ANNE CLARK RECEIVES 2014 FRANCES H. PLETZ AWARD

MLA is pleased to announce that Anne Clark, Children's Librarian II/Department Head, Bay County Library System, is the winner of the 2014 Frances H. Pletz Award for Excellence in Service to Youth Award. The award is given annually to a Michigan library staff person who has made an outstanding contribution to the field of library service to youth, ages 0-18 throughout his or her career. Anne was honored at the 2014 Spring Institute Conference on March 28 at the McCamly Plaza Hotel in Battle Creek.

Described at ambitious, accomplished and creative, Anne began her work as the department head of the children's department of the Alice & Jack Wirt Public Library (Bay City) in April 2013, having spent the previous four years as children's services department head at the Shiawasee District Library in Owosso. In her first nine months in the position, Anne has enthusiastically embraced her role as "go-to" person in the the children's room for both staff and public, especially children, and has been key in the planning and implementation of 331 programs attended by 11,870 children and parents.

Anne's use of sharing technology to educate, advise, encourage and mentor others is prolific. Since May 2007, she has used her blog So Tomorrow to post for a librarian audience on topics such as storytelling, early literacy activities, technology, creating digital clip art and more. Her blog receives 10,000 monthly page views.

She is also a founding member and organizer of Flannel Friday, a nationwide movement for librarians to share storytime ideas and was an instrumental team member/webmaster for the first Michigan KidLib Unconference in February, 2014.

In six years as a degreed librarian, Anne has served on the MLA Mitten Award work group twice and has presented at the MLA Spring Institute three times. She is looking forward to another opportunity to share ideas with other youth librarians when she presents at the 2014 Rural Library Conference on Mackinac Island.

"Certainly Anne's accomplishments and ongoing work as the head of a large and very busy children's department set an example for us all," said Bay County Library System director Tom Birch. "With her enthusiasm and commitment to the field of librarianship, and all that she has already accomplished for us with the Bay County Library System, I suspect that her contributions have only just begun."

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