Nominate Your Newbie for an Award!

From Punk Farm.

Do you know an awesome n00brarian with at least one year of experience? If so, you should DEFINITELY nominate him or her for a state award!

Last year, Wisconsin Library Association NMRT began awarding a free year of membership to a one new librarian who showed promise in the profession, called the Rising Star Award. Last year, this award went to a fine, upstanding librarian whose professional demeanor is beyond reproach.


...Just kidding! It went to me.

I'm not saying that to discount the award at all; instead, I'm saying that if there is literally anyone at all you would like to nominate for a n00brarian award, you probably should. You never know, they just might get it!

Marge wrote a shining (get it, Rising Star? Eh?) nomination for me, that included a summary of the following things:
-- the creation of our Field Trip Adventures, including Library Stars and script writing for ease of planning
-- the systematic re-conquering of our Reading Boat and space in general
-- my ability to plan pop-culture-based programs that kids actually want to attend, and the Story Action Pod
--oh yeah, and this blog.

I'd really encourage everyone to think of someone to nominate for this award, or the n00brarian award in your state, for the following reasons:

1. To solidify the self-efficacy of your new hire.
...and actually: End of List.
Here's the thing: New hires, even good ones, live their first few years in a cloud of self doubt.

The cool thing is, the nominated person doesn't even need to win in order to feel validated. If they don't, you can tell them that you nominated them and then have them read all the awesome things you think about them. Earlier in the year, I rounded up a bunch of Youth Services people to nominate Anna for the Librarian Wardrobe Crush award that's given every Valentine's Day. After the winners were announced, I shared what I said about her on Twitter. Though it was originally seen by the judges as a criticism of their picks (believe me, the last thing I want to do is start a Twitter fight), I only shared it because I wanted everyone to know her fanciness, whether she won or not (she later appeared in an ALA 2013 post, so there). Our support made her day a little brighter, if I remember correctly.

And if the librarian you nominated wins, holy crap, even better.  It really meant a lot to me that I won, because I was up against 9 other stellar librarians across Wisconsin. There was actually a better chance of me becoming an Emerging Leader; last year's chances were a little less than 1 in 3. I received a free year's membership to WLA which really helps until December when it runs out again.

AND I got to wear a ribbon on my conference badge that said "Award Winner". Which I originally wasn't going to wear, but then I realized that it'd probably be like 20 years before I got to wear one again, if ever, so screw it.

Okay, so maybe winning an award kind of turns you into a douche for like two seconds.
But whatever, dude, you're an AWARD WINNING LIBRARIAN.

Ready to nominate your favorite Wisconsin n00brarian? Download the nomination form here and e-mail it by September 15!

Not in Wisconsin? Check your state's NMRT chapter for a similar award.