CHICAGO – Kay Cassell, director of the Master of Library and Information Science Program and lecturer at the School of Communication and Information, Library and Information Science Department at Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey, has been selected as the 2011 winner of the Association of College and Research Libraries (ACRL) Women and Gender Studies Section (WGSS) Career Achievement Award.  The award, sponsored by ABC-CLIO Greenwood, honors significant long-standing contributions to women’s studies in the field of librarianship over the course of a career.

A cash prize of $1,000 and a plaque will be presented to Cassell at 8 a.m. on June 27, 2011, at the WGSS conference program during the ALA Annual Conference in New Orleans.

“Over the course of her distinguished career, Kay Cassell has continuously made significant contributions in women’s studies librarianship,” said award Chair Kayo Denda, women’s studies librarian and head of the Margery Somers Foster Center  at Rutgers University. “She expanded library collections on women’s issues and material authored by women and created frameworks to develop programming for women and girls in public library settings. Her exemplary research bridges theory and practice, a core goal of feminist librarianship, inspiring numerous libraries and librarians in public and academic settings all over the world.”

Cassell’s longtime women’s studies involvement is demonstrated by a variety of projects, including the establishments of the first Women in Librarianship Preconference, the Feminist Task Force and the Committee on the Status of Women, as well as her service on the board of directors of the Feminist Press. She is currently the editor of the journal Collection Building that publishes articles in women's studies and other subjects. Cassell has successfully mentored and taught many librarians, some of them who served at the highest level of ALA’s leadership positions.

Prior to joining Rutgers, she was the associate director for collections and services for the New York Public Library Branch Libraries from 1989 to 2006, where she was responsible for collection development for 84 branch libraries as well as program development. Cassel received her BA from Carnegie Mellon, MLS from Rutgers, MA from Brooklyn College and Ph.D. from International University.
  

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ACRL is a division of the American Library Association (ALA), representing more than 12,000 academic and research librarians and interested individuals. ACRL is the only individual membership organization in North America that develops programs, products and services to meet the unique needs of academic and research librarians. Its initiatives enable the higher education community to understand the role that academic libraries play in the teaching, learning and research environments. ACRL is on the Web at http://www.acrl.org, Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/ala.acrl and Twitter at @ala_acrl.

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