What is the I Love My Librarian Award?
This national award recognizes librarians working in public, school, and academic libraries for their outstanding public service contributions. Among last year’s honorees are Charlotte Chung, an elementary school librarian at Suncrest Elementary School in Morgantown, WV, who engages reluctant readers and supports English language learners; Candice Hardy, an academic librarian at Miles College in Fairfield, AL, who nurtures students’ growth as informed and empowered citizens through an array of engagement activities; and Jessica Gleason, a public librarian at the Wailuku Public Library in Wailuku, HI, who has helped communities in western Maui recover from devastating wildfires with the library’s bookmobile services.
You can learn more about all ten of these librarians and their stories in For the Love of Librarians—an incredible video series promoting the award from the award’s sponsor, The Carnegie Corporation of New York.
ALA member leaders will select ten librarians from over 1,000 nominations submitted by library users around the country, and each will receive $5,000 in recognition of their outstanding public service. The Association will honor awardees at the I Love My Librarian Award ceremony at the 2026 ALA Annual Conference in Chicago. Recipients will also receive complimentary conference registration as part of their award packages as well as a $750 travel stipend to attend. And all nominees, regardless of whether they’re selected, will receive copies of their nominations so they can see all of the heartfelt messages from members of their community.
Nominations for the 2026 award will be accepted online through December 15, 2026.
