On Wednesday, November 29, Mann Library staff gathered with members of the van Tienhoven family for an award ceremony made possible through the generosity of the Ans van Tienhoven Memorial Fund. The travel award, founded by Ari and Ans Van Tienhoven 36 years ago and steadfastly enriched by their friends and family over these many years, provides opportunities for professional growth and development for Mann Library staff and librarians. At this year’s ceremony, Carson Williams, Collection Development Librarian and winner of last year’s travel award, presented a report on his trip to the New Mexico State Library’s Tribal Libraries Program. This award enabled Carson to learn about the success of the New Mexico State Library’s efforts in supporting and promoting libraries on tribal reservations, and insights gained have been invaluable for informing Carson’s own work in developing inclusive, accessible collections at Mann Library and the Cornell Library system overall.
The ceremony was also an opportunity to celebrate the winners of next year’s awards and hear about their proposals in more detail. Mann librarians Diana Hackett and Robin Gee received one of the two grants supported by the van Tienhoven Fund. The award will enable them to attend the 2024 Workshop for Instruction in Library Use being held at the Kwantlen Polytechnic University in Vancouver, an institution known for its ground-breaking work in critical and indigenous information literacy. While there, Diana and Robin plan to glean insights and strategies for building the capacity of Mann’s own instruction program for connecting with a diverse student body, increasing students’ confidence in proactive use of library services, and building skills in finding, assessing, and using reliable sources of information.
The second professional development grant made possible by the van Tienhoven Fund has been awarded to multimedia support specialist Ten Van Winkle. Ten will use the award to participate in the 2024 Inclusion, Diversity, Equity, and Accessibility in Libraries & Archives (IDEAL) Conference taking place in Toronto this coming July. Organized around the theme of “Sustainable Resistance and Restoration in Global Communities,” the conference will give Ten the opportunity to explore innovations, strategies and perspectives that will help them take a proactive lead in envisioning, advocating, and realizing inclusive practice in library services in a thoughtful and long-lasting way.
Mann Library thanks the family and friends of Ari and Ans van Tienhoven for their continued support, which has been fundamental to the success of our dedicated staff as we continue to develop inclusive, responsive services and resources for the Cornell community and beyond.
