Winners of the 24th Student Article Contest

(Ottawa, April 24, 2007) – The Canadian Library Association (CLA) is pleased to announce Melissa Poremba as winner of the Canadian Library Association’s 24th Student Article Contest for "Resources You can Count on @ Your Library".

Melissa is a distance education student in the Library and Information Technician Program at Mohawk College. The idea for Melissa's entry was based on a paper she wrote in 2006 while studying for her additional qualification in school librarianship at the Faculty of Education, University of Western Ontario. Melissa has a BA in both Arts and Mathematics from the University of Waterloo, and a B. Ed. from the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education at University of Toronto. She has specialist qualifications to teach Economics and Mathematics at the Intermediate/Senior divisions in Ontario schools. Melissa has an interest in numeracy education, and her submission discusses how library resources can be used for numeracy education.

The Advisory Committee thought that her entry was original, engaging, well-written, imaginative, readable and had broad appeal in addition to being a timely topic. One committee member wrote that ". . . it should inspire all librarians to rethink the potential of their collections."

Melissa will be awarded a cash prize as well as free registration, accommodation and transportation to the CLA/APLA/NLLA 2007 National Conference and Tradeshow in St. John’s, Newfoundland, May 23-26, 2007.

The first runner-up is Jason Hammond for ""You Must Have a Lot of Young Readers in Your Family": The Experiences of Lone Male Patrons in Children's Libraries". Jason graduated in December 2006 from the MLIS program at University of Western Ontario. The Committee members liked that this entry was personal and experienced-based as well as being interesting, timely and original. A number of the committee members mentioned that the topic was eye-opening. Jason will receive a cash prize courtesy of the Wosk Family and a choice of CLA publications.

The second runner-up is Kendra Bender for "Library Services for Newcomers to Canada: Embracing Cultural Diversity". Kendra is a student in the MLIS program at the School of Library and Information Studies at the University of Alberta. Comments on this entry were that it incorporates both personal experience and a professional research approach, it was well-written, timely and focuses on Canada. Kendra will also receive a cash prize courtesy of the Wosk Family and a choice of CLA publications.

“This year, there were many excellent and unique entries for the Student Article Contest which made the judging enjoyable, but also very difficult”, shared Mary-Lu Brennan, Convenor of the Member Communications Advisory Committee. As one committee member responded - "Wow! This was a tough exercise - all were well-written, the topics were interesting and in some cases quite thought-provoking."

The prizes are awarded courtesy of CLA, Micromedia ProQuest, Coutts Information Services and the Wosk Family Bursary. Entries are judges by CLA’s Member Communication Advisory Committee which is comprised of librarians and information professionals.