Sylvia Anderle, children’s and Latino outreach librarian for the Fairview Branch of the Santa Monica Public Library has won one of 27 New York Times Librarian Awards for 2005.
Now in its fifth year, The Times program honors librarians from around the country who provide outstanding public service and have a positive impact on their communities. This year’s 27 winners were chosen from 1,700 nominations. The selection committee was composed of leading library professionals and a representative from the Times.
The Times held a reception for the winners on November 16 at which each winner was given $2,500 from the Times and a commemorative plaque.
A branch children’s librarian for 15 years, Anderle was nominated by Santa Monica Public Library staff and library patrons for the Times award. Having spearheaded Spanish-language family and toddler story hours that attract people from all over the area, Anderle has also worked to improve reading skills of library patrons. This helped garner her recognition. A summer reading tutorial program that she began, pairing volunteers with children in grades entering grades one through five, has enrolled more than 500 children.
“To see how Sylvia welcomes children and their caregivers to her programs; to observe how she orients new immigrants to the library; to hear the advice that she gives colleagues is to see a great librarian in action,” wrote Susan Annett, Public Services Principal Librarian at the Santa Monica Public Library, in her nomination to The Times.Observing her commitment to serving the emergent literacy and readiness-to-read needs of the children and families of Santa Monica with her outreach and bilingual programs, former Friends of the Library board member, Ellen Mark, wrote to The Times, “I have witnessed the sense of empowerment that Sylvia has created among library users, particularly the Spanish-speakers, by increasing their ability to access information as well as deepening their love for reading. She is a vibrant and energetic person, held in high regard in the Library’s community, and that is continually reflected when you spend time in the branch.”
