INFOhio Receives Building Better Communities Award From SirsiDynix

INFOhio is one of five recipients of the SirsiDynix Building Better Communities Awards for 2006. INFOhio Executive Director Theresa M. Fredericka accepted the award during a special ceremony held at the American Library Association Annual Conference in New Orleans on June 24, 2006. The award includes a $10,000 stipend.

The SirsiDynix Building Better Communities Awards recognize library organizations for innovative uses of new technology to improve their user communities. Approximately 130 libraries were nominated for the 2006 awards. An awards committee, consisting of independent library leaders from throughout Canada and the United States, narrowed the nominees to 15 finalists and then to the five winners. Through the Building Better Communities Awards, SirsiDynix seeks to recognize library organizations that create better places to live, work and learn, while encouraging libraries everywhere to follow the examples of these outstanding institutions.

“SirsiDynix established the Building Better Communities Awards to recognize library organizations and the important roles they play in their communities,” said Patrick C. Sommers, SirsiDynix chief executive officer. “The five recipient libraries and their staff members are excellent role models to libraries and librarians everywhere. Their outstanding efforts to create better places for us to live, work and learn should educate and inspire others to do the same. On behalf of the almost 700 employees of SirsiDynix worldwide, I congratulate these excellent institutions for their work.”

Carole Moore, chief librarian at the University of Toronto and a member of the selection committee said, “The response to the Building Better Communities Awards is spectacular, and the quality of the nominations made the selection committee’s decision extremely difficult. The nominees included a mix of public, academic, K12, state and special libraries, and they ranged in size from large metropolitan libraries to small community libraries. Since there are no categories for these awards, this mix proves that libraries of all types and sizes can use technology to become indispensable to their communities and their users’ search for information and knowledge.”

The citation for INFOhio's award states, "Beginning as the dream of a few educators, INFOhio has evolved into a grassroots effort to provide all Ohio students with equal access to online resources and to promote statewide information sharing through a single library automation system and union catalog."

"I am proud to accept the 2006 Building Better Communities Award on behalf of all INFOhio customers and staff," said Fredericka. "I especially appreciate all the efforts of our Technical Support staff and ITC providers who work so hard make technology fit seamlessly into Ohio's K-12 instruction and learning."