LJ’s Librarian of the Year award celebrates great work being done—and helps us remember how it evolved

Periodically the question arises: Why does LJ give awards? On the surface, the answer is simple: to celebrate great work with an industry-wide accolade. Because no matter how large a library is, how well-resourced, or how well-known, we’re putting their efforts on someone’s radar. Shining a light on what happens behind the scenes—thinking big, managing people, keeping the lights on, advocating for intellectual freedom, preserving community resources, and serving people in innovative and much-needed ways—benefits everyone.

But taking a deeper dive into the history of LJ’s awards tells a more nuanced story about not only recognition, but the record, in a field where names and faces change often and issues of the day are constantly evolving.

The Librarian of the Year award, currently in its 39th year, is a case in point. Beginning in 1988 with Peggy Goodwin, adult services librarian at the Walnut Creek Branch Library of the Nicholson Memorial Library System in Garland, TX, LJ has acknowledged those who exemplify some of the best work being done in libraries. Goodwin, featured in the January 1989 issue (award dates were adjusted in 2000 to match the LJ cover dates), connected people with the resources they needed in a decidedly pre-digital world. Two years later, Librarian of the Year Amy Owen, director of the Utah State Library, was advocating for “reinventing the tools and techniques of librarianship in a world transformed by technology.”

Some are no longer with us; others have retired or moved on to other sectors. Deborah Jacobs, named 1994 Librarian of the Year as director of the Corvallis–Benton County Public Library, OR, for her legislative advocacy, went on to serve as director of the Global Initiatives at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, driving computer access in libraries across the country.

We can always point to LJ’s 1995 Librarian of the Year, Dr. Carla Hayden, then director of Baltimore’s Enoch Pratt Free Library, who went on to become Librarian of Congress and is currently a senior fellow at the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. Or 2011’s Librarian of the Year, Nancy Pearl, whose work to promote libraries, books, and reading to the public helped bring the work of readers’ advisory to a new, wildly media-friendly level. More recently, Lisa Varga, recognized in 2024 for her powerful advocacy work as executive director of the Virginia Library Association, now serves as associate executive director of the American Library Association (ALA) Public Policy and Advocacy Office, a role that impacts libraries nationwide—see, we know how to pick ’em!

But let’s not forget Susan K. Nutter (2005), former vice provost and director of the North Carolina State University Libraries, who reimagined what the university library of the future could look like—and made the James B. Hunt Jr. Library happen; San Francisco Public Library Director and City Librarian Luis Herrera (2012), who led a $200 million systemwide revitalization, creating a range of templates for forward-thinking services; or Elaine R. Hicks, Stacy Brody, and Sara Loree (2021), who built the Librarian Reserve Corps to help vet, index, and disseminate tens of thousands of health resources during the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Every one of LJ’s Librarians of the Year is worth a new look or a revisit—there is so much we can learn from nearly 40 years of great librarianship. Stars rise and set in the library world, but the mission endures.

1989

Peggy Goodwin, Librarian, Nicholson Memorial Library System, Walnut Creek Branch Library, TX

1990

Brenda Vogel, Coordinator, Maryland Correctional Educational Libraries

1991

Amy Owen, Director, Utah State Library

1992

Dan Bradbury, Director, Kansas City Public Library, MO

1993

John W. Ferguson, Director, Mid-Continent Public Library, MO

1994

Susan C. Curzon, Vice Provost of Information & Technology Resources; Dean of the University Library System, CA State University, Northridge

1995

Deborah L. Jacobs, Director, Corvallis–Benton County Public Library, OR

1996

Carla D. Hayden, Executive Director, Enoch Pratt Free Library, MD

1997

Dorothy M. Schirtzinger, Director, Lee County Library System, FL

1998

Bobby Roberts, Director, Central Arkansas Library System

1999

Susan Fuller, Director, Santa Clara County Library, CA

2000

Jerry Thrasher, Director, Cumberland County Public Library and Information Center, NC

2001 

Louise Blalock, Chief Librarian, Hartford Public Library, CT

2002

Susan Kent, City Librarian & Director, Los Angeles Public Library

2003

Raymond Santiago, Director, Miami-Dade Public Library System, FL

2004

Toni Garvey, City Librarian, Phoenix Public Library

2005

Susan K. Nutter, Vice Provost and Director of Libraries, North Carolina State University

2006

Rivkah Sass, Director, Omaha Public Library, NE

2007

Mary Baykan, Director, Washington County Free Library, MD; Executive Director, Western Maryland Public Libraries

2008

Norma Blake, State Librarian, New Jersey State Library

2009

Team Cedar Rapids, Cedar Rapids Public Library, IA

2010

Craig Buthod, Director, Louisville Free Public Library, KY

2011

Nancy Pearl, Library Consultant 

2012

Luis Herrera, City Librarian, San Francisco Public Library

2013

Jo Budler, State Librarian, State Library of Kansas

2014

Corinne Hill, Executive Director, Chattanooga Public Library, TN

2015

Siobhan Reardon, President and Director, Free Library of Philadelphia

2016

Nicolle Davies, Executive Director, Arapahoe Library District, CO

2017

Jill Bourne, City Librarian, San José Public Library, CA

2018

Lance Werner, Executive Director, Kent District Library, MI

2019

Skye Patrick, Director, LA County Library, CA

2020

Christian Zabriskie and Lauren Comito, Cofounders, Urban Librarians Unite

2021

Stacy Brody, Elaine R. Hicks, Sara Loree, Cofounders, Librarian Reserve Corps 

2022 

All Librarians 

2023

Books Unbanned Team, Brooklyn Public Library, NY

2024

Lisa Varga, Executive Director, Virginia Library Association

2025

John Szabo, City Librarian & Director, Los Angeles Public Library

2026

Kelvin Watson, Executive Director, Las Vegas–Clark County Public Library