us in the field today. The INFOhio Hugh Durbin Leadership Award will help keep his example before us as a touchstone by which we can measure ourselves and encourage others to grow in our profession. (Picture source: OELMA Archives)

Purpose
The INFOhio Hugh Durbin Leadership Award seeks to encourage and support greater involvement in the leadership of INFOhio by practicing library media center personnel. This will be accomplished by identifying potential new leaders and facilitating their participation in INFOhio sponsored activities.

The Award
The INFOhio Hugh Durbin Leadership Award shall consist of a stipend of up to $500 to support the recipient's attendance at the Ohio Educational Library Media Association (OELMA) conference. The recipient will be recognized during the OELMA awards banquet and/or another appropriate INFOhio meeting with the presentation of a commemorative memento.

Selection Procedure
The selection of the Award recipient will be made by an ad hoc awards committee appointed by the INFOhio Governing Advisory Board. Appropriate timelines for the applications/nominations and the selection processes will be established by the committee in conjunction with the INFOhio central office.

Selection Criteria
The INFOhio Hugh Durbin Leadership Award recipient will be selected from those applicants and nominees who:

1) Complete the application/nomination form and comply with the timelines established by the selection committee. [MS Word OR PDF 1 pg]

2) Are certificated/licensed as a library media specialist.

3) Hold a district or building level school library media position responsible for working directly with students and/or staff in the utilization of INFOhio-provided resources, which may or may not include the MultiLIS/SirsiDynix K-12 automation program.

4) Demonstrate an outstanding and unique utilization of INFOhio assets to link the right student to the right resources at the right time.

5) Indicate a willingness to help provide leadership the the ITC user group or state user group levels.

6) Include at least one letter of support from a colleague with knowledge of the applicant/nominee, his/her utilization of INFOhio resources and his/her leadership potential.

To support the goal of encouraging the development of new leaders for INFOhio, preference may be given to an applicant/nominee who has not been active in INFOhio at the state level..

Application Procedure 
Applications and nominations for the 2006 Award will be accepted until May 8, 2006. Completed applications and nominations must be returned to the INFOhio central office for review by the Awards Committee. [MS Word OR PDF 1 pg]

The Award shall be announced on the INFOhio Web site and the INFOhio E-List (listserv). ITCs are encouraged to promote the Award through their user groups and to share the information with their member districts.