For nearly a decade, the Deschutes Public Library (DPL) has been home to the county’s Law Library. DPL librarian Jenny Pedersen not only maintains the print and electronic resources that provide area residents with legal information, but also “coordinates programs and services that truly transform lives,” according to nominator Catherine Jasper, DPL’s Adult Services Supervisor.

Amanda Hunt is known as the NextGenLibrarian on several social media sites, including TikTok, where she has nearly 10,000 followers and almost 100,000 likes. There, she discusses myriad aspects of library work while keeping her professional life separate. But she wasn’t prepared for what happened when a state law, enacted in September 2025, declared that books purchased for the library must be approved by the school board.

Leah T. Dudak had already begun to focus on trauma and burnout in libraries, but saw a greater need during the pandemic and got involved with Urban Librarians Unite’s Urban Library Trauma Study. That led to the 2022 launch of the Library Worker Support Network, in which library peers help find solutions to trauma in the workplace.

In only three years at Sablatura Middle School, Rachael Welsh has made a significant impact through multiple initiatives. When she arrived at the school, Welsh decided to “give the kids a little bit more voice in the library” by letting individual students curate titles for a rotating two-week display. The “Adopt a Shelf” program received the Texas Library Association’s 2025 Branding Iron Award. 

Kelly Lamm has built relationships with over 20 community partners and county stakeholders in a small community outside of Portland, working to address needs like food aid, addiction support, mental health treatment, housing support, and additional social services assistance. Since July 2024, service providers have met with 335 clients during weekly outreach sessions, and the library has given away 2,438 water bottles and granola bars, including to a young adult who credits this small kindness as the human touch he needed to make it through a rough day.

“I wake up every single day thinking of ways to help, support, and champion the libraries of Connecticut,” says Ellen Paul, executive director of the Connecticut Library Consortium. “And I don’t just think about it, I do it.” Nominated for her collaborative prowess, Paul builds community within her state’s small libraries through strategic planning cohorts.

Megan Nigh spent afternoons as a latchkey kid riding the bus to the library and waiting for her parents to finish work. “Growing up, teen librarians didn’t exist and libraries were quiet places,” she says. Today, she gets to be the person she once wanted—someone who makes the library a place for teens to hang out and be creative. 

Travis Givens is breaking boundaries as a young, Black, male library director in a rural town. In the short time he’s been at Tolono Public Library (TPL), he’s shown how a small library can stand toe-to-toe with any other. In his first attempt, Givens secured a $10,000 ALA Libraries Transforming Communities grant to improve accessibility at TPL facilities. He’s now developing a presentation on grant writing for first- time applicants. 

The Maryland State Library for the Blind and Print Disabled empowers people with low vision, physical limitations in holding a book, or reading disabilities. Ashley M. Biggs makes it her mission to make sure those who need its services get them, successfully targeting her outreach to doctors, nurses, social workers, and other professionals who can certify potential patrons’ applications for services.