Congratulations to our 2022 NMRT Shirley Olofson Memorial Award Winner, Janelle Cleaves!
Janelle Cleaves has always been a librarian at heart with her first real experience in the field being her time volunteering at her high school library. Janelle's goal as a library professional is to help patrons in ways that first solve their immediate problem and then inspire them to research and learn more. Janelle's passion is to empower patrons to engage with technology and information in new ways. As such, she prides herself on her ability to create engaging and informative library materials like her social media posts and instructional tutorials. A 2017 graduate of UT's School of Information Sciences Master's program, Janelle has served in a wide range of capacities and libraries including time as a page at the Sequoyah Branch Library in Knoxville, TN, an Associate Librarian at Lane College in Jackson, TN, and a Library Services Specialist at the Northgate Branch Library in Chattanooga, TN. She currently hangs her hat in rural northeastern North Carolina, serving as a Library Services Assistant at Roanoke-Chowan Community College. Janelle spends her free time remodeling her house with her husband Sam, playing and DMing in Dungeons and Dragons campaigns, and enthusiastically recommending Victoria Schwab's Cassidy Blake series to everyone who will listen.
Janelle will be attending the ALA Annual Conference in June in Washington, DC. The $1,000 award is given annually to a NMRT member to help defray the cost of attending the ALA Annual Conference. The award is named in honor of Shirley Olofson, a well-respected NMRT President (1971-1972), who died during her term of office.
Janelle was chosen from a blind selection process by the Olofson Memorial Award Committee. The committee members were impressed with her application and desire to serve her patrons. Congratulations, Janelle!
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Camille Abdel-Jawad
Assistant Professor, Instruction & Outreach Librarian
Park University
camille.abdeljawad@park.eduShe/Her/Hers
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